My Husband Stole My Kidney—Now He’s Begging Me for Mercy

My name was Vicky Agnes. I suffer from severe kidney failure. After five years of fighting to stay alive, I finally received word that a matching donor kidney had been found. When my attending physician called, my husband, Hayden Agnes, was gently tucking the down comforter around me and murmuring softly as he coaxed me to sleep. Then he took the phone and went out onto the balcony alone. To keep me from worrying, he always spoke to my doctors in private. In everyone else's eyes, Hayden was the perfect husband, a man who loved me more than life itself. Over the past five years, he had kept vigil beside my bed through countless critical episodes, even working day and night to pay my medical bills. But that day, for reasons I could not explain, I picked up the second Bluetooth earbud on the nightstand, slipped it into my ear, and quietly cracked open the balcony door. "Hayden, we fought so hard to find the kidney. Are you sure you want to give it to Teresa's mother?" The man on the other end was my attending physician—and Hayden's cousin, Dr. Thomas Agnes. "I'm sure." Hayden's voice was cold and resolute. "I can't stand by and watch Teresa lose her mother. After all, she gave birth to my daughter, Lily. Lily can't be left without a grandmother." "But Vicky is too weak. She won't last another three months! If she misses this chance, she'll die!" "She still has three months, doesn't she?" Hayden cut him off impatiently. "We'll wait. Another donor will turn up eventually. She won't die." The words hit me like a thunderclap. In an instant, my world shattered. My mind went blank. Only one sentence remained—'After all, she gave birth to my daughter'—each word cutting into my heart like a knife. This man had been a penniless, orphaned 18-year-old when the Hoovers, my family, took him in. I fell in love with that quiet, melancholy boy while I was still a teenager. We married after college, and Hayden swore to my parents that he would treat me well for the rest of his life. Three years ago, both my parents died in a car accident, leaving Hayden as the only person I had to depend on. And now, it had all become the cruelest joke imaginable. I heard Hayden end the call on the balcony. Just as I was about to remove the earbud, another call came in. "Hello, darling? It's Lily's 4th birthday today. When are you coming over?" A coquettish woman's voice drifted through the line. "I'm on my way, babe." Hayden's voice was tender. "Daddy! I want the Barbie you promised me when we saw it in the window!" cried a little girl. "Of course. Daddy bought it a long time ago. Be good and wait for me." I pulled out the earbud with trembling fingers, and my tears finally broke free. Hayden had a 4-year-old daughter with another woman, and we had only been married for five years. Any desperate hope I had clung to vanished. A chill seeped through every inch of my body. Ten minutes later, Hayden hurried into the bedroom, wearing the same tender, worried expression I knew so well. "Babe, something urgent came up at the office. I have to go. Be good and get some sleep, all right?" I looked at him. The face so familiar it seemed engraved into my bones now struck me as unspeakably filthy and repulsive. "Could you warm me a glass of milk before you go?" I asked softly. Hayden kissed my forehead tenderly, then turned toward the kitchen. I quickly picked up the phone he had left on the nightstand. The passcode was still my birthday. How ironic. I opened his call history. The number from two minutes earlier was saved as "Manager Miller", but I remembered it clearly. That number did not belong to any manager. Hayden set the warm milk on my nightstand, kissed my forehead, and rushed away. He was in such a hurry that he did not even notice the tears still wet at the corners of my eyes. The moment he left, I opened the vehicle-tracking app on my phone. After my parents died three years ago, Hayden had installed a tracker in the car of his own accord, saying it would give me peace of mind. My eyes widened when I saw the address—Hoover Manor. It was the lakeside villa my parents had left me. After they died in the accident, Hayden said the memories would be too painful and moved me into this high-rise apartment. I had not been back in three years. Why was Hayden going there? Then I remembered the hidden security cameras I had installed at the manor because I missed my parents. The instant the feed connected, I bit down hard on my lip as tears spilled from my eyes. The supposedly vacant manor was ablaze with light. A voluptuous woman was playing in the living room with a 4-year-old girl. The front door opened, and Hayden walked in. The girl shrieked with delight and threw herself into his arms. It was Lily Agnes. Hayden picked her up, slipped an arm around the woman, Teresa Wright, and kissed her deeply. "Darling, I thought you'd be staying at the hospital with that sickly woman again today," she pouted. "How could I? It's Lily's birthday. I bought her a special present—and I brought you this limited-edition ruby necklace," Hayden said, coaxing her as he handed her an exquisite jewelry box. Just two days ago, Hayden had told me the necklace was being custom-made for my 30th birthday. Apparently, I was merely an afterthought to that woman's gift. The security footage kept playing. I opened the recordings, tormenting myself further. I watched Hayden and that woman have s*x on my parents' favorite sofa, in my mother's kitchen, and even in the master bed beneath our wedding portrait. They defiled every place that still bore traces of our love. I wiped away my tears and found a private number I hadn't called in five years. It belonged to Christian Field. The man who ruled Holloway's business world. Five years ago, when I insisted on marrying beneath my station, he had cornered me with red-rimmed eyes and all but begged me to stay. Blinded by Hayden, I severed every connection I had to Holloway. I even gave up the status and influence that were mine as the Hoover family's sole heiress. Looking back, I had been impossibly foolish. The call was answered almost immediately. A man's restrained, trembling voice came through. "Vicky?" "Christian," I said calmly, "I've made up my mind. I'm going back to Holloway for surgery. Come get me in three days." His hoarse voice rang with wild joy. "Yes! I'll come for you myself. These past five years, I've nearly gone insane... And it wasn't only me. The heirs of those elite families in Kingsport and Bellmont have been waiting for Hayden to slip up too. Fortunately, I was the first person you called." His voice turned cold. "As for the piece of filth who treated you this way, I'll make him pay." I was done with the man who had betrayed me. As the sole head of the Hoover family, I would take back my own life.