She Healed Me to Harvest My Life

Zoey Rivers' gaze landed on the phone in my hand. Her eyes widened in shock, and I caught a flash of unmistakable panic in them. But it lasted for no more than half a second before being replaced with sorrow and deep devotion.

She bit her lip, making no move to snatch the phone away from me.

Instead, she slowly walked over, kneeled in front of me, gently rested her head against my knee, and wrapped her arms around my waist.

I could feel her body trembling. A warm tear soaked into the fabric around my knee.

"I'm sorry, Caleb… I'm so sorry. I just... I never had the courage to tell you." Zoey's voice was thick with emotion. "I was afraid… I was afraid you'd hate me for being Naomi's half-sister."

I lowered my eyes to look at her, my heart colder than ice. It never would've occurred to me that the woman I'd been sharing a bed with was such a gifted actress. She could even turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat.

"When I fell in love with you, I had no idea that you and Naomi… Naomi had always regretted the way she'd hurt you back then. She wanted me to take good care of you in her place and make you happy."

I might've believed Zoey… if I didn't know Naomi as well as I did. Why would someone as selfish as Naomi leave out of a desire to spare me from suffering alongside her?

I would never forget the callous indifference in her eyes when I was discharged from the hospital all those years ago. The only thought she was capable of having was scorning me for being a cripple, making me unworthy to be part of her own dazzling life.

"Her condition is worsening. I'm her sister. It pains me to see the way she's suffering every single day…" Zoey looked at me with tear-filled eyes, but the sight of them only irritated me. "I hate myself. She's my sister! Why am I not a match…

"Caleb… you're the man I love more than anything else, but she's my sister. Every day, I'm tormented by how torn I feel. I don't know what to do. I really don't know… I only thought of you because I had no other options left…"

I listened in silence while the fury burned inside my chest. She had no other options, huh?

After the accident, the doctors had said that my kidneys might have been damaged, and that my family should prepare for the possibility of needing to give me a transplant.

At the time, Naomi was found to be a compatible match for me. But in the end, my kidneys were fine, so the transplant never happened.

It was clear that this entire thing had been premeditated from the start, so why was Zoey now claiming that she had only just run out of options?

I couldn't help lamenting over how big a fool I'd been. Well, my mind couldn't be any clearer now, and my desire for revenge reigned supreme.

What did I do to deserve being played like a fiddle by these two women for ten years of my life? And they now even wanted to suck me dry.

Since Zoey was still busy putting on a show for me, I quelled the revulsion in my heart and reached out to gently stroke her hair.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Zoey? I can't believe you've had to carry this burden all by yourself for so long… Let me help you with it. I'll… get tested to see if I'm a match."

The instant the words left my mouth, I felt Zoey's arms tighten around me. A flash of elation crossed her eyes, but she immediately buried it beneath a mask of sadness.

"Thank you, Caleb. Thank you so much!"

Moved beyond words, she planted a warm kiss on the back of my hand. It was a perfectly common act of intimacy, but it nauseated me now.

That night, Zoey said that something had come up at the office. I stayed home by myself, opened a bottle of whiskey, and drank in silence in the living room to my heart's content.

I never would've imagined that the past I thought I'd left behind would come right back to rip my wounds apart again. Even the alcohol couldn't numb the fiery hatred in my veins.

Since those two women had no intention of setting me free, it was time for me to settle all of the debts, both old and new, once and for all.