Chapter 4

Zoey organized the press conference in a ballroom at a luxury hotel.

When I arrived, the venue was already packed with reporters. Rows of cameras were aimed at the stage, with the flashes going off from time to time.

Naomi took a deep breath, picked up the microphone, and spoke in a dry, strained voice.

"Today, I invited everyone here to clarify and apologize for some past matters between myself and Mr. Caleb Jackson."

She launched into a highly emotional account of how, years ago, she had fallen seriously ill and, fearing she would be a burden to me, made the painful decision to leave me. Only after prefacing with this did she apologize to me for abandoning me.

However, her words subtly made me out to be a petty man who had agreed to save her life but was also trying to use that to strongarm her into fulfilling my demands.

The crowd, who didn't know the truth, began to eye me with scrutiny.

Even at a time like this, Naomi couldn't bear to forego her pride. This was the farthest thing from an apology.

At last, Naomi turned to me, her gaze pleading yet filled with humiliation.

"I know a word of apology isn't enough to make up for the pain I caused you, Caleb, but I still hope you can forgive me. Out of consideration for how much I've loved you all these years, please save my life."

As she bowed to me in penance, all eyes fell on me. They were waiting to hear my response.

I slowly stood and picked up the microphone on the table in front of me.

"How brave of you to admit to what you've done, Ms. Sutton—and what a moving apology that was. But no, I won't accept it."

The crowd broke into an uproar.

Naomi snapped her head up, staring at me in disbelief. The color instantly drained from her face.

"Caleb Jackson! How dare you play me for a fool like that!"

Ignoring her, I took out a USB drive from my bag and handed it to the staff member I had arranged in advance.

"If you wish to know why I refuse to accept the apology, kindly allow me to show all of you something first."

Soon, the large screen at the back of the ballroom lit up. Pages and pages of chat logs filled the screen, screenshots of the files I'd hired a private investigator to recover from Zoey's computer.

"It's all settled, Naomi. Caleb has agreed to marry me, and once we're married, you'll be saved. That crippled bastard really thinks I've fallen in love with him. Hah! When was the last time he looked at himself in the mirror, huh? If not for the fact that he's a suitable kidney donor for you, I'd be too revolted to even touch him.

"Once the surgery is over, I'll arrange for someone to sell him off abroad. That's the only way to make up for the disgust I've had to endure all these years."

Everyone was thunderstruck by the cruel, malicious words on the screen. The crowd kept looking between the screen and the pale-faced Zoey.

"None of that is real! It was all edited! How could you be so evil, Caleb?"

Zoey finally snapped back to her senses and ran over to the screen, shrieking almost incoherently as she tried to stop everything.

But it was too late.

The screen switched to the organ compatibility test Naomi and I had done five years ago. At the time, Naomi wasn't sick yet, and it was clear we were suitable organ donors for each other.

Next came the medical report from three years ago that confirmed Naomi's diagnosis, along with evidence that Zoey only started to pursue me three years ago.

The crowd quickly put the pieces together.

"What the hell? One sister dumped him after causing him to lose a leg and an eye, and the other started dating him after finding out that he's a match for her sister, just so she could trick him into donating his kidney?"