**Chapter 1**
After I swallowed the milk Seraphina herself handed me, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. My consciousness began to slip away, detaching from my body.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I felt myself arrive in an unfamiliar place. All I could hear was a faint, familiar voice near my ear.
“Seraphina, are you insane? Are you really going to secretly remove Asher’s kidney and give it to Caleb?”
It was Valerie, Seraphina’s best friend.
“He’s the only match,” Seraphina’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “Caleb’s condition is life-threatening; there’s no time to wait.”
“As for Asher… I’ll compensate him. Didn’t he want me to marry him? After the surgery, I’ll propose. I’ll never divorce him, not in this lifetime.”
A glass vial smashed against the floor. Valerie practically screamed, “What good is any compensation when he’s missing a kidney?! I swear, has Caleb hypnotized you? Years ago, during that terrible accident, you crippled your legs saving him, lost your inheritance, and he just turned around and ran off with another woman! During that time, Asher was the one by your side, taking care of you. To give you your treatments, he used himself as a guinea pig, leaving his legs black and blue with bruises! To find a cure, he knelt outside a renowned doctor’s door for a whole month!”
“Now Caleb is back. As soon as he saw you healthy and in charge of the company again, he started fawning all over you. Then, when he found out you were pregnant with Asher’s child, he threw a tantrum. The moment he cried, you immediately took abortion pills and terminated your first child! Asher still believes he accidentally failed to protect your baby and was depressed for three whole months!”
“And now, you’re actually going to remove his kidney and give it to Caleb?!”
“That’s enough!” Seraphina’s voice suddenly rose. “I know Asher loves me, loves me enough to give everything. And Caleb? He’s selfish, greedy, and vain. But I love Caleb. I love him like a madwoman!”
“Then what about Asher? What is he?!”
“He’s nothing! My mind is made up. No one can talk me out of this today. I *will* take his kidney!”
The moment those words fell, I felt the surgical blade slice into my skin.
The anesthesiologist clearly underestimated my drug tolerance. Every single inch of pain was starkly clear, terrifyingly real.
But compared to the physical pain, what hurt more was the heart in my chest, being slowly torn to pieces.
I had loved Seraphina for ten years.
From sixteen to twenty-six, my youth, my affection, my everything, I gave to her.
I watched her love Caleb, watched her become obsessed with Caleb, watched her fall apart after Caleb abandoned her.
I stayed by her side through the darkest days of her disability, enduring her outbursts and her gloom, even being pushed to the ground and bruising my knees when she lost control. Yet I never once complained. I just silently picked myself up and continued to care for her.
I thought, one day, she would finally turn and see me.
But it turned out… in her eyes, I was utterly worthless.
Ten years, a whole decade. Even after everything we’d been through, she still only loved Caleb.
Because of a single word from Caleb, she was ruthless enough to abort our child!
And because Caleb needed a kidney, she hid it from me, and had mine taken for him!
I don’t know how much time passed, but I felt something being violently torn from my body—
It was my kidney, and it was all ten years of my love!
When I woke again, the strong scent of disinfectant in the room stung my eyes.
“You’re awake?”
A deep, alluring female voice came from the doorway. My body stiffened, and I slowly raised my gaze.
Seraphina stood in the doorway, backlit, her tall figure cast in a cool, stark silhouette.
She walked closer, her slender, long legs beneath her white dress, each step feeling like a stomp on my heart.
She sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to stroke my face. Her thumb brushed away a tear from the corner of my eye, and she frowned slightly. “Does it hurt a lot?”
I looked at her, my heart feeling as if an invisible hand was squeezing it tight, the pain almost suffocating me.
How could she… ask me if it hurt, so gently?
How could she, after personally carving out my kidney and terminating our child, sit before me so nonchalantly, looking at me with such a concerned expression?
“What… happened to me?” I asked, my voice impossibly hoarse.
Seraphina’s expression remained unchanged, her tone soft. “You had a sudden appendicitis attack. The surgery is over.”
Appendicitis?
I laughed, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably.
She couldn’t even bother to come up with a convincing lie.
Seeing my tears fall so fiercely, endlessly, she didn’t notice anything amiss. She simply thought I was in great pain and quickly said she would go find a doctor for me, then hurried away.
But once she left, she never came back.
Three hours later, a nurse pushed the door open to change my IV, whispering as she did:
“Ms. Seraphina is so devoted to Mr. Caleb! She stayed up all night with him, and then, just now, she heard Mr. Caleb woke up and wanted porridge from that old-school diner across town. She rushed out to get it herself, even in this downpour…”
Hearing that, I couldn’t hold back; tears welled up and spilled over again.
So that was why she didn’t return.
She was so certain I loved her, so sure I wouldn’t be mad, that she couldn’t even bother to send a text message as a token explanation.
Seraphina, do you think I’m some kind of pathetic doormat? What makes you think I’d love you without any shred of self-respect?
I stared out the window, my tears finally dried up.
I don’t know how much time passed, but after the nurse left, I pulled out my phone. My fingertip hovered on the screen for a second, then dialed a number.
The call connected. A low, languid female voice answered, “Mr. Asher?”
I took a deep breath, my voice soft, but clear. “Scarlett, are you… interested in marrying me?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
“Did you dial the wrong number? I’m not Seraphina.”
“I know.” I clutched my phone, my knuckles white. “I’m asking you.”
“I don’t want to marry Seraphina anymore.”
Scarlett seemed intrigued, her tone slow and deliberate. “Oh? And what makes you think… I’d marry you?”
I closed my eyes, my voice calm. “Because you’ve always despised Seraphina.”
“And because—” I paused, enunciating each word, “—the side-profile photo on your desk… that’s me.”
**Chapter 2**
A deathly silence.
After an eternity, I heard the faint click of a lighter opening and closing on the other end. Scarlett’s soft voice, laced with the scent of tobacco, asked, “How did you know?”
I gazed at the sterile white ceiling of the hospital room, the fluid in the IV bag dripping steadily, like a countdown to my vanishing devotion.
“You just need to answer: Are you willing or not?”
Silence hung on the line for two seconds. Then, the woman finally spoke. Her tone carried an indefinable emotion, and I could hear her breathing quicken slightly.
“Come to me within seven days, and we’ll register our marriage.”
“And—” she paused, “—after you marry me, you can never have any involvement with Seraphina again.”
I closed my eyes, my voice soft yet resolute. “I won’t.”
“In seven days, I’ll never see her again.”
After hanging up, I immediately booked a flight to Seaside City for seven days later.
That was Scarlett’s territory.
…
The rest of the day, Seraphina never reappeared.
Only a caregiver pushed the door open, respectfully saying, “Mr. Asher, Ms. Seraphina’s company has been extremely busy lately, so she asked us to look after you.”
I gave a faint “hm,” not bothering to call her bluff.
I knew Seraphina wasn’t busy. She was by Caleb’s bedside, never leaving him.
It wasn’t until the day I was discharged that Seraphina finally showed up.
She wore a form-fitting long dress, her eyes showing a hint of fatigue, yet she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Seeing me packed and standing at the hospital room door, she quickly walked over, reaching out to take my bag, her voice apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Asher. Company matters have been overwhelming lately, and besides… I was preparing a surprise, which is why I couldn’t be here with you.”
I dodged her hand, clutching my own bag as I walked forward. “What surprise?”
Seraphina’s lips curved upward slightly, a rare softness in her eyes. “I’m taking you somewhere.”
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a luxurious hotel.
I followed Seraphina inside. The moment she pushed open the banquet hall doors, my eyes were met with a sea of roses and candlelight—
It was a proposal!
Guests turned, their gazes focusing on me.
Seraphina took my hand and led me to the center, then took a diamond ring from her pocket.
“Asher.” She looked up at him, her voice deep and serious. “Will you marry me?”
I stared at her, my heart feeling as if an invisible hand was squeezing it tight.
How desperately I’d once longed for this moment.
But now, looking at the exquisite, glittering diamond ring, all I felt was an overwhelming sense of irony.
This proposal, which I’d waited for so long, had been bought with my own kidney!
I was about to refuse when the banquet hall doors suddenly burst open—
“Excuse me, I’m late.”
A weak, breathy voice spoke.
I turned and saw Caleb standing at the doorway, pale, dressed in a white shirt, tears glistening in his eyes.
“Seraphina, Asher.” Caleb walked over, his voice choked with emotion. “What happened back then, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have been pestering Seraphina lately. I interrupted you both… So this time, when I heard about your proposal, I made sure to come and offer my blessings.”
As he spoke, he pulled out two elegant gift boxes from his bag and handed them to Seraphina and me.
“I wish you both… happiness.”
With that, he turned to leave, but after only two steps, his body swayed suddenly, and he dramatically “collapsed” to the floor.
“Caleb!”
Seraphina’s face instantly changed. She abruptly stood up and rushed over without hesitation, helping Caleb up.
She even forgot she was in the middle of proposing to me.
Forgot that the un-given diamond ring was still clutched in her hand.
The guests instantly erupted in a flurry of whispers—
“Tsk, tsk, there she goes again… The moment Ms. Seraphina sees Caleb, everyone else just disappears from her eyes.”
“Asher’s been by her side for so many years, and he still can’t compare to a single glance from Caleb.”
“The only one she’s ever truly loved is Caleb.”
I stood rooted to the spot, my fingertips digging deep into my palms.
I watched Seraphina carry Caleb away in a rush, watched Caleb, nestled in Seraphina’s arms, subtly mouth a message to me—
“You’ll never be better than me.”
Amateurish acting.
But Seraphina didn’t even hesitate to believe it, without a single doubt.
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