Chapter 2

Her phone rang. The screen displayed "My Love." Eleanor picked up the call and stepped out of the office, telling the staff to double-check everything.

I followed the medical team into the operating room. Under the harsh, sterile white lights, I looked down at my own corpse.

They began preparing me for the extraction.

Seeing the nurses work, it finally clicked. My liver was going to Maya.

I couldn't escape that name in life, and now, I couldn't escape it in death.

Maya was the daughter of Eleanor’s high school sweetheart, Richard Vance.

Back then, Richard came from a poor, troubled family. My grandparents were completely against Eleanor marrying him.

My dad, Arthur, loved Eleanor deeply. He did everything to win over her family—paying off her brother's college debt and buying them expensive gifts. Eventually, my grandparents forced Eleanor to marry my dad.

Even though my dad treated Eleanor like a queen, she never loved him.

My early childhood with my dad was the only happy time of my life.

But then, the factory explosion happened. My dad died on the job.

Eleanor didn't hesitate. She divorced his memory, packed her bags, and left.

But to my surprise, she took me with her. I used to think she kept me because she loved me. Only later did I realize the sick truth: she kept me because she wanted to make sure I was miserable.

She projected all her hatred for my father onto me.

She forbade me from ever contacting my dad's side of the family.

I was so desperate to make her happy that I obeyed. I never reached out to my grandparents, terrified of making her angry.

Looking down at the cold metal table, I watched the surgeons make the first incision on my chest.

Surprisingly, I felt a strange sense of peace.

My mind drifted back to my childhood.

I remembered my dad always greeting me with a big, warm hug. Meanwhile, Eleanor would stand in the corner, staring at me with icy eyes.

Whenever I tried to grab her hand, hoping for a tiny bit of warmth, she would violently push me away.

"Mom, why do you hate me so much?" I had asked her once with childlike innocence.

She never answered. She just stared at me, her eyes filled with dark resentment.

Now, I finally understood. Her heart was consumed by hatred. Hatred for my dad, and hatred for me.

She poured all that poison onto me, leaving me to grow up isolated and helpless.

And her hatred only grew a hundred times worse after Maya entered our lives.

My legs became paralyzed during my freshman year of college. That day, Eleanor had taken Maya shopping for designer clothes.

I was dragged along just to carry their heavy bags.

While crossing the street, a speeding SUV came barreling toward me.

The impact sent me flying. I crashed onto the asphalt yards away. The pain was blinding, and then my vision started to fade.

Through the haze, I saw Eleanor and Maya slowly walking over.

Maya looked at the bloody shopping bags on the ground, frowning in disgust. "Ugh, my new clothes are ruined! I can't wear these now."

Eleanor gave me a look of pure revulsion. Then, she turned to Maya, her voice instantly turning sweet. "It's okay, sweetie. I'll buy you new ones."

"Honestly, Chloe, you are such a curse. Bringing you out was a mistake."

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out.

After the accident, I wasn't kept in the hospital for long. The initial scans didn't show any major spinal fractures.

But soon, my legs began to lose sensation. Sometimes, I even lost control of my bladder.

When I realized something was seriously wrong, I begged my mother to take me to a specialist.

But she didn't hesitate to scream in my face. "You useless leech! You just want to drain every penny I have, don't you? You're a liar! Just like your pathetic father!"

She ripped my self-esteem to shreds. Maya stood right behind her, arms crossed, watching the show with a smirk.

The stress made me lose control, and I wet myself right there in the living room.

Maya let out a dramatic shriek, pinching her nose in disgust.

In my most vulnerable moment, Maya's scream felt like a knife slicing through my soul. Her face was twisted in mockery.

Tears streamed down my face. No one comforted me. No one even came near me.

Eleanor glared at me, her face pale with disgust.

"This is repulsive! Mom, kick her out! She’s disgusting!" Maya yelled.

Eleanor raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. "Clean this mess up right now!"

Choking on my tears and shame, I dragged my useless legs across the floor to clean up my own waste.

Later, Eleanor claimed a massive settlement from the driver's insurance. But she only threw $500 at me and forced me to move out.

That $500 was barely enough to rent a damp, converted garage studio at the edge of town.

And that was where I spent the hardest years of my life.