Heinry sent large sums of money to the families of heart donors every month.
There was only one condition. The donors were forbidden from giving their hearts to anyone else. If Yvonne needed it, they were obligated to donate immediately.
The last certificate in the box was mine. But the recipient of the donation had been changed from my mother to Yvonne.
I recalled the day Heinry handed me a stack of documents to sign, insisting they were required for the surgery preparations. Desperate to save my mother, I barely glanced at them before signing.
This certificate must have been slipped in among them and my mother’s original document was most likely destroyed long ago.
Heinry, you truly went to great lengths for Yvonne.
Later, I printed out the divorce agreement and sat on the sofa, a wave of loneliness engulfing me. The grief weighed so heavily on my chest that sleep was impossible.
The next morning, Heinry was oblivious to my turmoil and assumed I had simply risen early.
Perhaps guilt from seeing me cough up blood the previous night spurred him on, so he prepared a meticulously balanced breakfast, every dish rich with nutrients.
When I remained still at the table, his voice tinged with concern.
"Wendy, why aren’t you eating? Are you in a bad mood?"
"It's nothing. I just miss my mother."
He sighed.
"Wendy, you’re not the only one. I think of her all the time, too. She was such a kind, selfless person... but because of me, I couldn’t save her when it mattered. I still remember her holding my hand, asking us to promise to live a happy life together."
If my mother had had even an ounce of strength left to lift her hand, it would have been to strangle him to death.
Looking at the practiced sorrow on his face, I could not help but feel a bitter wave of sarcasm.
I was about to bring up the divorce, but Heinry spoke first casually as if he were making a passing suggestion.
"Wendy, you’ve been feeling down for a while now. Yvonne is coming back to China today and it’s her birthday. There’s a family dinner at the old house. Why don’t we go? It might cheer you up a bit."
"I know you haven’t wanted to see her since... what happened with Mom. But so many years have passed. Yvonne didn’t mean for any of that to happen. After all, we’re family. She’s always been sensitive. If we don’t go, I’m afraid she’ll be hurt…"
So this was his real purpose today. All that pretense of care was just a way to see his beloved.
I cut him off coldly, "Whatever."
Heinry smiled, relieved.
"I knew my Wendy was the most understanding."
As soon as we entered the old house, the sight before me was almost nauseating. Yvonne Spencer, dressed like a noble princess, clung to my mother-in-law’s arm, acting coquettishly.
My mother-in-law beamed with delight, indulging her every whim, even feeding her slices of fresh fruit into her mouth.
She was adored and spoiled in every possible way.
Yvonne spotted me immediately. She turned to my mother-in-law and said it with a tone that was laced with malice.
"Grandma, you’ve fattened me up with all your treats! Now that Aunt Wendy is here, why don’t you give her the leftovers? I don’t like it and she doesn’t have a mother, so…"
My mother-in-law followed her gaze and noticed me for the first time. Her eyes swept over my plain clothes and a sneer curled on her lips.
"Who invited you, a sickly wretch, to come here? Do you want to bring your bad luck and poverty into our lives?"
"Our Spencer Family is a distinguished family of doctors, yet you walk around looking like a beggar. Do you have any idea how much shame you’ve brought to my son? Married for years and can’t even give him a child. Useless and brainless, just like your damn mother. Did she never teach you how to behave?"
Heinry was not even a biological member of their family. He was the child his stepmother brought into the marriage.
Perhaps out of insecurity, she had always insisted that he marry a woman from a strong family to ensure his place in the household.
Years later, after Yvonne’s father died in a car accident, Heinry proved himself. He earned fame as the “golden scalpel” and won over my father-in-law, who entrusted him with the family business.
Only then did my mother-in-law grudgingly agree to our marriage.
