My mom lay in the hospital bed, her face swollen, tubes everywhere. The monitor blared with that awful beeping, each sound making everything feel more urgent.
The aftermath of the kidney removal was unbearable. She was living in constant pain.
Dad looked at me, desperate. “Jason, the kidney transplant is 500 thousand dollars. We sold the house for 400, but we’re still short 100 grand.”
“Can we ask Aurora to lend us the 100 thousand?”
“If we don’t get the transplant soon... your mother’s running out of time!”
I buried my face in my hands, struggling to breathe. “She’s not picking up her phone and ignoring my messages.”
Aurora Ellis was my fiancée. Six months ago, she fell seriously ill with uremia and struggled to find a suitable kidney donor.
That was when my mother matched with her.
After countless pleas, my mom agreed to donate one of her kidneys to Aurora. It saved her life, and she became a film star, raking millions each year.
But half a month ago, my mom’s age and a post-surgery infection took their toll. With only one kidney left, it failed, and she ended up in the hospital, enduring dialysis just to get by.
Dad sold everything of value in the house, but it still wasn’t enough for the transplant.
I reached out to Aurora for ten days straight but heard nothing.
Fearing she might be in trouble, I went a little crazy and called the police, but they couldn’t find her.
Another two weeks passed, and my mom couldn’t wait any longer. She left this world, taking her regrets with her.
My father, who had never hit me before, slapped me in anger and ended up having a stroke that left him paralyzed.
I knew he blamed me. If my mom hadn’t donated her kidney to Aurora, she wouldn’t have died.
I knelt at my mother’s grave, heartbroken, when suddenly I got a video from Aurora’s assistant. They were on vacation in Switzerland.
That’s when it hit me that at my mother’s end, when I felt completely lost, my fiancée was with another man.
“Need money?”
Three days later, after thirty-three days of silence, Aurora finally called me back. Her voice was icy.
“Your mom isn’t going to die anytime soon. She can hang on for a couple more days!”
“I’m on vacation. We can talk when I get back!”
And then she hung up.
My heart felt like it was being stabbed. The wounds were raw and would never heal.
“Let’s break up!”
I made the painful decision and blocked her.
——
The first time I met Aurora, she was just an unknown actress trying to make it in the industry.
I was the captain of the national boxing team, a champion with a bright future ahead of me.
She came to interview me for a movie audition, and I fell for her right way.
Her stunning looks, her graceful figure, and her innocent smile captured my heart completely.
Thanks to my connections with the national team, she landed the role of the second female lead. When the movie was released, it put her in the spotlight, and she signed with Dragon Film Company.
I was so happy for her, but I couldn’t help but worry.
While it was amazing that she was achieving her dreams, I knew it also meant more danger, obsessive fans and rich guys trying to get close to her.
To keep her safe, I left the boxing team and focused entirely on her security.
I even begged a famous director for three days and nights to get her the lead role in another film.
She didn’t let me down. Thanks to that role, her star power exploded. Suddenly, she was everywhere, with ads and endorsements coming in left and right.
As her fame grew, I gave up my dream of becoming a boxing champion and lost my income in the process.
According to her promise, once she made it big, Aurora was supposed to marry me. But fame can be fleeting.
She got seriously ill, living an irregular lifestyle that led to uremia. Despite multiple attempts, she couldn’t find a suitable kidney donor.
My mother, wanting to help me and hoping for grandchildren, willingly got tested to see if she could donate.
It felt like a cruel twist of fate when her kidney matched Aurora’s.
At that time, Aurora begged, saying she’d marry me after the surgery and promised to take good care of my parents.
We all believed her.
But what we got in return was Aurora’s cold response, “Your mom isn’t going to die anytime soon. She can hang on for a couple more days!”
All that sacrifice led to my mother’s regrets at the end of her life and my father’s helpless anger.
During the loneliest, most fearful time in my life, she disappeared for a month, vacationing abroad with her male assistant.
After burying my mother, I took care of my father, who had suffered a stroke, and felt the weight of life’s harsh realities.
I finally understood a harsh truth: being a devoted fool could leave you with nothing, no love, no family.
I used to dream of flying high with Aurora, but now it seemed foolish and naive.
It was time to wake up!
I had to pull myself together and start making money.
I couldn’t let the tragedy of not having enough to help my mother happen to my father.
2Bang!
The hospital room door was shoved open roughly.
Aurora stepped in, wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, her eyes filled with impatience.
Behind her was her male assistant, Zachary Fisher, looking smug.
“Here’s 100 thousand dollars!”
“For your mom’s treatment. Don’t waste it!”
“I have an audition, so I have to go.”
As she dug through her handbag, a few stacks of bills spilled out, some even falling to the floor, like she was tossing coins to a beggar.
After flinging the money, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of the hospital room. Covering her face, Aurora turned and walked out.
She seemed to have completely forgotten that she was alive because my mother had donated a kidney to her.
She hadn’t always been like this. When she first entered the entertainment industry, she was kind and genuine.
But after becoming a big star, she changed, becoming cold and distant.
The irritation in her eyes said it all that our family was no longer worthy of her.
3I remember that year at our boxing team’s gathering. I was ready to show off my superstar girlfriend, eager to prove to everyone that leaving the national team to be her bodyguard was the best decision I ever made.
But reality hit hard.
At the party, Aurora walked in just like always, wrapped up in a mask, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, hiding herself away.
My teammates greeted her, but she barely acknowledged them. No autographs, no pictures, nothing.
Of course, she was a big star now, and she acted like it.
She smiled for her fans but wouldn’t even glance at my teammates.
She didn’t seem to remember the sacrifices they made for her. When she was still struggling, they’d stepped in as stunt doubles for a movie. One even got his ribs broken to help her land a role.
My mom saw me floundering and gently asked Aurora to be nicer to my teammates.
But that only made her explode. She slammed her sunglasses on the ground and crushed them, shouting at my mom as if she were some kind of nobody who had to smile at everyone.
My mom was shocked and ended up crying at the table.
My teammates didn’t say a word. They just walked out.
After that, I was never invited to another boxing team gathering.
I confronted her about it, but she brushed it off. She said as a big star, she had to keep up appearances and couldn’t lower herself to smile at just anyone.
“Does it not matter that my mom cried because of you? What about those teammates who helped you?”
I had never been this angry with her before. No matter how spoiled or difficult she got, I always let it slide.
But that day, my frustration boiled over.
What was the worth of a love won at the cost of losing both a career and family?
When my mom saw Aurora and me arguing, she wiped her tears and quickly defended me, praising Aurora for everything she had done.
But Aurora didn’t appreciate it at all; she hadn’t eaten a single bite and rushed out of the gathering.
Later, when Aurora fell ill with uremia and learned that my mom was a match for her kidney transplant, it seemed like the sweet girl I once knew had returned.
She invited our family to her villa for dinner, cooking for my parents herself.
It was the first time in five years that they had visited her home, and it turned out to be one of the happiest days of their lives.
That’s when my mom agreed to donate a kidney to her, unknowingly planting the seeds for her own tragic end.
Just thinking about it made me wish I could jump off a building.
If my mom hadn’t donated a kidney to Aurora, she wouldn’t have suffered kidney failure and died!
If I had stayed with the national team and hadn’t alienated my teammates, I could have raised the money to help my mom!
I had tried to convince her not to donate because she was getting older after all, but she had insisted.
Now I understood that it wasn’t just about Aurora. It was for me.
At that time, Aurora was a top star. If I had married her, a guy like me who left the national team could have found happiness in life.
4And now, I could finally let it all go.
I just wanted to rely on myself!
Late help felt like an insult.
“Take your filthy money!”
I yelled as I rushed after Aurora, throwing the cash at her.
Zachary jumped in front of her, forcing a smile. “Jason, don’t get it twisted. I broke up with Tony last month, and Aurora went to Switzerland with me to help me unwind!”
“She turned off her public phone to avoid any interruptions from unrelated people!”
Unrelated people?
I was Aurora’s fiancé, and now I was the unrelated person?
The number she gave me was just for outsiders.
That thought fueled my anger, like salt on a fresh wound.
“Are you still pretending to be gay?” I shot at Zachary, with my voice icy.
Zachary frowned. “Jason, are you really discriminating against my sexual orientation? I could sue you!”
I didn’t hold back. “You clearly like women. Stop the act!”
“Jason! You’re being unreasonable!”
“It’s fine if Zachary likes men!”
Aurora yelled back, glaring at me.
Maybe she thought I was just jealous, upset about her vacationing with her male assistant.
But I knew Zachary wasn’t gay. Any guy could see the way he looked at Aurora.
Yet she thought I was just making a scene.
Thinking back, how ridiculous I had been.
For all those years, I had devoted myself completely to her. I had only cared about her, stepping down as the national team captain to keep her safe, even kneeling to others to help her land a role.
My mother had given her a kidney to save her life, but she died because of kidney failure and a lack of treatment.
How absurd!
I had been so foolish!
After losing everything, I finally understood!
“Take your money and leave!”
I turned and walked toward the elevator, heading out to grab lunch for my dad.
Aurora’s eyes were filled with confusion as she watched me as if I was doing something wrong.
I should’ve been throwing a fit for her, right?
“Are you not going to apologize to Zachary for your rudeness?” she asked, her voice sharp.
I let her words wash over me, not wanting to engage.
I used to be her loyal puppy, but not anymore.
Without looking back, I walked away, determined to let go of my feelings!
“Stop!”
“Jason, you better stop!”
My indifference threw Aurora off balance.
She stomped her foot in frustration.
To my surprise, I had walked quite a distance when she, disregarding her status as a big star, ran after me.
“Zachary has been a huge help to me. He just went through a breakup, so I spent a month in Switzerland with him.”
“I turned off my phone during that time, but I have a private number. I’ll give it to you now.”
As I continued to walk away, she bit her lip, seemingly trying to salvage something. “By the way, your mom donated a kidney to me. She’s in kidney failure, and I feel responsible.”
“I know the director of the capital hospital. I’ll have him find a kidney for you immediately, and I’ll cover all the costs!”
Was she actually concerned for me?
She had no idea that her words were just rubbing salt into my already shattered heart.
If she truly felt guilty, she wouldn’t have been so oblivious about my mother’s health for the sake of an audition!
She had become so hypocritical, so cold, calling her ungrateful would be an understatement.
“I should’ve told you my private number, but I honestly forgot.”
She wrapped her arms around mine, her eyes flickering with a hint of desperation.
If this had been a while ago, I would’ve felt a pang of hurt, questioning if I was being too harsh.
But now, my heart was completely numb.
I felt nothing.
“Go to your audition. Don’t let me hold you back from making money!”
I yanked my arm away from her grip, looking at her with icy indifference. “We’re done. Don’t come looking for me again!”
“Done?”
Aurora froze, as if I had slapped her. “You want to break up with me?”
“Oh right, I sent that text to your public number. I’m just an outsider now, so breaking up seems fitting!” I replied, completely unfazed.
“Jason, are you out of your mind?”
“Do you dare to say that again?”
“Kneel!”
“As long as you beg me, I might forgive that slip of yours!”
“Otherwise, you’ll never have another chance to marry me!”