My teeth ground together as I glared at her. She popped open the canister, and a foul stench hit my nose—inside was shredded meat.
“My kidney is perfectly fine,” Sophia whispered in my ear, her voice as venomous as a snake. “That night at the factory, I stabbed myself and faked the injury. Your brother’s kidney? I had it ground up into pet food—for my dog. And guess what? My dog loved it.”
“You monster!” I lunged at her, but her bodyguard shoved me down.
Her face darkened, and she slapped me hard, the crisp sound echoing through the warehouse. “Ungrateful bag woman! Did you think your brother was worth anything? He was just your bargaining chip with Ryan. Now that he’s dead, you’ve got nothing!”
In my pocket, the recorder I’d secretly asked Mr. Brown to buy was still running—capturing every poisonous word.
At that moment, my phone rang. It was the hospital. I struggled to answer, and a nurse’s panicked voice cried, “Ms. Lane, your brother has a severe post-surgery infection. He’s critical! Come quickly—if you’re late, it will be—”
“Too late?” Sophia snatched the phone, laughing cruelly into the receiver. “Good! Better if he’s dead—no use wasting a hospital bed!” She hung up and smashed the phone to the ground, the screen spiderwebbed with cracks.
I shoved past the guard and ran like a madwoman to the hospital. But by the time I reached the ward, Aaron had already stopped breathing.
His eyes were still open, as if waiting for me.
The doctor said that in his final moments, he kept whispering, “Sis, don’t let them wrong you.”
“Aaron…” I collapsed over his body, tears streaming onto his cold face.
While handling his paperwork, a sharp pain ripped through my abdomen. My vision blacked, and I tumbled down the stairs.
When I woke again, I was back in the hospital.
The doctor stood by my bed, his voice heavy. “Ms. Lane, you were pregnant. But from the fall, the child didn’t survive. I’m sorry… it may be difficult for you to conceive again.”
Pregnant? My hand trembled over my flat stomach, tears pouring once more.
My brother was gone. My child was gone. The last ties I had in this world—gone.
I pulled the recorder from under my pillow, replaying Sophia’s venomous laughter. Ryan’s cold face still burned in my memory.
Slowly, I sat up. The last trace of warmth in my eyes was gone.
“Ryan, Sophia,” I whispered, voice flat and cold. “Everything you owe me—I’ll take back, piece by piece.”