MIA’S POV

I picked up my bag and walked toward the cab already waiting outside. But just as I reached it, Robert’s guard burst through the door and hurried toward me, his face hard.

“Mr. Robert wants to see you. Now,” he said firmly.

I looked at him and raised a brow. “Anything else?”

Instead of answering, he grabbed my elbow and yanked me back, throwing my bag to the ground.

“Please, you’re hurting my arm,” I said.

He didn’t care. He just smirked and dragged me back inside, then shoved me into the room.

Robert was standing there with his hands in his pockets, waiting.

He cleared his throat the moment he saw me.

“Sit.”

I glanced behind me. The guard was still there, looking like he was ready to shove me into the seat. I sat down carefully.

“Jasmine has a rare liver condition,” he began.

I frowned. I didn’t understand where this was going. Jasmine’s health had nothing to do with me.

“Is that why you won’t let me leave?”

“Shut up and let me finish, Mia. Since when did you start interrupting me when I speak?” he snapped, his eyes burning with anger.

“Her liver is failing and it’s putting the baby at risk. That’s why you’ll be donating a portion of yours.”

I gasped, nearly choking on my own breath.

“Robert, you can’t be serious. That kind of surgery is dangerous. That’s not something you force on someone.”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion,” he cut in sharply. “You should be glad to help. Your liver is a match. And don’t forget, this baby is yours too. Don’t be foolish.”

At that moment, the doctor, who had been standing quietly near the door, gave me a concerned look and stepped forward.

“This surgery isn’t simple,” the doctor said carefully. “She’ll need time to recover. There are serious risks. Bleeding, infection, even death. We should look for another donor.”

“There is no one else,” Robert barked. “Jasmine is important. She’s carrying my child. And who is Mia? Who?”

The doctor hesitated, clearly troubled, but said nothing more.

“Exactly,” Robert said coldly. “She’s a nobody. Now do your job and save my Jasmine.”

Without another word, they both walked back into the room.

The doctor gave me a quick, apologetic glance before the nurses approached me with a consent form I wasn’t allowed to read.

I was prepped and wheeled away before I could even process it.

The doctor gave me a quick, apologetic glance before the anesthesia mask covered my nose and mouth. Cold gas filled my lungs. My body went numb, my thoughts blurred. They were about to cut me open, take a part of me I’d never get back. All for Jasmine. For Robert. My chest tightened as everything went dark. It felt like dying.

“Good girl,” Robert said with a smirk. “At least you’re useful for something today.”

“Robert Wood,” I said groggily.

“Yes, that’s my name, wifey,” he replied in a sarcastic tone.

“When this is over, I’m never coming back. You’re letting me go.”

“Keep running and keep being selfish, Mia. The baby is ours. Jasmine is just offering her womb, that’s all. You’re doing this for our child. Always remember that.”

Deep down, I knew once the baby arrived, Robert would cut me off without blinking. My mouth tasted sour, metallic. My head was spinning as I stared at the bandages on my side, the ache in my body a brutal reminder of what they are taking from me.

“Robert…”

Before I could finish, a loud scream echoed from the other room. It was Jasmine. She sounded like she was dying.

Robert rushed out instantly.

“Her body’s rejecting the transplant. Do something!” he shouted.

The doctor followed quickly. “She needs more tissue support. Her liver is shutting down again.”

“Then take more from Mia!” Robert barked.

“We already took the maximum safe amount. Any more could kill her,” the doctor warned, panicking.

“Do it now or we lose Jasmine,” Robert snapped.

The doctor paused, then turned back toward me.

I could barely keep my eyes open. My vision dimmed, my body cold and aching from the operation. I heard footsteps. The sound of metal clinking.

And then… nothing. It felt like death.

***

I woke up to the smell of something strong. Liver and beetroot soup, maybe. A tray sat by my side. I blinked and sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes with my hand. My head was still spinning.

“You looked so dead in your sleep,”

Robert said, setting his phone aside the moment I spoke.

“You lost a lot of strength. The doctor recommended that for you,”

he added, pointing to the tray.

I nodded quietly and reached for the spoon.

My hand shook as I tried to scoop from the bowl, and some of it spilled onto the floor.

“Let me feed you,”

he said, stepping closer.

“No, I can do it,” I replied quickly.

“You should be grateful I even offered. No sane man keeps a wife who can’t give him children. If you can’t bear children, you get divorced. So be thankful I’m still keeping you around.”

Before I could say anything, my phone chimed.

Robert’s eyes narrowed, lingering on it.

“That phone has been doing that ever since you went off,” he said sharply. “I wonder who suddenly cares about you,” he added with a scoff.

I wonder why we have to stay in a marriage where we already hate each other so much.

Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and immediately started smiling, then giggling like a teenager.

“Heyyy, I’ve missed you a lot,” he said, already walking toward the door with a stupid grin on his face.

Almost right after, my phone rang again. I picked it up.

“Hey babe? When are you leaving that hell of a place? Don’t tell me you actually went back…”

CHAPTER THREE

"I promise to be back. It's just something urgent I need to fix," I said quickly over the phone before hanging up.

Robert came in just as I dropped it. His eyes moved from the phone to my face, studying me. For a second, I thought he might ask who I was talking to, but then he looked away like he had decided not to care.

"Jasmine needs me, but I’ll be back before noon," he said, giving me one last look before walking out.

I would rather count individual grains of rice than count the lies Robert had told me in the past six years.

Robert never came to the hospital for the rest of the week.

A nurse walked in to run a check-up on me, and for some reason, she started grinning so widely it felt like she was mocking me.

"Mr. Robert looks so good with Miss Jasmine. They are so lovely. Everyone on the internet can’t even get over them. Just take a look," she said, holding her phone close to my face.

It was a video of Jasmine and Robert on a yacht, all loved up. He was rubbing her stomach, kissing her, touching her like I had never existed. The caption underneath read, "A soft life for my queen and our little miracle."

“Everyone in the comments is just all over them,” the nurse added, still grinning like it was the best news ever.

My stomach twisted, but I managed to say nothing.

***

I got discharged and was ready to leave. As I walked past the gynecology department, laughter echoed from the hallway. I paused. It sounded like Jasmine’s voice. And it was. The same set of nurses surrounded her again.

"Mr. Robert is madly in love with you. He hardly leaves your side. I really wish for a marriage like this," one of them said with a giggle.

Robert stood next to Jasmine, looking at her with eyes full of softness.

I brushed my hand over my stomach, remembering the last time I had been pregnant. I had gone to tell my dear husband, only to walk into his study and find Jasmine on her knees in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Mia, I just…" she had stammered, tears streaming down her face.

"How dare you not knock before entering my study? Can't you see you're upsetting Jasmine? Close the door and get out," Robert had shouted at me without hesitation.

He cuddled Jasmine, lifting her up as she cooed around him like a child. My stomach twisted as I rushed out of the room, clutching the pregnancy test. But then, I felt it—warm blood trailing down my legs. I lost the baby that same day. He never got to know.

“Mia? What are you still doing here?”

Robert called out.

“Nothing, I’m just…” I started to say.

“She looks so weak like she might die,”

Jasmine said, clinging to Robert.

“You don’t need to worry about her. I’m sure she’s fine,”

Robert replied, his eyes scanning me briefly.

“I think we should just take her home with us. She donated some parts of her liver for me. The least we can do is give her something to eat so she doesn’t pass out from weakness.”

“You’re so lovely, Jasmine, and thoughtful,”

he said, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Why are you still standing there? Get into the car and don’t waste Jasmine’s time,”

he snapped.

I didn’t want to go with him, but I had a few original documents like my medical records and some personal identification papers that I needed to pick up before leaving. So I followed them into the car.

I went into Robert's library. I needed to hurry out because Robert hated seeing me in his library and had warned me never to enter it again. But I had to take the documents. I rushed over, checking the boxes, and found the papers, including our marriage certificate and some medical files. I also wanted to pick up my wristwatch, but instead, my hand brushed over some used condoms on the table.

Robert hated having anyone in his library, yet now he did this here?

“Oh, help me throw that away. I forgot to,” Jasmine said from the door.

CHAPTER 4

“What are you doing in my library? You know I hate people in it.”

Robert’s voice came low and sharp as he walked in behind Jasmine, his presence filling the room like a storm.

I froze, still holding the condom between my fingers, then quickly dropped it and lifted the box I had grabbed the one with the documents.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice quiet. “I just wanted to grab some personal things.”

Robert scoffed and stepped forward, snatching the box from my hands. His eyes swept over it with disgust.

“Personal things?” he sneered. “You have personal things?”

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just ice.

“Everything you have is mine. My money paid for it. You don’t deserve to own anything, not even a pen. You should throw it all away.”

He started rifling through the box, careless, like the contents meant nothing.

“That’s our marriage certificate, Robert,” I said softly, watching him.

He barely glanced at it before shoving the box toward the corner of the table. Papers slipped out and scattered to the floor.

“I don’t care what it is,” he snapped. “None of it matters to me.”

I bent down slowly, gathering the scattered papers and placing them back into the box. My hands trembled, but I held on tightly, refusing to let anything else slip from my grasp. Without saying a word, I turned and walked toward the guest room.

Behind me, Jasmine suddenly let out a sharp cry.

“Ouch... I’m in pain... all over my waist,” she whined dramatically.

In an instant, Robert rushed to her side and scooped her up like she was made of glass. He carried her into the main bedroom without a second glance at me.

I was bent over in the guest room, picking up a few of my things I hadn’t realized were still there. My framed photo and a couple of old certificates were lying close to the edge of the table, almost smashed to the ground. I reached out quickly to gather them before anything else could break.

The door burst open behind me, slamming against the wall.

“Jasmine has requested that you make her something to eat. She said it would help with the pain,” Robert said coldly.

I turned, startled. “Me?” My voice came out before I could stop it.

“There are housekeepers all over this place—”

“She insisted it be made by you,” he interrupted, his tone sharp. “Please hurry up.”

And with that, he turned and left.

I stared at the door for a moment, then at the box in my hands.

I had no choice. So, I headed for the kitchen.

Once I stepped into the kitchen, Jasmine strolled in right behind me, her arms folded and a sneer playing on her lips.

“At this point, Mia, I swear you should be nominated for an award. I mean, you deserve to be a paid actress,” she said with a mocking scoff.

“What do you mean, Jasmine?” I asked, my voice low, but the anger rising fast in my chest.

“Oh, please. Don’t act dumb,” she said with a dry laugh. “You don’t see how I bully you, how I mock you, and yet you stay calm like some saint. It’s pathetic.”

My fists clenched.

“I think you should leave the kitchen, Jasmine.”

“Ooh! That reminds me,” she added with exaggerated surprise, pressing a finger to her lips like she had just remembered a juicy secret. “I never needed that liver transplant from you. I was never sick. I just wanted to see how far your stupidity would go.”

She broke into a hard, wicked laugh that bounced off the tiled walls.

My heart twisted.

Before I could think, I shoved her hard towards the gas stove behind her. Her elbow hit the metal knob and it snapped. Gas hissed out. A second later, the entire kitchen erupted.

Flames exploded, throwing me into the far wall. The blast deafened me. I hit the ground hard, the room spinning, smoke choking my lungs.

“Jasmine!” Robert’s voice rang out. He burst into the kitchen and swept her into his arms, not even glancing at me lying barely conscious by the burning counter. He jumped over my body and ran out with her.

The fire roared louder, swallowing the house in seconds. It took the firefighters hours to bring it under control. Chaos swallowed the property, but by then, I was gone.

Gone without a trace.

Robert kept asking for me, calling me nonstop. But I was never found—not even a burnt piece of clothing.

At the airport, I turned off my phone one last time, then smashed it into pieces against the bench beside me.

I was never going back to him.