The hours crawled by like years.
I spent the whole day in the hospital, yet not once did anyone come. No Paulo. No Leah. Not even my brothers. Only the nurses shuffled in and out, adjusting my IV, checking my vitals, telling me to rest as though rest could silence the storm inside me.
By the time the nurse handed me the discharge papers, my chest ached—not from my injuries, but from the hollowness of it all. They hadn’t even pretended to care.
I clutched the papers and pushed through the hospital doors, the evening air cool against my skin. I had taken only three steps outside when a hand grabbed mine.
“Olivia.”
I froze. Paulo.
He looked ragged, shadows under his eyes, but his grip was still as firm as a chain. “Leah needs you,” he said without preamble. “The doctors think she has a kidney problem. She needs a donor. You might be a match.”
For a moment, I just stared at him, the words circling my brain like vultures. Then I yanked my hand free. “No. I will not do it. I don’t care about her kidney. I don’t care about any of you.”
His jaw hardened. “You don’t have a choice.”
I laughed, sharp and bitter. “Don’t I? This is my body. My life. I decide.”
Paulo leaned close, his breath hot and foul. “Then choose. Donate to your sister, or I’ll end your mother’s treatment. You know she’s hanging by a thread. You know she needs that medicine. And if you refuse…” His eyes gleamed with cruelty. “She dies.”
My stomach churned. “How evil can you get?” My voice cracked. “You would use my mother’s life to force me?”
“Yes,” he said coldly. “So do it.”
Before I could scream, before I could protest, my brothers appeared, flanking me like guards. They each gripped an arm, steering me back into the hospital. My words fell on deaf ears, drowned out by their muttered orders. The world blurred until I found myself in a sterile room, my blood drawn, tubes strapped to my arm.
“Just a test,” one brother muttered.
Leah was there too, pale and fragile, her eyes brimming with tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean for it to be like this. I—I hid because I was sick, Olivia. I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Sorry?” My throat burned. “You disappear for years, destroy our family, and now—now you come back, and I’m the one who has to pay for it?”
She opened her mouth, but Paulo’s glare silenced her. My brothers tightened their grip, one of them growling, “Shut up, Olivia. Don’t make this harder.”
Something cold pressed into my skin. My world spun. Darkness swallowed me whole.
When I woke up, I was in hospital clothes, thin and scratchy. A nurse stood by my bed, smiling kindly. “Good news. You’re a match. The surgery is scheduled in three days.”
“No…” My voice cracked. “I don’t want this.”
“You’ll save your sister’s life,” she said softly, as if that justified everything.
Tears burned behind my eyes. “No, no, this isn’t right. There must be another option. Another donor—”
Before I could finish, the door burst open. Paulo, my brothers, Leah.
“You don’t have a choice,” Paulo said, voice like ice. “Stop being selfish. Stop making this about you.”
Selfish. The word carved itself into my chest.
I turned my face away, refusing to let them see me break. My only escape was silence.
When they left, I pulled out my phone with trembling hands and typed a single desperate message to Cameron: Save me. They’re forcing me into surgery. Please.
I hit send, my tears falling onto the screen.
Later that evening, I wandered down the hall, searching for one thing—one person who reminded me I wasn’t completely alone.
Mother. Her room was quiet, the steady beeping of the monitors like a fragile heartbeat. She lay still, her face pale, as though carved from porcelain. I sank into the chair beside her bed and took her hand, my tears spilling freely.
“Mother…” My voice trembled. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought I could handle this. I thought I could save us. But they’re destroying me piece by piece.”
Her hand didn’t move, but I clung tighter, pressing my forehead against it. “I promise you, I’ll fight now. I won’t let them win. Not anymore.”
I stayed there for what felt like hours, whispering prayers, apologies, promises—until faint voices drifted in from the hall.
I froze.
Paulo’s voice. Low, assured. “Don’t worry, Leah. You’ll be saved. The operation will fix everything.”
Leah’s weak voice wavered. “But Olivia—”
Paulo cut her off. “Forget her. Once the surgery’s done, once we have what we need, we can dispose of her. Say something went wrong with the kidney. An accident. No one will question it.”
My blood turned to ice.
They weren’t just going to use me. They were going to kill me.
I stumbled back into Mother’s room, clutching her hand as though it could keep me tethered to life. “Did you hear that, Mama?” I whispered. “They want me gone. Just like Father. Just like everything else they’ve taken.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I won’t let it happen. I’ll fight. For you. For me.”
The next morning, a nurse slipped quietly into my room, her eyes darting nervously toward the door. “Miss Olivia,” she whispered, “I’ve arranged for your mother to be moved tomorrow. Someone important asked me to keep it quiet.”
My heart stopped. “Who?”
“Cameron Evans,” she murmured. “He said he’ll see you tomorrow.”
Relief crashed over me like a wave. Cameron. My last chance.
I nodded, clutching the nurse’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you.”
She gave me a small smile. “Just hold on, Miss Olivia. Just two more days.”
Two more days.
I looked at the ceiling, at the sterile white lights above me, and whispered a vow through my tears. “Two more days, and I’ll be free. They’ll regret everything they’ve done.”
