I hung up and went straight to the hospital to cancel the kidney-donation paperwork.
The doctor told me the donor had to sign the revocation. I had seven days — seven days to make Vanessa sign the withdrawal and remove the threat to my life.
From the hospital I went to a law firm to have a lawyer draw up divorce papers.
“Oh, ma’am,” the clerk said, peering at the records on the screen, “your file shows you are unmarried. You and Mr. Liam Foster are not listed as spouses.”
Even after the shock I’d just been through, my brain blanked for a second.
Unmarried? But Liam and I had registered a marriage five years ago.
At the time I had just stepped away from the Bennett family. As an heir I needed to hide my identity and complete certain missions to grow stronger. I got sick soon after — I remember meeting Liam outside the hospital. He courted me feverishly; he said he loved me at first sight. We fell in love and were married quickly. Until today I’d believed he loved me back the way I loved him.
I asked the clerk to check Liam’s marital status again.
He looked at me with suspicion. “Liam Foster’s spouse is listed as Vanessa Cole — they were married five years ago.”
I laughed then, a sound that broke into bitter tears.
It was all fake from the beginning. The love was fake, the marriage certificate a sham. The only thing real was the suffering — and the five children I had lost.
I tore the counterfeit marriage certificate to pieces and left the law office reeling.
Back at the villa I dragged out a suitcase from the back of the closet. My fingers trembled but I forced myself to move — if I stopped, if I let myself feel, the truth would swallow me whole.
I shoved clothes into the case mechanically. When I picked up a canary-yellow dress, my hand froze.
Liam had taken me shopping for that dress when I lost my third child. He’d said bright colors would bring us luck. My throat closed and tears rose; I blinked them away hard.
“Clara?”
Liam’s voice came from behind me, threaded with a faint alertness. “You’re home? What are you doing?”
I snapped the suitcase shut and forced a nasty smile. “Just sorting out seasonal clothes,” I said, trying to sound casual.
He narrowed his eyes and scanned the slightly messy room and the open wardrobe. He was about to speak when another voice slithered in like a snake.
“Hey, Clara.”
Vanessa walked in with him.
My gaze landed on her without permission.My five children, whose bone marrow flowed within her, sustaining her life. The thought of it tore at me — my fingertips went numb and I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms.
I stayed silent. I was afraid that if I spoke, I would scream and destroy everything.
“Clara,” Liam said with repulsive entitlement, “Vanessa is pregnant and needs a more comfortable environment. Our house is quiet, the master bedroom is larger and has better light — it’ll be better for her recovery. You’ll move to the guest room starting today.”
I stared at him in disbelief, then at Vanessa with that small, satisfied smile. They were so brazen — pushing in, taking my last sanctuary.
Vanessa stepped forward and casually rested a hand on her not-yet-prominent belly, feigning contrition with the tiniest edge of triumph. “Only temporarily, Clara. After I have the baby I’ll give it back. You understand me better than anyone, don’t you? Pregnant women need the best care.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So?”
Her smile froze, surprise flickered across her face, then she quickly replaced it with an acting pout. Her lower lip trembled. “Clara, I thought… I thought you’d be understanding. After everything we’ve been through…”
“Understanding.” The word felt like a branding iron.
She had taken my children’s marrow. Now she and my husband were trying to take my kidney, my home, even my last refuge.
“Clara!” Liam’s voice snapped, accusatory. “Look at you. She’s your friend. She’s pregnant and needs the best environment. This jealous, hateful face you’re making is sickening.”
I turned to him slowly and let a cold smile curve my mouth. “Jealous?” I repeated. “Jealous of what?”
His gaze flickered. “Because she can carry a pregnancy when you —” He cut himself off, but the implication stung like venom. Because I lost my children. Because he had killed them.
I drew a breath and suppressed the rising violence in my chest. “Liam,” I said, letting my eyes trace them both, “since you’re so eager to make room for her… is this baby yours?”
The air went still.
Liam’s jaw tightened. Vanessa widened her eyes in an exaggerated hurt.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” he snapped. “Of course not.”
“Is that so?” I raised my brow. “Then why are you more invested in this baby than the father might be? Why would you insist on kicking your wife out of her own bedroom?”
“She’s alone, Clara. She’s pregnant. What kind of monster would be petty about a room right now?” he almost howled.
What kind of monster kills his five children? The question hung in my mind, unspoken.
I swallowed the words back down. I stopped looking at him, zipped my suitcase with a harsh sound, and said, voice shaking, “…Fine.”
I was already packing. I didn’t want to spend another second in this room full of betrayal.
He looked relieved, as if a problem had been solved.
“Liam?” Vanessa prompted.
He started to walk away.
“Wait, Liam.” I called calmly and picked up a folder that had been on my bedside table. “There’s one document I need you to sign.”
He scowled impatiently. “Clara, I don’t have time—”
“It’s just our fifth-anniversary gift,” I cut in, soft, and handed him the paper and a pen. “Just sign here. It’ll be quick.”
He hesitated, then Vanessa called his name. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, grabbed the pen, and scribbled his signature where I pointed without looking.
I watched his final stroke with no expression while my heart hammered in my chest.
In that moment I was oddly grateful they’d already registered a marriage —After all, it would be much easier to trick Liam into signing the agreement to revoke the donation.
He left without a backward glance for the woman who’d taken my room. The door closed.
I immediately called my lawyer, my voice steady and cold: I would keep the revocation paperwork with me and wait until Vanessa was in surgery and I was out of the city before I handed it to the hospital.
Then I called Liam’s business partners. Using the Bennett name, I announced sanctions: in seven days, companies tied to Liam would stop cooperating with him.
Seven days. I was going to make sure the rest of his world began to crumble.
