After waking from a five-year coma, the first thing I did was divorce Michael, the man who donated his kidney to me.
Everyone called me an ungrateful person, saying I’d forgotten his kindness.
Five years ago, I was captured and tortured by enemies. My kidneys were damaged and I lost my child.
My parents couldn’t handle the shock. My mother had a heart attack and passed away and my father fell seriously ill and was hospitalized.
Michael risked his life to save me, injuring his leg in the process and donating one of his kidneys.
For five years, Michael never left my side. He even moved his entire business into the hospital room, managing the Barkworth family business daily and personally caring for me by night.
He cleaned me, massaged me and helped with my rehab every day for years without missing a single night.
What they didn’t know was that I was conscious in my coma.
Over the past five years, the well-dressed Mr. Cordero called “Mom” 520 times late at night to an online adult streamer.
He slept with my caregiver, a woman over ten years older than him.
He and his mistress even plotted beside my bed to steal my family’s wealth.
“Hang on a bit longer. Just two more doses of medicine, that old bastard from the Barkworth family dies and then the Barkworth Group will be ours.”
“Who would’ve thought that kidnapping was planned by Mr. Cordero himself, the man who claimed to love his wife?”
Would someone selfish really donate a kidney to me? Wiping my tears, I pulled out my phone to call my best friend overseas.
“Karina, I want a divorce,can you help me?”
——
I rarely ask for help, so Karina Grillard immediately knew something was wrong.
“Nichole, you just woke up. Please stay calm and tell me slowly.”
Remembering the words I’d overheard while unconscious, my heart ached.
Forcing my voice to stay steady, I said, “Help me leave the country and cancel all my documents too.”
“Nichole, why are you canceling your documents? Are you trying to abandon me? Don’t forget I donated my kidney to you. How can you leave me?”
Michael burst through the door. His face reddened with anger. I hung up and turned off my phone screen.
My expression was still calm as I replied, “Expired documents need to be renewed.”
Michael still didn’t believe me. He walked over and grabbed my phone to check, but found nothing suspicious.
My face was expressionless and I said, “Michael, let’s get a divorce.”
Hearing that, Michael gave back my phone, his tone nearly pleading. “Nichole, I don’t doubt you. I just care about you. I love you so much.”
“You’re my lost-and-found treasure. Promise you’ll never leave me, no matter what, okay?”
“And please don’t mention divorce so easily. It really can damage our relationship.”
Then he pulled me into his arms, as if I really were his lost treasure.
A bitter smile crossed my lips. I might never have seen Michael’s truth if I hadn’t been briefly unconscious.
“Michael, did I come at a bad time?” Olivia said at the door, holding a lunchbox and looking awkwardly at Michael.
Michael let go of me, his gaze softening as he turned to her. “Olivia, you’re just in the right time. Let me introduce you, she is my wife, Nichole Backworth.”
“Nichole, this is Olivia Navarro, the caregiver I hired for you. She’s cared for you while I manage the company during the day.”
I looked down, not wanting to talk. After Michael started the meal, he got an urgent call, leaving only Olivia and me in the room.
She crossed her arms and looked at me with contempt. “You are a useless woman. I never thought you would survive and wake up.”
I stayed silent and ignored her. Enraged, Olivia flipped my table and spilt food all over the floor.
Michael rushed in at the noise. “What’s going on?”
Olivia’s eyes were red. “Michael, I only wanted to serve Nichole her meal. I never imagined she’d looked down on me for being a poor girl and threw everything I touched.”
I watched her act quietly, saying nothing to defend myself.
Michael frowned deeply. “Nichole, how could you say to Olivia like that? She’s taken care of you. Even if you’re not grateful, don’t be so rude!”
“Apologize to Olivia immediately, or I’ll suspend your father’s medical payments.”
Hearing this, I stared at Michael in shock. Though I’d seen his true colours during my coma, I never imagined he still managed to sink lower than I expected.
My lips cracked and peeled as I denied, “I didn’t flip it. It was clearly her…”
Before I could finish, Olivia interrupted, “Michael, if Nichole says I did it, let’s just say it was me.”
“I have no status, no connections, no power or position. I’ve faced this kind of injustice so often that I’m used to it.”
The truth was twisted. Michael shouted angrily, “Nichole, I’ll say it again, you must apologize to Olivia.”
I gripped the bedsheet and noticed the arrogant and defiant look in Olivia’s eyes.
Seeing Michael defend Olivia without question, I suddenly remembered our first meeting. Back then, when I was falsely accused, he had firmly defended me, too.
He had said, “Even if the whole world doesn’t believe you, I, Michael Cordero, will always believe every word you say. I will never betray you.”
Now, he has broken his promise. My heart was hurt.
Meeting Michael’s unfamiliar gaze, I whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Olivia smirked. “It’s fine, Nichole. Just be more careful next time. Please, don’t be so reckless.”
Seeing my apology, Michael’s expression softened.
He reached out to ruffle my hair and said gently, “That’s better. Since you’re being so obedient, I’ll take you shopping tomorrow.”
I didn’t refuse or agree. Early the next morning, Michael took me to check out of the hospital.
I instinctively opened the passenger door and saw Olivia sitting inside, entirely made up.
She gave me a teasing smile. “Sorry, Nichole. I’m used to sitting in the front.”
Michael opened the back door and said gently, “Nichole, please sit in the back. Olivia gets carsick, so give her some space.”
I stayed silent and went to the back seat. After arriving at the mall and browsing for a while, I finally spotted a handbag that caught my eye.
Seeing how much I loved it, Michael immediately took out his card. “Buy it.”
“Nichole, I like that bag too. Why don’t you let me have it?” Olivia said, reaching out to grab the bag.
I stayed calm and answered, “I saw it first.”
Olivia’s eyes turned red, then she said tearfully, “Nichole, you’ve had every bag you wanted since you were a kid. Why fight me over this one?”
Michael, who had just returned from paying, frowned upon hearing this. “If Olivia likes it, let her have the bag, Nicole.”
Then he took my hand and said kindly, “You can take another one. I’ll buy you ten of them, okay?”
I pushed his hand away, my face cold. “No way.”
If it wasn’t the one I loved at first sight, buying more later wouldn’t matter. Just like people, if we didn’t see them clearly from the start, we were already wounded beyond repair by the time we discovered the truth.
I wouldn’t have him since Michael never truly belonged to me.
On the way back, I sat in the backseat, staring out the window. At an intersection, the car suddenly jerked violently.
At that moment, I saw Michael pull the steering wheel and protect Olivia with his body.
The accident happened suddenly. When I regained consciousness, my legs were numb and I was trapped in the narrow space.
Screams and cries for help mixed with the sounds of ambulances and police sirens.
Half-conscious after being rescued, I heard Michael shout at the medical staff, “Hurry and save Olivia first! Can’t you see her arm’s all scraped?”
The medic hesitated. “But the woman in the backseat is more severely injured. Without quick treatment, she could become paralyzed.”
Michael’s eyes were reddened with anger “I’m her husband. I order you not to treat her. Save Olivia first!”
“As long as Olivia is in critical condition, she can’t get treatment.”
My heart ached so much it felt hard to breathe. Silent tears ran down my face, erasing my last feelings for Michael.
When I opened my eyes again, Michael was sitting beside my bed.
His voice trembled when he saw me awake, “Nichole, I almost lost you again.”
“The doctors said your injuries were serious. You were almost paralyzed, so I immediately called and gathered the best doctors to treat you.”
“How do you feel? Is there any pain?”
As I opened my mouth to speak, my throat burned fiercely, as if torn apart.
Michael picked up a glass of water beside him and handed it to me. “Drink some water first to ease your throat. Don’t rush.”
After drinking the water, I felt much better.
Michael handed me some apple slices. “I prepared this for you earlier, but my skills aren’t great, so the pieces are a bit weird.”
I stayed silent. My eyes kept seeing Michael, badly injured. He demanded that the doctors save Olivia rather than himself, who only had minor wounds.
Michael seemed about to say more when the phone suddenly rang.
From the corner of my eye, I saw his contact’s name was “Via”. In less than a second, I knew it was Olivia.
As I expected, after the call, Michael looked sorry for me. “Nichole, I can’t stay with you. There’s a new project that needs my attention. Rest well and recover. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
Then he walked away without hesitation. Shortly after he left, a friend request popped up on my phone. It was from Olivia.
After I accepted, she sent a message and a photo. The photo of a carved rabbit-shaped apple.
[A useless woman like you only deserves what I threw away.]
I gripped my phone tightly, seeing the plate of uneven apple pieces. Then a cold laugh escaped me. So, she’d only given me her leftovers.
Ignoring Olivia’s message, I tapped lightly to open another app. There was a message from Karina.
[What’s going on? Are you okay?]
[I’ve cancelled it for you, but it’ll take seven days to finish.]
[Come to the airport. I’ll send someone to pick you up.]
After replying with a simple “Got it,” I called Mr. Orseolo from the Barkworth Law Firm.
He answered quickly. I then said, “Uncle Peter, prepare a divorce agreement and get Michael to sign it without him finding out.”
Remembering the anger in Michael’s eyes when I mentioned divorce, my heart tightened in pain.
Uncle Peter nodded. “Yes, Miss Barkworth. I’ll take care of it right now.”
Soon after the call, I saw Michael rushing past my hospital room door. Thirty minutes later, Uncle Peter sent me a photo of the contract signed by Michael.
I suddenly noticed Uncle Peter had added a note to the contract: Michael would leave with nothing.
Before I could ask, he called and explained the situation to me, “Since Michael joined the company, he’s been endlessly spoiling Olivia. I had someone to investigate them privately. They have been secretly together for a long time.”
“So, I drafted this document myself. I hope you won’t blame me, Miss. I just couldn’t stand seeing Mr. Barkworth’s legacy destroyed by such a beast.”
The tears filled my eyes. “Uncle Peter, you did the right thing.”
After the call, I got up and went to the restroom. As I entered with my crutch, someone suddenly shoved me from behind.
I fell hard to the floor, my leg aching in sharp pain.
Olivia’s crazed, mocking voice rang behind me, “Look at you now, so pathetic. The proud Barkworth daughter has become nothing more than my footstool.”
Lying on the floor, I quickly turned on my phone’s voice recorder.
My leg ached as I weakly asked, “Why are you doing this to me? I don’t remember ever have a problem with you.”
Olivia glared at me with disgust. “Hmph! I’m Michael’s real wife, but you, the shameless mistress, got in the way. Without you, I’d have been Mrs. Cordero long ago.”
“You really think Michael loves you? Ha! Don’t get any ideas. Without your money, he wouldn’t even look at you.”
“So, you and Michael have a plan to steal my father’s company?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Olivia’s eyes burned with hatred. “You could’ve avoided this pain. It’s your fault for not dying in that kidnapping.”
“Aren’t you afraid of the law?” I shot back.
“Law? Come on. Michael and I were promised to each other as kids, so we’ve been inseparable since childhood and never betray each other.”
“Just arrange a little ‘accident’ for you. Who would ever suspect a ‘loving husband’ such as Michael Cordero is a murderer?”
Olivia’s eyes were full of disdain. When her phone rang, she gave me a disgusted look and answered the speaker.
“Honey, are you finished yet? I’m craving those dumplings on East Street. Pick me up later, okay?”
Michael’s deep voice replied, “Of course, whatever my dear wife wants.”
After the call, Olivia smirked. “Hmph. Only women who aren’t loved end up as mistresses.”
With that, she turned and walked away in her high heels.
I froze when Michael said “wife.” In our two years of marriage, he’d never called me that.
I held my breath. The phone’s ring sounded like a death knell in the silent room.
When I answered that call, an angry voice said, “What’s going on with your Barkworth Family? Mr. Barkworth has been dead in our hospital for almost six months and no one has come to claim him?”
“What do you mean?”
I froze and was shocked. My ears buzzed and my mind went blank.
Snapping back to reality, I hurriedly grabbed the phone to ask for the address. I got up unsteadily, left the hospital in a daze and took a cab to the place.
When I arrived, all I saw was a corpse covered in a white sheet. Grief and anger overwhelmed me and I could barely cry.
My heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand, heavy and suffocating pain. I realized my bank card didn’t have enough money when the medical staff member told me to pay at the front desk.
I stopped for a while, checked in disbelief and saw my balance was zero. I called Michael over ten times, but he didn’t answer. He finally picked up on the thirteenth call.
“Michael…”
I barely said a word before the line was filled with a woman’s moans and a man’s muffled groans.
I stood frozen for three minutes, my mind spinning. When I came back to reality, the call had ended.
Pale and shaken, I called Uncle Peter. After paying, I took my father’s body to the crematorium.
I stepped out and smiled at him. “Uncle Peter, thank you.”
His eyes were full of sorrow. “Sweetie, I’ve seen you grow up. Your parents must be upset in heaven, seeing all the unfairness you’ve faced.”
“Whatever you want to do right now, just do it. I’ll always stand behind your Barkworth family.”
I never expected Uncle Peter to be so loyal to my family, all because of one meal my father gave him years ago.
I didn’t go back to the hospital. I went straight to the home I hadn’t visited in five years.
The first time I entered the code, it displayed an error. I tried again, but it still didn’t work.
After five failed tries, the smart lock automatically triggered an alarm. Michael opened the door shirtless. His eyes looked shocked when he saw me.
“You… why are you back so suddenly?”
I noticed his wet hair and replied bitterly, “This is my home. Why shouldn’t I come back?”
Michael was shocked to hear my words. “Nichole, that’s not what I meant. Shouldn’t you be resting properly in the hospital?”
Holding my father’s urn and leaning on my crutch, I replied, “Do you expect me, injured, to stand and talk all day like this?”
Michael finally led me inside. All the furniture and decorations had been replaced.
Seeing me stare, Michael smiled and explained, “Since your accident, Olivia thought the house had bad energy, so she had me renovate it.”
I frowned. “What about the photos of my parents’?”
Michael was silent for a long moment, unable to answer. Meanwhile, Olivia came downstairs in her silk pajamas.
“They’re in the basement. Dead people’s stuff is just eyesores to keep around.”
I glared at her, gritting my teeth. “Say that again?”
Perhaps fearing I might lash out, Michael stepped in front of Olivia, smiling to smooth things over. “Olivia was just doing what a master of healer advice. Don’t take it too seriously.”
“I just didn’t want your father to see those old things and get nostalgic when he came back, so we put them away.”
I didn’t pay attention and returned to the basement to get my things.
The moment I stepped out of the basement, I ran straight into Olivia, who was holding a bowl of hot soup.
Olivia screamed, “Ah!”
Michael rushed out and kicked me in the chest, sending me crashing to the floor.
The urn in my arms hit the ground, spilling all the ashes. The photo frame in the box also broke.
“Nichole, if anything happens to Olivia, don’t expect your father’s medical costs to be covered!”
After making that threat, Michael left the villa with Olivia.
I hurriedly gathered the ashes, ignoring the broken glass on the floor and tried to put them back in the box.
It wasn’t until my hands were covered in blood from the cuts that I finally managed to secure the ashes.
I calmed myself down and, leaning on my crutches, then walked to the main bedroom, which had long since been redecorated to suit Olivia’s tastes.
Three hours later, Michael called to lecture me, “Nichole, this whole thing was your fault. I’ve already apologized to Olivia for you.”
“A project at the company has been a bit tricky these past two days. I need to handle it first. Stay home and behave. The password is 577520.”
After giving these instructions, Michael hurriedly hung up the call.
The man, who said he was busy, now appeared on Olivia’s social feed, taking her to a fancy restaurant and personally peeling crayfish for her.
I still remember how he scolded me for ages after I used my own cutlery to serve him a piece of fish.
Later, he condescendingly warned, “Don’t ever do that again. I have a bad OCD.”
I loved him so much back then that I felt worthless, always doing whatever he wanted.
As I scrolled through Olivia’s feed, my heart sank. There was a video of him making silly faces just to make her laugh.
Another showed him renting a whole night market just because she said she wanted something.
When he saw she had bruised her cheek, he was so upset that he called the top doctors for the treatment.
Such events were common on Olivia’s feed, treated like nothing special. But when the same small things happened to me, they were blown up into big dramas.
My eyes darkened. Over the next few days, I sold everything in the basement and had Uncle Peter contact the other shareholders to prepare for what was next.
Seeing the villa, I remembered it was my father’s gift. But now, it has been completely changed.
I listed the villa on a secondhand platform. The day before I left, someone privately messaged me asking to buy it.
Without hesitation, I arranged to meet them the next day. The next day, I arrived at the location as scheduled. The conversation with the other party flowed very smoothly. After signing the agreement, I packed my belongings and headed to the airport.
After handing over to the person arranged by Karina, I waited for my flight with my new identity.
With half an hour before my departure, Michael called me. With suppressed anger, he asked, “Nichole, what’s going on with the villa? Why is my house now someone else’s?”
Hearing that tone, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Your house? Michael, have you watched too many action movies? Is your kidney problem making you lose your mind?”
“The ownership of this house has always been in my hands. I can sell it if I want. What’s your business?”
Michael was stunned. He replied angrily, “We’re still husband and wife! Nichole, I advise you not to push things too far. It won’t end well for you.”
“Michael, your bad skills are mediocre, your acting is mediocre and overall, you’re just mediocre,” I said contemptuously.
“Besides, I divorced you a long time ago. The divorce certificate will be delivered to you in about twenty-five days.”
“Oh, and I wish you and that bitch Olivia have a long and happy life together. I’ve also prepared a special gift for you, so remember to check for it.”
With that, I hung up. Just then, the voice notification sounded. I stared at the call coming through again; I just silenced it. I pulled out the SIM card, broke it in two parts and threw it into the trash can.
Then I turned around, dragged my suitcase and boarded the plane. I didn’t want it if it never truly belonged to me from the start.
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