But that time... all this was no longer necessary.

My mother laid on the ground, lifted up the tiger-toe shoes and gently shook them towards me, “Althea, are you really willing to give them up?”

I bit my lip and turned my head away, no longer looking at her.

I said to Dr. Sunny, “Dr. Sunny, please help me with the surgery. I do not trust anyone else.”

Then, I grabbed the surgery notice and signed it without further ado.

My mother called me from afar, “Althea.”

She fainted.

Dr. Sunny sighed and nodded silently.

She knew that even if she refused surgery, I would find another doctor.

The level of those doctors was much worse and they caused more harm to my body.

I laid on the operating table, enduring the excruciating pain of induced abortion, as if a knife was about to cut my body open.

I was sweating profusely from the pain and my consciousness started to blur.

Suddenly, it seemed as if something was peeled off from my body.

I heard the nurse's regretful voice, “It's a boy, white and chubby, what a pity."

A line of tears rolled down the corner of my eye.

After the induced abortion, my body was extremely weak.

But my husband forced me to be transferred to another hospital.

Deanna was there, waiting for my bone marrow.

After being transferred to another hospital, I never saw my husband or Deanna again.

My mother was in a wheelchair, busy taking care of me.

Several times, I heard her crying secretly in the corridor.

She did not tell me any news about my husband and Deanna, but I was able to piece together a general idea from the nurse's few words.

After I was sent here, my husband slammed the doctor's table and asked him to perform the marrow donation operation immediately.

But after examining my condition, the doctor was afraid to perform the operation.

Because my health was very poor at the time. So, there was a high possibility that I would die on the operating table.

My husband had no choice but to agree to let me rest for three days.

For the past three days, he had been in Deanna's ward, accompanying her 24 hours a day.

After listening to the nurse's words, I felt nothing in my heart, I just stared blankly at the ceiling.

The time my mother went to buy food, the ward became quiet and I closed my eyes to rest.

“Althea, you've worked hard. We came to see you.”

Hearing this, I opened my eyes.

Next to my hospital bed, my husband and Deanna were holding hands with their fingers tightly interlocked.

Deanna was radiant with makeup on. The hospital gown had obviously been altered and it fit her perfectly. Instead of looking sickly, it gave people a cosplay-like temptation.

It seemed that her illness was not that urgent.

Compared to Deanna, I look very ugly with my disheveled hair and pale face.

My husband's eyes were always on Deanna and he did not even look at me.

Of course, he would not notice that the two of them did not close the door of the ward after they came in.

The cold wind blew in from the corridor and I kept shivering.

“Who let you in? Get out.”

My mother was back.

She pushed my husband with her crutch and threw the porridge in her hand at Deanna.

Deanna dodged, but still screamed and hid in my husband's arms with a pale face.

My husband looked at my mother angrily and said, “I respect you as my elder, so I have always been polite to you.

“If you continue to disrespect me and target Deanna, do not blame me for being rude.”

My mother was so angry that she cried.

At this time, a tall man walked in and stood firmly beside my mother.

He said to my husband, “What? Are you bullying an orphan and a widow?”

I recognized him, it was Simon Callahan.

He had been a close friend of my father for decades and had been a senior executive in my father's company.

Simon placed the nutritional supplements at the head of my bed, looked at me, his eyes red with discomfort and then closed the door of the ward.

My husband did not go to see Simon. He cleared his throat and said to me, “Deanna has something important to tell you.”

Deanna took out an exquisite handbag and pulled out a stack of documents from it.

She handed the document to me with a cautious expression and said softly, “Althea, I hope you won’t take this the wrong way.

“I’ve read about situations like this online—people donate their marrow to help someone, only to be abandoned when they fall ill themselves.

“To avoid any misunderstandings and to give us both peace of mind, could you sign an agreement? It would state that if I need another marrow donation in the future, you’ll continue to help me.”

My mother was so angry that she started coughing violently.

Simon could not stand it anymore, so he pushed my husband and told him to get out.

But I smiled and said, “It's okay, I 'll sign. I'm doing this voluntarily.”

Simon froze there.

My mother shed tears of despair and cursed, “If I died with your father, I would not be so sad now.”

Hearing this, my heart sank.

But I still wrote down my name firmly: Althea.

My husband's face lit up and he took out another document before saying, “Althea, you definitely do not have the energy to take care of the company during this period. How about this, let me be in charge of the company's affairs.”

Simon reached out and pressed the document firmly on the table.

His chest heaved violently and he said to me angrily, “Althea, I came here today specifically to talk to you about this matter.

“This guy has been transferring the company's assets recently. The business your father left behind is almost being emptied out by him.

“If you sign this document, the company will probably be left with nothing. It means he wants to wipe out the whole family.”

I smiled and shook my head, then took the document and said, “Simon, you misunderstood my husband. 

“I love him and he loves me, so how could he hurt me? Is it not the same whether the inheritance is in his hand or in mine?”

I wrote my name lightly.

Simon squatted on the ground and cried aggrievedly, “Mr. Pollard, I'm sorry. I did not help you protect the family business.”

After my husband got the documents, he immediately opened the door and walked out.

In the cold breeze, I heard him say to the doctor, “Start the operation immediately.”

The doctor said softly, “But Miss Pollard's body is still a little…."

The husband grabbed her by the collar, “I said, do the surgery right away! If she dies, it's my fault, do you understand?”

I went through the surgery in a coma.

After returning to the ward, I never saw my husband again.

Half a month later, I was able to be discharged from the hospital. While my mother was helping me with the discharge procedures, I sneaked back home.

When I walked into the house, I was stunned.

My husband was holding Deanna and sitting on the sofa watching TV.

When my husband saw me come in, he frowned immediately, as if I was an uninvited guest.

“Why are you back?” my husband said impatiently.

I smiled and said, “I missed you.”

My husband looked annoyed when he asked, “Did you not call ahead?”

Deanna hugged my husband's arm and said, “Oh, do not be angry. It's good that Althea is back. I like the kelp soup she makes the most.”

My husband glanced at me and said, “Why are you still standing there like an idiot? Didn't you hear what Deanna said?”

I rushed to the kitchen to make kelp soup for them. Their laughter and joy could be heard from the living room.

At night, my husband took Deanna straight into our bedroom.

I laid in the guest room, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

They did not suppress their voices, I could hear them clearly.

I got dressed, got out of bed and knocked on their door.

My husband opened the door angrily with a bang, which scared me.

He pointed at my nose like an angry lion and roared, “Are you crazy? Why are you knocking on the door in the middle of the night?”

I said calmly, “I had an abortion and donated my marrow to save your mistress, but you still treat me like this?”

My husband said, “You cannot have children, right? We need to leave a legacy for our family.

“Deanna said that after the baby is born, the baby will recognize you as their godmother. You should really thank her for being so generous.

“Otherwise, when you're old, you'll die on the street and no one will care.”

I said bitterly, “Then what am I? What is she?”

My husband sneered, “I knew that your generosity was all fake. You do not love me at all. Are you trying to fight for status now?

“Althea, I know that your Pollard Family looks down on me. They only ttreat me as a son-in-law and a gigolo.

“Let's get a divorce. I've had enough of your face.”

He was obviously prepared and threw a document at me, “I do not want anything from your Pollard Family.”

I looked at the documents and saw that after the divorce, I could take my dad's company.

The rest belongs to my husband.

It seemed that he had completed the transfer of property.

Without any hesitation, I wrote down my name.

My husband also signed: Gayle Lane.

When the divorce was confirmed, Deanna's expression also changed.

Her once delicate white rose at that time showed its thorns.

She threw all my stuff out the front door and said to me, “Get out of my house now.”

***

After divorcing Gayle, I lived with my mother.

My body had recovered, but my heart was still bleeding.

Deanna got everything, but she had no intention of letting me go.

She sent me messages every day to irritate me, [Althea, thank you for your bone marrow. I am very healthy now. I exercise with Gayle every day.]

[Althea, how come Gayle is so strong? I like him so much.]

[Althea, how does it feel to be alone in an empty room? You cannot blame anyone else. Stupid people do not deserve a good life.]

I replied, [Don’t worry about me.] 

Her defense was obviously broken and she sent several 60-second voice messages in a row.

I did not listen at all and blocked her directly.

I went to my father's company and there were only five employees left.

They were all my father’s old subordinates.

They had feelings for the company and were reluctant to leave.

Simon's eyes were red as he said to me, “The funds in the company's account are completely gone. Now the company is just an empty shell.”

The others did not say anything, but the looks they gave me were filled with sympathy, pity and contempt.

I knew that in their eyes, I was a stupid, love-brained person, a poor person who was abandoned by her husband.

I comforted Simon and told them that everything would be fine.

But apparently no one believed me.

Simon was silent for a long time, then he managed to say, “Yeah, it cannot be any worse.”

That night, I was having dinner with my mother.

 The ex-mother-in-law suddenly came to visit.

She took out a box with a smile, which was full of red-skinned eggs.

She sat on the sofa in my house and said arrogantly, “You haven’t heard yet? Deanna is pregnant!

“Ah, my son’s luck is truly remarkable. A woman who couldn’t bear children dared to divorce him and look what happened! He immediately found himself a more beautiful wife and now she’s expecting. Isn’t that just delightful?

"Anyway, I’ve decided to let the past go. Here, I brought you some eggs as a gesture of goodwill. Consider it my blessing for my ex-daughter-in-law—to have a son soon and be blessed with many children and endless fortune. Haha!"

My mother said coldly, asking her to leave.

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of brakes outside.

Gayle got out of the car drunk and broke into my house.

He looked at me with red eyes, “Althea, what did you do?”

I looked at him coldly and asked, “I do not understand what you are talking about.”

Gayle cried, “You knew this would happen, did not you?”

“Did you donate marrow to Deanna on purpose?”

The ex-mother-in-law was dumbfounded.

She asked anxiously, “What's wrong? Deanna's disease relapsed? Does she need to donate bone marrow again? Do not worry, Althea signed the agreement in the first place.”

Gayle shook his head vigorously and said vaguely, “Mom, I regret it. I really should not have let Althea donate bone marrow to Deanna. I harmed Deanna.”

He knelt in front of me, crying and talking drunkenly, “Althea, take your bone marrow back and do not hurt Deanna anymore.”