She Wanted Our Son's Kidney for His Daughter

My wife, Claire, wanted our son to give up a kidney to save her childhood sweetheart's daughter. I refused. I fought her so hard that I thought she'd finally let it go. Then our son vanished, and Claire stopped answering my calls. I went to the hospital to find her. There, I learned that the little girl had finally found a donor. Claire would perform the transplant herself. She'd promised to keep her safe. Then I saw the name listed under deceased organ donor. It was my son's. Chapter 1 My hands shook as I clutched the hem of my shirt. Then I charged back to the nurses' station. "Give me back my son!" I grabbed Rachel, the head nurse, by her collar. "Who was that child you just wheeled in? Why was my son's name on his chart?" Rachel gave me a strained look. "Mr. Reed, that's confidential patient information. We can't disclose it. "We're trying to do our jobs. Please stop disrupting us." The other nurses stared at me with open contempt. Then their faces cleared as someone approached behind me. "Dr. Bennett. Thank God you're here. Look at your husband. He's completely lost it." I turned to Claire, my eyes burning. "Do you even know Evan's been missing for an entire day?" She pulled off her mask. Her lips curled. "How long are you going to keep this up? I haven't been home to spend time with you. I get it. How much longer are you going to use Evan as an excuse?" I stared at her. Claire and I had met in college and married soon afterward. Then, while she was pregnant, she suddenly announced that she wanted to continue her medical training overseas. She left after our son was born. She stayed away for five years. In his entire life, Evan hadn't spent a month with his mother. Her overseas training, meanwhile, had landed her a specialist position the moment she came home. And she hadn't come back alone. Blake Mercer, her childhood sweetheart, had returned with her. So had his daughter, Ruby. Ruby had a congenital kidney condition. Claire's solution was to give her one of our son's kidneys. "The child you just took in had Evan's name on his chart," I said. "If you have any conscience left, bring him out and let me see him." Claire frowned. Then she laughed. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own child?" Her expression hardened. "Ruby's surgery can't wait. Stop making a scene." She thought I was doing this to delay her. I caught her arm. "Do you seriously think I'd joke about our son?" For the first time, she hesitated. She knew me. She'd never seen me this terrified. Her hand rose almost automatically to wipe a tear from my cheek. "I'll ask—" For a second, I could breathe. Then Blake came out of nowhere and dropped to his knees in front of me. "Ethan, please. Leave Ruby alone. She can't wait any longer. I found a child willing to be tested, and he's a match. How could it possibly be Evan?" Tears streamed down his face. "I know Ruby and I have taken up a lot of Claire's time. But this is a child's life. How can you be so cruel?" Claire immediately helped him up, her face softening with concern. "Why are you begging him?" Then she looked at me as if I were a stranger. "Ethan, when did you become like this? You've always loved children. Ruby could die, and you'd let it happen because you're jealous? I thought I knew you." People pointed and whispered. Someone called me a murderer. None of it moved me. Whatever I'd once felt for Claire was gone. If it weren't for Evan, I wouldn't have come looking for her at all. "Ruby's a child. What does that make Evan? He's missing. Is this how a mother is supposed to react?" Chapter 2 Blake pulled out his phone, looking devastated. "Ethan, please stop lying. Evan just messaged me. Look. He says you locked him in the house so you could force Claire to cancel Ruby's surgery." His eyes were red. The sight of a grown man fighting back tears drew sympathetic looks from everyone around us. I stared at the screen in disbelief. The messages really were from Evan's smartwatch account. "Mr. Mercer, Daddy locked me in." "I think he went to find Mommy. You have to stop him." Claire looked at me with disgust. "I told you to stop using him to manipulate me. Your jealousy is sickening. Blake and I are close, and you completely lose your mind over it." She shook her head. "You don't deserve to be Evan's father." She turned to leave with Blake. All I could see was the security footage of Evan walking out of our house. I'd watched it over and over. "Stop!" I looked straight at Blake. "You said you found a child who was a match. Where are his parents?" They needed a guardian's consent. Claire knew that, too. I could see it register on her face. "You just won't let this go, will you?" she snapped. "Why do you always assume the worst of everyone?" I wasn't imagining malice. I'd already seen it. She'd come to me herself and asked me to let Evan give Ruby a kidney. "It could save her life," she'd said. "Children recover quickly. He'll be fine." I'd nearly lost my mind. "Does Evan matter to you at all?" When I refused, she packed her bags and walked out of our house. She didn't even come back for his birthday. That was when I finally understood. I couldn't trust this woman with anything. "You're right. I don't trust you." My voice rose to a shout. "Nobody sacrifices their own son to save their lover's daughter!" Claire slapped me so hard I hit the floor. "You're beyond help. Blake and I are not having an affair. Apologize to him. Right now." Blake looked wounded and indignant. "I've always respected you, Ethan. How could you say that about me?" He pressed a hand to his chest. "Your marriage falling apart isn't my fault. Claire's only helping me because of my daughter." He was crying, but there was a challenge in his eyes when he looked at me. Claire clasped his hand. "I can't believe this is who you've become. Why can't you show Blake a little kindness? He's never had a malicious bone in his body. His child is sick. Of course he needs someone beside him." Her voice sharpened. "He was the one who told me not to get angry when you started lying about Evan. And this is how you repay him? By trying to stop me from saving his daughter?" Blake caught her arm. "Let it go. Don't blame Ethan. It's my fault. Maybe Ruby just wasn't meant to survive." My cheek throbbed. I could feel it swelling. When I lifted my head, blood ran from the corner of my mouth down my neck. Claire stopped mid-accusation. "Ethan… You're…" She seemed to realize just how hard she'd hit me. Her hand reached for me before she'd finished speaking. "I didn't mean to. Come here. Let me clean that up." She closed her fingers around my wrist. I grabbed the pen cup from the counter and struck her with it. Blood ran from the cut on her head. She stared at me, stunned. "You hit me?" I'd always been gentle with her. Now I looked at her and felt nothing but hate. "Claire. I want a divorce." Chapter 3 She didn't get to hit me and make it disappear with a little kindness afterward. "What did you say?" Blood trickled toward my eye. She stared at me, opening her mouth and closing it again. "You want a divorce? Why?" I remembered a hike we'd taken just after our wedding. An earthquake had trapped us in a cave. She'd been hurt trying to protect me. "It doesn't hurt," she kept saying. "As long as you're okay." On her next birthday, I'd made a wish of my own: let us stay this happy for the rest of our lives. Then I found the love letter Blake had written to her in high school. She'd kept every one. She told me it was all in the past. I believed her. But once she was pregnant, a constant uneasiness settled over me. A whole day without seeing her left me restless. I went to her office one day and watched her fasten a necklace around Blake's neck. The necklace she'd given me. Blake, apparently, was going abroad to get married. Soon afterward, Claire announced her own plans to study abroad. And then she left Evan and me behind. I went to see her once without telling her I was coming. I found her with Blake. They were walking with Ruby between them, each holding one of her hands, like a perfect little family. I met Claire's eyes now and made every word clear. "Because I stopped loving you a long time ago." "No. That's not possible." She gripped my shoulders. "Is it because I hurt you? Is that why you're saying this? Why are you throwing away everything we had?" I shoved her away. "Get away from me." She was the one who'd abandoned us. She'd made that choice long before today. A nurse hurried over. "Dr. Bennett, the donor team has made the incision. They're ready for you to begin." I stepped into Claire's path. "I want to see that child. I need to know whether he's Evan." Blake's face tightened. His voice shook. "Please, Ethan. I'm a father, too. Ruby's about to go into surgery. Can't this wait until it's over?" He held out his hands. "Let her have the operation, and I'll do anything you want. Anything. Losing her would kill me." Claire took several deep breaths. "Stop this. They've already started. A child's life is at stake. You locked Evan in the house—did you even think about whether he was safe?" I laughed. I couldn't help it. I was laughing at myself. At the fool I'd been to fall for a girl like that. Thank God Victoria had been there for Evan all these years. I bit down on my lip. They'd made an incision, the nurse had said. It felt as if the knife had gone into my chest. "Then we'll let the police sort this out." Panic flickered across Blake's face. Officers arrived soon afterward, led by a detective who introduced himself as Marcus Hale. "We need to speak to the child's parents or legal guardians," Hale told Blake. "A claim that he volunteered isn't enough. Can you have them come here?" Blake clenched his jaw and refused to answer. Claire began to look uneasy. "Tell them. You said he was from a rural town, didn't you?" Blake suddenly sank to his knees. Tears spilled down his cheeks. "I wasn't trying to hide anything, Claire. He's an orphan. His grandparents are both disabled. I didn't want to talk about it." He gave me an angry glance. "The poor kid's been through enough. If Ethan hadn't kept pushing…" He took a stack of documents from his bag and handed them over. "Everything's here, Detective. The paperwork is complete. It's all aboveboard." I leaned in to read the name. Owen Reed. Had I really made a mistake? According to the file, Owen's parents were dead, and his grandparents could no longer care for him. When they heard they could get seventy thousand dollars in exchange for his kidney, they agreed immediately. Chapter 4 The police checked their records. A child named Owen Reed did exist. Now even Hale looked doubtful. "Mr. Reed, are you certain your son is missing? Could he be hiding somewhere in the house?" No. That was impossible. I knew what I'd seen. Evan Reed. "Please. Just go inside and look. Here's a photo of my son." Rachel immediately objected. "You can't go in. The operating room is sterile, and Ruby's condition is critical. We have to proceed." Claire glared at me. "Stop being so unreasonable. Because of you, Ruby is lying there alone on the operating table. Do you have any idea what you're putting her through?" She pointed toward the exit. "Go home and check. Evan will be there. "Honestly, what kind of father are you? This is completely irresponsible." Blake fixed his eyes on me. "I know I can't measure up to you, Ethan. But she's my only child. Why can't you just leave me alone?" I couldn't take another word. I kicked him hard enough to send him sprawling. "Is lying about me all you know how to do? If you've touched my son, Blake, I'll make you wish you hadn't." He curled around his stomach and looked up at Claire, wounded and pleading. Her chest heaved. "You're vicious. I must have been blind to marry you." She strode over, seized my arm, and dragged me toward the exit. "Go home!" A strong arm pulled me free. Strong fingers pulled me free and drew me behind someone's shoulder. The voice that followed was low with barely contained anger. "Try laying another hand on him." I knew that voice. Relief nearly buckled my knees. "Victoria. You're here." I gripped her arm. "Please help Evan. They've already started cutting." Victoria Bennett was Claire's older sister. For the past five years, she'd looked after us whenever she could. Especially Evan. She gave me a steady, reassuring look, then signaled to the bodyguards behind her. They moved straight to the operating room. "Get that door open," she ordered. "Break it down if you have to. Stop the surgery." Claire stared at her sister. "Victoria… What do you think you're doing?" Victoria stayed between us. "Standing up for my future husband. You don't appreciate him. I will." "No." Claire's disbelief curdled into rage. "So that's it, Ethan? You already had someone waiting in the wings? That's why you want a divorce?" I slapped her. A red mark bloomed across her cheek. "There really is no getting through to you." Victoria's guards got the operating room door open. The hospital director came rushing over. Victoria turned to him. "I'll take responsibility for stopping the procedure. Any consequences are mine." I ran inside first. A small, pale body lay beneath the surgical drape. Through the opening, I could see exposed skin. My hands shook as I looked at the identification tag. It didn't say Owen Reed. It clearly said Evan Reed. I covered my face. For a moment I couldn't make myself believe it, even with the proof right there. A trembling nurse pulled back the drape enough for me to see him. There was no color in his lips. He looked dead. I turned on Claire, hitting her with everything I had. "You monster. You monster!" I hit her with my fists, my feet, everything I had. I wanted to beat her to death. "That's Evan! Were you going to kill your own son?" Claire saw his face and froze.