Everyone knew Evelyn Hayes chose me out of spite, a desperate reaction to her first love.
For five years, she was the picture of perfection in publicCa celebrated, top-tier cardiac surgeon at a renowned medical center.
But behind closed doors, only cold indifference remained between us.
The topic of divorce has been brought up countless times.
Then her ex, Liam Miller, returned from overseas for treatment, suffering from a severe illness. Evelyn dropped everything to be by his side, even warning me:
“Liam’s condition is delicate. If you dare upset him, we’re completely done.”
The hundredth time she brought up divorce, I finally agreed.
On my way to the courthouse, I was in a car crash.
She never arrived.
Instead, she got the news Liam had found a matching heart donor.
She rushed back to the hospital, scrubbed in, and performed the transplant herself, placing that heart right into Liam’s chest.
Only afterward did the divorce agreement cross her mind.
By then, my phone was unreachable.
As my consciousness detached from my body, the crushing pain finally dissolved.
I hovered in the air, watching the twisted wreck in the pouring rain. The driver’s seat had collapsed on impact, the person inside unrecognizable.
Today was our fifth wedding anniversaryand the hundredth time Evelyn had asked for a divorce.
Before, I’d always dodged it, desperately trying to cling to our relationship, fragile as a spider’s silk.
But this time, I’d nodded.
It wasn’t until a month ago, when Liam, the one she could never let go of, returned home for severe heart treatment.
Evelyn stopped coming home, pouring all her time into St. Mary Ann Medical Center, glued to his side.
Everyone knew she’d only accepted my proposal on a whim that afternoon, purely to spite Liam.
And me? I’d loved her in secret for seven long years.
My thoughts snapped back to reality.
I watched as a St. Mary Ann Medical Center ambulance carried away my shattered body, following it without conscious thought.
Evelyn was the star cardiac surgeon here.
Yet as her husband, I couldn’t even book a regular annual check-up under her name.
On our wedding day, she’d made it crystal clear: “I don’t want my personal life crossing over into my professional one.”
“And I certainly don’t want anything about you affecting my professional judgment.”
So, the important thing I’d planned for months, hoping to tell her on our anniversary, would forever remain unsaid.
Tears fell silently, a dense, hollow ache spreading through my chest.
It was a hope I’d carefully, meticulously cherished for so long.
My body wasn’t taken to the morgue. Instead, it was wheeled directly into the pre-op area on the fifth floor.
The door opened, and two men walked in.
“Mr. Miller, performing organ harvesting without formal consent and family approval is illegal, and besides”
The speaker was Alex Reed, Evelyn’s resident. In the past few years, I’d hosted him many times when he came to discuss cases at our home.
Liam walked to the gurney, his gaze sweeping over the body before calmly moving away.
“I’ve waited three years for a matching donor. There’s no time for bureaucratic red tape.”
He turned to Alex, his tone brooking no argument: “Contact Evelyn. Tell her to come back immediately.”
“I want her to perform the surgery.”
Alex’s face showed his discomfort.
Liam pulled a checkbook from his suit jacket, quickly signed a check, and handed it over. “This is for collateral. I’ll bear all consequences. My legal team will handle any procedural issues.”
Alex hesitated, then took the check and dialed.
After a few rings, Evelyn’s cool, clear voice came through, the background a little noisy.
“Alex? This isn’t a good time.”
“Dr. Hayes, they’ve found a matching heart donor for Mr. Miller.” Alex glanced at Liam, lowering his voice. “The donor is in OR Five. We need you back immediately to operate.”
A moment of silence on the other end, then Evelyn’s voice, suddenly raised, barely containing her excitement:
“Confirmed match? I’m on my way!”
“Liam finally won’t have to wait anymore”
The sheer relief and joy in her voice pierced through my already un-beating heart like an ice pick.
If she knew that was me, would she still be so happy?
Less than twenty minutes later, Evelyn burst into the prep room.
She hadn’t even changed out of her trench coat, striding straight to Liam, gripping his shoulders, her eyes shining with a long-lost brilliance.
“Liam, the match is successful. You’re saved.”
Liam looked at her, a faint, almost imperceptible smile gracing his pale face, his voice low but steady: “Evelyn, if it wasn’t you, I wouldn’t accept this heart.”
Evelyn’s grip tightened. She promised solemnly, “Don’t worry, leave everything to me. I’ll handle it.”
“And what’s between Daniel and me it was always meant to be over.”
That phrase, “meant to be over,” felt like a final verdict.
Yes, everyone knew it, myself included. She’d chosen me purely out of spite, a desperate retaliation against true love.
I watched Evelyn swiftly change into her scrubs, don a mask, and walk with Alex towards the operating table.
For an expert like her, heart extraction was routine.
Yet, as her gaze landed on the lifeless body on the operating table, her movements paused, almost imperceptibly.
“Why weren’t the initial cleaning and sterilization done?” Her voice, muffled by the mask, carried a hint of displeasure.
Alex lowered his head, avoiding her gaze. “Dr. Hayes, the donor is a special case. Mr. Miller’s side wanted to maximize organ viability”
Evelyn didn’t press further. She held out her hand, and the scalpel was accurately placed within her grasp.
The blade reflected a cold light.
Just before she made the incision, her gaze fell to my left hand.
On my ring finger, the plain platinum wedding band I’d designed myself was stained with blood.
When we married, I’d had a matching women’s ring custom-made for her.
She’d only tried it on once before putting it, still in its box, into the back of a drawer, never to be seen again.
“Dr. Hayes?” Alex prompted softly.
Evelyn took a barely audible breath, her voice softer. “…I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for his family.”
The sharp scalpel cut through my chest.
Alex, handing her instruments, added quietly, “The initial forensic examination found that Mr. Stone’s personal effects only included this one ring. We haven’t officially confirmed his identity yet.”
Evelyn didn’t respond.
Only the cold clinking of surgical instruments and the rhythmic beeping of monitors echoed in the room.
I watched her focused profile from a distance, suddenly remembering last flu season. I’d been laid up with a high fever, too delirious to even get water. Evelyn, rarely home that night, had pulled an all-nighter in her study, working on a paper.
My neighbor found me almost dehydrated. When I got to the ER, even the on-call doctors frowned and shook their heads.
When I woke up, Evelyn stood by my bed, her first words a cold accusation:
“Daniel, don’t you think it’s childish to hurt yourself just to get attention?”
I was too weak to explain. She was the one who said not to bother her with “minor things.”
I followed her wishes so carefully, yet I was still wrong.
Evelyn could show a flicker of compassion for a stranger, so why such utter indifference for the husband she’d shared a bed with for five years?
The heart was fully extracted and placed into a hypothermic transport system.
Hours later, it began to beat again inside Liam’s chest.
The surgery was a success.
Evelyn left the operating room, waiting outside Liam’s room until his vitals stabilized before returning to her office.
She leaned back in her chair, rubbed her temples, then pulled out her phone.
The screen was blank, no new messages or missed calls.
For the past five years, I’d messaged her daily C trivial updates, interesting tidbits, weather forecasts, even just a simple “Goodnight.”
She rarely replied.
Now, she stared at “Daniel Stone” in her contacts, a slight frown on her face, and pressed dial.
Busy signal.
Once, twice, until it automatically disconnected.
Her patience finally seemed to run out. She opened SnapChat, sent a voice message, her voice edged with suppressed irritation:
“Daniel, there’s no point in delaying. I’m already at the courthouse waiting for you. I expect you to keep your word and show up.”
I looked at her sharp, cold profile, feeling only a sense of absurdity.
Well, good. From now on, she would never be bothered by the name “Daniel Stone” again.
My body remained unclaimed in the St. Mary Ann Medical Center morgue.
Because I was an orphan.
Raised in a church orphanage, getting into art school was one of the few bright spots in my otherwise bleak life.
The other bright spot? Meeting Evelyn.
In college, she was the undisputed genius of the medical school, the center of every social circle, an unreachable moon.
Back then, by her side stood the equally brilliant Liam.
I first saw her at an inter-collegiate charity event.
She stood at the podium, calmly and clearly articulating the vision of Doctors Without Borders, radiating brilliance.
Later, when someone maliciously targeted me, she calmly diffused the situation.
That dormant heart, for the first time, began to beat fiercely, uncontrollably.
But I knew the vast chasm between us. And besides, she already had a worthy companion.
It wasn’t until later that news of her breakup with Liam circulated.
Then, one dreary afternoon, I delivered custom-made cufflinks to her friend.
She walked me to the door, then suddenly looked up, her gaze emotionless:
“Daniel, do you need a marriage? Or rather, would you be willing to marry me?”
↓ ↓ Download the Novel Master app, Search 【 315224 】reads the whole book. ↓ ↓
NovelShort
