I was dragged straight to the hospital.
My body, starved all day, started spinning out of control without giving me a moment to rest. Gabriel pulled me to the door of the blood draw room. The nurse saw my ashen face and asked kindly if I had low blood sugar, if I needed to rest and eat something first.
Gabriel urged impatiently, "Hurry up."
This private hospital was Gabriel Rivers' investment. His word here was law. The nurse was too frightened to object. She hastily prepared the blood draw equipment.
When the needle pierced my skin, I felt a wave of dizziness. A bad cold combined with low blood sugar from not eating all day. They'd only drawn half when I felt my breathing growing increasingly difficult. My head tilted involuntarily to one side.
The nurse panicked, crying that she couldn't continue anymore, that something terrible would happen. Gabriel's expression was extremely ugly. He was also afraid something might actually happen. Not afraid that I would die, but afraid that without me, Ethan wouldn't have blood to use.
"Fine, this amount will have to do for now."
I was helped into a rest room. I'd completely lost consciousness, drifting in and out for who knows how long.
A woman rushed in and slapped me hard across the face, sobbing hysterically. "This is all your fault. What are you doing, pretending to faint here? That little bit of blood. What good is it?"
The pain jolted me awake. I saw my mother's face, swollen from crying.
She grabbed me, pounding me with her fists. "Why did I have to carry both of you? If only there had been just Ethan. How wonderful that would have been. You're a curse. In the womb, you stole Ethan's nutrients, made him born with a heart condition. Now we need a little of your blood, and you put on this performance for everyone. Do you want your brother dead that badly?"
Her words were unbearably cruel. I hadn't been crying at all, yet cold liquid streamed from my eyes.
I'd heard words like these countless times since childhood. Just because Ethan Rivers and I were twins. Just because Ethan's heart hadn't developed properly. Everything was my fault. I was the one who stole Ethan Rivers' life force.
No one in the family loved me. My wife and daughter hated me, too. I was born carrying original sin.
Slap after slap fell on my face, until a hand shielded me. Only then did Gabriel pull Mrs. Rivers back.
Gabriel was quite surprised to see Sophia Caldwell. "Why are you here?"
Sophia simply said, "I heard Ethan's condition isn't good. I came to visit. Don't worry too much. I found a donor heart for Ethan. He'll recover soon."
Mrs. Rivers, who'd been sobbing just moments before, suddenly stopped. "Really? Where did the donor heart come from? Ethan can really be saved?"
Sophia confirmed once again. "I have my own source. When the time comes, I'll perform the surgery myself. Ethan will definitely be discharged safely."
Hearing those four words — perform the surgery myself — something stirred deep in my chest. Then I laughed bitterly, unsurprised.
Mrs. Rivers left. Sophia felt the burning fever in my body and took me to a hospital room, then thoughtfully prepared blankets and hot water.
I lay on the hospital bed. Sophia took a thermometer to check my temperature. Seeing 105.8 degrees on it, she frowned. "Why didn't you call me with such a high fever?"
I curled up, mocking her. "Director Caldwell is so brilliant, with such exceptional skill and virtue. Perhaps it didn't occur to you that standing in a hallway below freezing for three hours would make someone sick, did it?"
She just didn't care. Didn't care about me. So naturally, she didn't care about my health. What she cared about, from beginning to end, was only the heart inside my body.
Sophia's movements stopped. Then, as if feeling guilty, she said something that sounded like an apology. Her voice was very small. I took it as a hallucination.
Sophia sat down by the bed, taking my burning hand in hers, whispering, "I'm sorry. I promise you. After this time, I'll definitely live well with you. Whatever you want, I'll give you. I'll love you properly."
But I didn't look at her, silently pulling my hand away.
IV fluids dripped all night. The next day, I felt better. Sophia didn't return to the hospital where she worked. Instead, she stayed here, bringing me medicine.
The medicine was bitter. I swallowed it with my brows knitted tight. Sophia handed me a glass of orange juice.
"How long until you're better?"
Sophia answered, "Generally, a common cold takes seven days to recover. Your fever is quite severe. It might take about ten days."
"Will that delay Ethan Rivers' heart transplant?"
I said this so casually, as if mentioning some trivial, insignificant matter. Sophia looked at me with complicated eyes, suddenly feeling like she didn't understand me anymore. She didn't answer me right away.
I continued. "Even if the cold gets better, it won't affect anything. After all, once they take my heart out, I won't survive anyway. Whether I have a cold or not doesn't matter."
These words were too brutal. Yet I spoke them with complete calm, like a silent blade.
Sophia didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable. She insisted, "I'll make sure you're healthy when you go into surgery."
Healthy, and then quietly gone. I didn't understand the point of her insistence.
Outside the hospital room, Gabriel walked in holding a share transfer agreement. The document slammed hard into my face. Gabriel's voice was ice cold. "Just as you wanted. All of Ethan's shares are now yours."
Half of these were mine. Half were Ethan Rivers'. Together, twenty percent — enough to have a seat on the board of directors. I was quite satisfied. I signed my name on it.