Chapter 2

"What are you throwing a tantrum for now?"

His voice dropped low. He didn't dare make a scene in the hallway.

"Tyler just got pushed back to the ward because the donor backed out at the last second. I'm busy putting out fires here. Can you stop adding to my misery?"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum. I'm keeping full custody of Lily, and I want half of everything we own. You'll get the papers tomorrow."

A cold, mocking laugh came through the speaker.

"Chloe, you want a divorce over a single kidney?!"

"Lily is a girl. She can wait for another match. Even if she never gets one, so what? I can support her for the rest of her life."

"Tyler is different. He's Mark's only son! Mark died saving my life. How am I supposed to face him in heaven?!"

With a few careless words, he dismissed all the agony our daughter had suffered.

Support her for the rest of her life? He said it like he was talking about adopting a stray puppy, not watching his child slowly die of organ failure.

Standing outside the doctor's office, my knuckles turned white as I gripped the phone.

"You don't deserve to call her your daughter."

"You—"

"When you gave her kidney away, did you remember for even one second that she's your child?"

A second of silence followed.

Then he brought up that same tired excuse he had used a thousand times before.

"Chloe, I'll say it again: I owe Mark. If it weren't for him, I would've burned to death in that fire six years ago!"

"You've been living off my paycheck for years. When have you ever shown me any understanding?"

Living off his paycheck?!

Out of his seven-thousand-dollar monthly salary, more than half went straight to Chloe and her son.

If I hadn't been freelancing from home night and day, we wouldn't have even been able to afford Lily's dialysis, let alone our daily expenses!

I didn't understand him?!

I gave him six years of my life. I gave up my health, my youth, my career, and my future.

I stayed home taking care of our sick child, cleaning the house, accompanying Lily to dialysis, and dealing with our families.

While he was playing Prince Charming to Chloe, I was the one holding this broken home together.

Sometimes, I honestly wished he had died in that fire.

At least then, his department's life insurance payout would have taken care of us, and I wouldn't have spent years living like a widow while technically married.

And now he dared to say I had no sympathy for him?

I was done wasting my breath.

"The divorce papers will be sent tomorrow. Sign them, or I'll see you in court."

I hung up and rushed back to Lily's room.

Lily was waiting for me on the bed.

She had been fasting since yesterday for the surgery.

Before they wheeled her into the OR prep area, I had promised to make her homemade chicken soup once it was over.

Yet just minutes after being taken in, she was brought back out.

Now, she was sitting on the edge of the mattress, her little legs swinging in the air, staring anxiously at the door.

The moment she saw me, her face lit up with a fragile smile.

"Mommy, are we not doing the surgery anymore?"

My eyes stung instantly.

How could I tell her that her own father had just handed her chance at survival to another woman's child?

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I forced a bright smile. "Lily, how about we switch to a better hospital?"

She nodded obediently, without asking a single question.

She was only six, but having spent over a year in hospital beds, she had already learned not to ask too much.

"Is Daddy coming?"

"No."

She hadn't seen Liam in three months. She looked down in silence for a moment, then whispered, "Then let's not bring Daddy."

I scooped her up into my arms. She was so frail, weighing barely thirty pounds.

She curled into my chest like a little monkey.

Both of her tiny arms were covered in dialysis scars—blue, purple, and brown punctures that crisscrossed her skin.

I couldn't hold it back anymore. My voice broke as I whispered, "Lily... what if it's just you and Mommy from now on? What if we don't need Daddy anymore?"

"Okay," she whispered softly.

The sweet, innocent little girl gently patted my back.

"Daddy made Mommy cry. Lily doesn't want Daddy either."