My younger sister, Rae, begged me to donate my kidney to save her life. Because of my poor health, I refused—the risk was too high.

From that moment on, my entire family turned against me. They called me selfish, heartless, a disgrace to the family. At my own engagement party, they openly cursed me, saying I'd die a miserable death, calling me an ungrateful wretch for not valuing my sister's life.

Humiliated by the scene, my fiancé, Hunter, ended our engagement on the spot, disgust written all over his face.

As the guests whispered and my family secretly reveled in my misfortune, Kai Richards, the young heir to one of the most powerful families in the city, suddenly stepped forward. His voice was clear, cutting through the silence.

"Milena, I've had a crush on you for ten years. Will you marry me?"

Out of spite—and desperation to escape the humiliation—I said yes.

For the next five years, Kai treated me like a princess. Every want, every need, he fulfilled without hesitation. I thought I had found my salvation, a love that could finally heal me.

But that illusion shattered when our four-year-old son, Leon, suddenly went missing. Days later, his small, lifeless body was found floating in the sea. His kidneys had been harvested.

Grief consumed me, dragging me into an illness I couldn't recover from. My body was weak, my heart broken beyond repair.

Late one night, unable to sleep, I passed by Kai's study and heard voices inside.

"A four-year-old provides the finest kidney, wouldn't you agree, Kai?" my father's familiar voice said. "Now, my daughter is saved. But tell me, Kai, does the cost weigh on you at all, sacrificing your own son for Rae?"

There was a pause—then Kai's cold, detached voice followed.

"Rae is the love of my life. A child born from a woman I never loved means nothing to me."

***

My heart shattered into a million jagged pieces and my legs gave out beneath me. I slowly sank to my knees, gripping the cold wall for support, my trembling fingers barely finding purchase.

The study door stood slightly ajar and my father's voice continued to drift out, each word stabbing deeper into my already bleeding heart.

"Yes, Kai, you're right. After all, men don't endure pregnancies. One night's amusement and voilà—a child. Leon's death is no big deal. You'll replace him easily."

I froze. My breath caught painfully in my throat.

I couldn't believe it—those vile, heartless words came from my own father.

Leon was his grandson. A bright-eyed boy who had once reached up to him with chubby hands and giggled at his silly faces. Yet now, Leon was nothing more than a means to an end—a convenient sacrifice to save his precious Rae.

My father's voice darkened with irritation. "Rae's been suffering from kidney failure for five years, waiting endlessly for the perfect match. If only Milena had agreed to donate back then, we wouldn't have had to drag it out this long!"

Kai's voice followed, calm and cold. "Milena's health was poor. She wouldn't have been a suitable donor."

For a fleeting moment, a fragile sliver of hope bloomed through my anguish—a desperate belief that maybe, just maybe, Kai had cared for me, even a little.

But the hope was crushed under the weight of his next words.

Kai let out a low, mocking laugh. "You're overthinking it, Mr. Nichols. The only thing I ever felt for Milena was disgust—disgust at her weak, sickly body, unworthy of saving Rae."

My nails bit into my palms as his voice carried on, each word more brutal than the last.

"Every time I touched her, I felt so nauseated I wanted to vomit. But to create the perfect donor match for Rae, I had no choice. I had to force myself to father a child with her."

My vision blurred. My entire world tilted on its axis.

So, this was the truth behind my marriage—an elaborate, carefully orchestrated scheme from the very beginning.

Five years ago, when I was set to marry my first love, Hunter, my parents had burst into the ceremony uninvited, creating a scene so humiliating I could barely stand under the weight of their accusations. They called me selfish, ungrateful, a curse on the family. They screamed that I was destined to die a miserable, lonely death.

Whispers rippled through the crowd, the weight of judgment crushing me from every direction.

Hunter couldn't take the shame. With a single cold declaration—"This engagement is off"—he turned and walked away, leaving me stranded, humiliated and alone on the stage.

That was when Kai appeared.

He stepped forward, cutting through the whispers like a blade. With his strikingly handsome face and calm confidence, he extended his hand to me, his smile gentle and reassuring.

"I've had a crush on you for ten years. Will you marry me?"

I thought he was my salvation—a lifeline thrown to me by fate itself.

Only now, standing outside that study, did I finally understand the truth.

The woman Kai had truly loved for over ten years wasn't me. It was Rae.

He married me for one reason—to create the perfect donor match for her. And when I gave birth to that match, my son, my sweet little Leon, they took his kidneys.

They took my child from me—the child I carried, nurtured and cherished.

I hated him.

A scream clawed at my throat, but all that escaped was a choked sob. I clutched my chest, fists pounding against the floor, my cries swallowed by the thunder that roared outside. Lightning split the sky, briefly illuminating the empty hallway around me.

Suddenly, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows.

A hand gripped my arm, strong and unyielding, yanking me to my feet.

"Let go of me!" My voice cracked as I struggled. I knew who it was even before I turned—Kai's personal bodyguard, Clayton.

His grip tightened, his muscular arms like iron bands as he pulled me into a corner. His other hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my cries. No matter how hard I thrashed, he held firm, his face impassive.

Through the narrow slit of the study door, I watched helplessly as Rae walked in.

She smiled sweetly, her voice soft and saccharine. "Kai, thank you for finding me the perfect kidney donor."

My stomach turned.

She knew. She had always known.

For four years, she'd smiled at me over cups of tea, played with Leon like the perfect doting aunt—all while seeing nothing more than two kidneys walking around in a little boy's body.

Lightning struck again, its bright flash lighting up the study just in time for me to see Rae rise onto her tiptoes, arms looping around Kai's neck as she kissed him deeply.

"Kai, you're so good to me," she purred. "You even got me my precious nephew's kidneys..."

How dare she! How dare they!

My whole body shook with rage, every muscle trembling as I fought to break free—but Clayton's hand clamped down even harder over my mouth, silencing me completely.

He wasn't rough out of malice or cruelty. Perhaps fearing I would disrupt Kai and Rae's romantic moment, he held me there, convinced that keeping me quiet was the right thing to do.

I bit him, hard enough to taste blood, my teeth tearing into his flesh—but not a single sound escaped him. He didn't flinch, didn't loosen his grip.

When I finally regained my senses, though still trembling and broken, I found myself feeling an odd sense of gratitude toward Clayton.

Yes. I couldn't let Kai and the others know that I had discovered the truth.

I had to stay silent. Play along. Pretend I was still blind.

Only then could I have my revenge.

Clayton was emotionless, a bit slow-witted and mute. Kai treated him like a loyal, obedient dog—every command given was executed without hesitation or question.

Right now, Kai had tasked him with keeping a close watch on me, making sure I didn't follow my son into the grave out of sheer grief.

"Honey, pull yourself together. Losing Leon hurts me too, but life must go on. We can always have more kids..."

Kai knelt beside the bed, his voice soft and coaxing, as if he were truly a heartbroken husband.

I turned my back to him, my face buried in the pillow, silently shedding tears. My hatred burned so fiercely inside me that my teeth ached from clenching them too hard. I wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands.

But I was too weak. His bodyguards, his power—there was no way I could take him down in a moment of fury. I needed a plan. A long one.

"Don't cry, love. Look at you—you've lost so much weight. And these bruises... what happened? Don't tell me you tried to hurt yourself..." He trailed off, then sighed dramatically. "I see now. It's all Clayton's fault for not watching you properly, isn't it?"

Kai put on his usual performance, a flawless blend of tenderness and concern, his hands brushing my hair as if I were the most precious thing in the world. "Whoever dares to harm you, I'll never forgive them."

He stood, grabbed a whip from the wall and coldly ordered, "Clayton, shirt off. Kneel."

Without hesitation, Clayton obeyed, sinking to his knees and pulling off his shirt to expose his broad back.

The whip cracked through the air and Kai struck him over and over—more than ten times, until Clayton's back was a canvas of raw, bloody welts. Not once did he make a sound. When it was over, Clayton calmly put his shirt back on, returned to his position beside the bed and stood like a statue.

Kai wiped the blood off his hands with a silk handkerchief, then cupped my face, his fingers cool against my skin. "Milly, are you satisfied now? Will you finally talk to me?"

I gagged, turning my head to the side and spitting straight onto his designer suit.

"Oh dear, sorry," I said sweetly, "my stomach's been acting up lately. Everything wants to come back up. Join me for breakfast, darling?"

The stench of bile and bitterness clung to him and his expression briefly cracked before he forced a smile. "I have a meeting," he said, using work as an excuse to flee.

As soon as he left, I sat up. I had to check the surveillance footage.

Leon had always wanted a cat. For his fourth birthday, I'd secretly arranged for a purebred British Shorthair to be shipped from overseas.

The cat hadn't arrived in time—but I had prepared everything. Cat food was tucked away in the storage room and I had secretly installed surveillance cameras all over the villa, ready to watch the cat's every move once it arrived.

Leon never got to meet that cat. But now, those cameras had a new purpose—they might've caught glimpses of Kai's crimes. Proof. Evidence. Anything. Except Clayton was watching me like a hawk. I tried everything to make him leave—screaming at him, hurling insults, even slapping him across the face.

"Are you deaf? I said get out! You're nothing but Kai's dog. Admit it—you killed Leon, didn't you?"

Clayton simply stared back. His sharp profile remained carved from stone, unmoved by my words or my fists.

In a fit of rage, I grabbed a porcelain vase from the nightstand, smashed it to the floor and seized a jagged shard, pressing it to my wrist.

Clayton moved in an instant, faster than I could blink. His iron grip locked around my wrist, forcing the shard from my hand. They said he held a ninth-degree black belt in Taekwondo and a fifth-degree black belt in Karate—restraining me was no harder than handling a helpless kitten.

But desperation made me frantic. Clayton had to leave, so I slammed my head against the wall with everything I had.

Blinding pain exploded across my skull and my vision blurred red.

For the first time, Clayton hesitated. Panic flickered in his eyes and then he bolted from the room to summon a doctor.

I didn't waste a second. Fighting the waves of dizziness, I crawled to my laptop, locked the door and accessed the surveillance footage.

My fingers shook as I sped through the recordings, heart pounding in my ears.

But there was nothing. Not a single clue pointing to Kai's hand in Leon's murder or the theft of his organs. He was too careful. Too cautious.

But I did find something else.

A conversation between Rae and my father.

They were discussing how to kill me.

In the surveillance footage, Rae's voice was filled with impatience. "Leon is dead and isn't Milena making a fuss about killing herself? Why is she still alive?"

My father, sitting across from her, spoke with a hesitant tone. "I heard Kai has been keeping bodyguards around her."

Rae rolled her eyes dramatically. "The only reason we kept her around was so she could give birth to Leon and donate his kidney to me. Now that the job is done, it's best if she just dies."

My father shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe Kai's just worried about you. He probably wants to have more kids with Milena—just to create a few extra kidneys, in case something happens again."

Rae's expression darkened, sharp and venomous. "No way. I can't tolerate Milena staying by Kai's side any longer. I'm the one he loves. I need to marry him as soon as possible."

There was a flicker of guilt in my father's eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. "Milena is selfish, but... does she really deserve to die? What if I try to talk her into divorcing Kai instead?"

Rae's cold laugh rang out, echoing off the walls. "Dad, do you really think she'll just let go of Kai? She'll cling to him no matter what. We just need to give her a little push—and luckily, I just got my hands on a new drug."

My father frowned. "What kind of drug?"

With a sweet smile, Rae leaned closer, her innocent face a chilling contrast to her words. "A top-grade aphrodisiac. It'll make her lose all control. I'll find some filthy man infected with AIDS to sleep with her. She'll think it's Kai."

She chuckled softly, her tone dripping with malice. "When the time comes, I'll record the whole thing and send it to Kai. The moment he finds out she has AIDS, he'll kick her out without a second thought."

Her scheme was vile—so twisted it made my stomach churn. Even my father looked unsettled.

"That's... isn't that too much? You're seriously planning to find a man with AIDS?"

Rae's expression turned icy. "There's nothing money can't buy. Don't try to stop me, Dad. Once I marry into the Richards family, you'll live the rest of your life in luxury. I'm not an ungrateful daughter like Milena."

The next day, my mother suddenly appeared at my bedside, carrying a steaming bowl of porridge.

"Milly, you've rarely eaten lately. I made this myself. Eat it while it's warm."

Her hands trembled slightly as she scooped up a spoonful, her gaze flickering uneasily.

A terrible suspicion curled in my stomach. There was something in that porridge. It had to be the aphrodisiac Rae mentioned.

"Mom..." My voice was barely above a whisper. "Do you and Dad really think I'm... ungrateful?" My heart twisted painfully in my chest. Why did my own parents hate me so much? Why were they helping Rae destroy me?

My mother sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Back then, we asked you to donate a kidney to your sister and you refused. After you married rich, we asked you to buy a villa for your brother and you wouldn't."

The bitterness in her voice was impossible to miss and it made my hands tremble. "I was in poor health! The doctors said donating a kidney could've killed me. And even if it hadn't, I might not have saved Rae—I could've lost my life for nothing!

"As for Andy, he's a drunk, a gambler and spends his days chasing women. If I'd given him money, he would've wasted it all. Mom, why can't you see that?"

My mother's expression flickered with conflict, but in the end, her gaze dropped to the floor. "Your father said you're ungrateful, so you must be. He tells me what to do and I do it. He wanted me to make you this porridge, so eat it."

The pain in my chest was unbearable, suffocating. Without hesitation, I swiped my hand across the tray, sending the bowl crashing to the floor.

My mother's shocked expression only made the knot in my throat tighten. I staggered to my feet, stumbled to the wine cabinet and grabbed a random bottle. With a jerk, I pulled out the cork and drank directly from it.

"Screw your porridge!" My voice was hoarse. "Leon is gone. Just leave me alone and let me drink in peace!"

I was deliberately putting on a show—baiting Rae into spiking my wine instead. It would make things easier for me later.

Sure enough, exactly one week later, Rae showed up at my door, smiling sweetly and holding a crystal wine glass. "Sis, this is a 2008 Lafite. Give it a taste."

Two hours earlier, I had already seen her sneaking into the kitchen and slipping something into the wine through the surveillance cameras. Now, she stood before me, dressed in an haute couture gown, her makeup flawless, her posture radiating confidence.

Dangling around her neck was a massive ruby necklace—impossible to miss.

My stomach twisted. I knew that necklace. Kai had bought it at auction, spending over a billion just to win it.

Rae caught my gaze lingering on it and caressed her neck with deliberate slowness, her smile turning smug. "Beautiful, isn't it? Kai gave it to me to celebrate my successful kidney transplant. Now I can finally live a long, healthy life."