‘You said we were going to see the ocean?”
asked, confused and getting nervous.
Rowan’s gentle mask slipped away instantly, replaced by ice–cold indifference.
‘Yeah, we’re going to the beach. But first, we gotta take care of something.”
He carried me out of the car and headed straight for the clinic.
‘Sage’s adoptive mom has kidney failure. She needs a transplant and matching. You’re already a cripple anyway–just come get tested.”
My blood turned to ice.
‘I won’t do it!”
‘Rowan, I’m your REAL sister! How can you sacrifice me for some stranger…”
[ fought back, my nails scratching bloody lines on his arms.
‘Stop being such a brat, Mia!”
His voice was full of irritation.
‘Even if she’s adopted, Sage treats her like real family! You’re already broken–helping Sage care for her mom should be an honor!”
‘I’m not broken! Rowan, I’M your sister!”
I screamed in desperation and terror.
SLAP!
My head whipped to the side, ears ringing.
‘Say that again!”
Rowan looked like an enraged lion, eyes bloodshot.
“Listen to me–Sage is the REAL daughter! If Mom and Dad didn’t feel bad for you, you’d be back living with your gambling–addict real father!”
His words were like rusty needles, stabbing into my already shredded heart.
Chapter 3
I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“Rowan, how do you sleep at night?”
“I heard you talking to Jake. I HEARD you.”
“YOU faked the DNA test! Sage isn’t even our family!”
I screamed out the whole truth, feeling completely drained.
Rowan’s face went deathly pale.
His expression went from shock to panic to pure, bone–deep hatred.
‘You… you heard everything?!”
He grabbed my throat like a snake that had been stepped on.
‘Who said you could listen in?! Mia, why are you trying to destroy me! I finally got this family back to normal and you’re gonna ruin everything!”
I couldn’t breathe. I clawed at his arms desperately.
Several nurses heard the commotion and rushed over, pulling him off me.
Rowan straightened his clothes and threw a wad of cash at the nurses.
‘Draw her blood! I don’t care how you do it–I need her blood sample!”
[wo nurses pinned me to a chair while a cold needle pierced my vein.
stopped struggling.
knew people without blood relation had almost zero chance of being organ matches.
Sure enough, the results came back quickly.
No match.
Rowan had already disappeared.
had no phone and couldn’t walk.
All I could do was sit on the clinic steps and wait until dark.
Rowan never came back for me.
People passing by saw my scarred face and looked at me like I was some kind of monster, hurrying away like I was
Chapter 3
bad luck.
Finally, a kind cleaning lady let me use her phone to call home.
When the driver came, he looked totally annoyed.
‘What a pain in the ass. Middle of the night and I gotta pick up the cripple. Don’t know why the boss don’t just dump you at some group home already.”
When I finally got home, the house was pitch black and empty.
[ dragged my useless leg step by step back to my room.
I’d barely laid down when my door burst open.
Sage stumbled in reeking of alcohol, holding a sparkler and wearing this smug, mocking smile.
‘Hey sis, heard you went for kidney matching today? Too bad it didn’t work out.”
She walked to my bed and bent down, tapping the sparkler against my face.
‘You must be SO happy, right, Mia? Dodged another bullet?”
‘But I guess that makes sense–trash like you, what good could you possibly do?”
‘Rowan told me that once I graduate college, Mom and Dad are transferring all their shares to me. I’ll be the real deal–a billionaire heiress!”
She laughed like this was the funniest thing ever.
‘And you? Just stay in this moldy corner forever, like the pathetic dog you are!”
She threw the sparkler at my face and stumbled away.
She didn’t see the sparks immediately catch the bedding on fire.
Flames spread fast.
Thick smoke filled the room, choking me.
I was right back in that nightmare from when I was eighteen.
Terror swallowed me like a tidal wave.
I didn’t want to die!
I couldn’t go through that hell again.
Chapter 3
I crawled desperately toward the door, but my severed tendons made it impossible to move,
Just as the smoke was about to overwhelm me, someone kicked the door open.
A figure rushed in through the flames.
Спаркет
