C09
“Faye, there’s nothing I can do. I’m the kind of person who saves, not takes lives.”
“Do you think I just came back like that? I found a match for you. Otherwise, there’s no way I’d have agreed to help with the surgery. You have to live, Faye. Auntie will be heartbroken if she finds out. The one who deserves to die is the one with the last name Dmitri.”
Phoebe then took me to meet the mother of the organ donor. She showed me a picture of
the donor.
It was a picture of an eight–year–old girl named Gaia. Her eyes and brows bore an uncanny resemblance to Phoebe’s from when she was young.
And my mother’s name, too, contained the letter “G.”
Because of a car accident, Gaia had been in a vegetative state.
But just a few days ago, she had briefly regained consciousness and told her mother, “Mom, I’ve been lying here too long. I want to leave. Please donate my heart to someone who needs it. Let them live well and see the world’s beauty for me.”
With that, she slipped back into unconsciousness.
Her mother, though shattered, couldn’t bear to see her daughter suffer any longer. She honored her daughter’s last wish and donated her heart.
Maybe this was the way her daughter’s life continued.
I stared at the photo of the girl whose face mirrored my mother’s so closely. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks.
Was it her? Had she returned?
Months passed and I was healing well.
Phoebe, who had chosen to volunteer in Africa instead of staying behind as a medical professor, often lost touch with me..
She always regretted not coming back sooner when she heard the news. If she had, Theodore wouldn’t have had to perform surgery on both me and my mother.
I reassured her, saying it must have been fate, that my mother’s condition couldn’t wait. Now that her volunteer work was done, Phoebe wanted to settle back in the country.
She admitted that while this small town was beautiful, its medical resources were lacking and she wanted to make a difference for the locals.
Gaia’s mother, who was a local, ran an art studio and taught painting.
O Q
KIKA
12:23 F, 31 Jan M
My Husband Stole My Heart and Killed My Mother
50%
When she learned that I had majored in painting, she invited me to join her. I didn’t hesitate
to accept.
As my health steadily improved, so did my peace of mind. During my free time, Phoebe, Gaia’s mother and I would gather to share meals and conversation, savoring the moments.
Everything from the past felt like a distant dream.
Only the scar on my chest kept reminding me that it had all been real.
While I was living in peace, Theodore, back in the country, had been searching for me like a man possessed.
Because Phoebe had made sure to tell the hospital not to release any information about my surgery to Dominic, he refused to leave the house. Each day was spent in a haze of alcohol, ignoring his mother’s frantic calls, even as she begged him through her tears to get a grip.
Then, one day, his phone screen flashed with a familiar face in a travel news article… A flash of wild joy flickered in Theodore’s eyes. He sprang to his feet, eager to leave, but in his haste, he crashed into Rhea at the door.
Seeing his disheveled appearance, Rhea tilted her head in concern and spoke softly, “Uncle, haven’t you found Faye yet? It’s been so long. Maybe… maybe she really is gone. Why ruin yourself like this? There are still women who care about you, like me…”
“Shut up! Faye isn’t dead, you fool!”
“I, I’m just worried about you…”
Without warning, Theodore’s hand shot out, gripping her neck. His voice was low and edged with an intensity he hadn’t shown before.
“Worried about me? If you cared about me, would you have done everything to make me
lose Faye?!”
“Uncle, what are you talking about? I, I don’t understand…”
Theodore’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Still playing the innocent card with me?”
