3: 3
3.
Before I could get a word out, my father snatched the phone, his face dark with fury, and barked into it, "Tell him not to bother coming."
Whoever was on the other end clearly hadn't expected my father to answer.
A weak voice came right back. "Uncle, I'm so sorry. Allan only wanted Peggy to donate a kidney because he was worried sick about me. Uncle, I won't take Peggy's kidney, I really won't, cough, cough—"
A violent fit of coughing crackled through the line.
The next second, I heard a voice I knew too well.
"Joyce, what's wrong? Didn't the doctor tell you not to get out of bed?"
"Allan, I'm fine. You should hurry back and get engaged to Peggy. Don't worry about me."
"Don't talk nonsense. If she won't give you a kidney, I'm not getting engaged to her. Joyce, don't worry. I'll make sure you get a healthy kidney."
Instinctively I looked over at my father and everyone else. Their faces were all furious. If Allan had been standing here, there was no telling how badly he'd have been beaten.
Things had come to this. There was no future for Allan and me, no matter how much I still loved him in my heart.
Allan on the other end had no idea I was on the call. What he said next to his first love was what made me resolve to drive him out of my heart for good.
"Joyce, you know you've always been in my heart. But I've been with Peggy for seven years. I can't just walk away from her. Don't worry, though. Even after I'm married, your business is my business. I'll always take good care of you—"
That was as far as I could listen. I said one thing to the two of them on the line. "Allan, my body was given to me by my parents. No one gets to decide the fate of my life except them."
Then, without giving anyone on the other end a chance to react, I hung up. And while I was at it, I dropped Allan's number straight into my blocked list.
When the dinner began, everyone kept a tactful silence and said nothing more. No one asked what had actually happened. We just treated it as an ordinary family gathering.
Just as the food came out, Allan showed up.
He didn't so much as glance at anyone's expression. He simply grabbed me and started hauling me toward the door. When my father tried to stop him, he told him off in a reproachful tone. "Uncle, this is between Joyce and me. You're an elder. You really shouldn't be getting involved."
Allan dragged me out the door by force and found a corner where no one was around.
"Peggy, what's this supposed to mean?"
I shook his hand off, rubbed my wrist, and let out a sarcastic little laugh. "What do I mean? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? Weren't you going to take care of her for the rest of your life? I'm stepping aside for the two of you. Shouldn't you be happy?"
His body went stiff for a moment, and he didn't dare meet my eyes, guilt written all over him.
"Peggy, you've got it wrong. You're the only one in my heart. Why hold anything against a sick person?"
Then he shot a glance toward the private room and said, "Peggy, you saw it too. All those relatives are here. People came with their blessings to see us get engaged. You don't want to make a scene either, do you?"
"So?"
"Peggy, let's go back in together."
As he spoke he reached for my hand, but I dodged it in disgust. His hand hung there in midair, and his face darkened in an instant, a trace of anger in his voice. "Peggy, I've already come all this way. What exactly are you throwing a tantrum about?"
Ha.
So in his eyes, this was me throwing a tantrum.
"Allan, if I donate the kidney, will you marry me right away?"
