Lies and Punishment

My older sister, Miranda McQueen, forced me onto the operating table so she could give my kidney to the fake heir. She pinned down my struggling hand, her expression cold. "Evan, don't blame me for being cruel. In your past life, you pushed Lucas down the stairs and damaged his kidney. You regressed to make amends. You owe him this kidney." For three years, I had tried to atone for the sins Miranda claimed I had committed in my past life. I had taken a knife for Lucas McQueen, tested experimental drugs for him. And now, I was about to lose a kidney to him. As the anesthesia flowed into my veins and my mind began to fade, I saw Miranda gently wipe the sweat from Lucas's forehead. Lucas chuckled. "Miranda, that regression story you made up worked perfectly. He actually believed it. That idiot spent three years as my personal sacrifice." Miranda smiled at him indulgently. "As long as you can stay alive, I won't stop at one kidney. If you ever need his life, I'll give you that too." The heart monitor beeped. I gritted my teeth as a tear rolled out from the corner of my eye. There had never been a past life or any sin to atone for. Miranda had lied to me from the very beginning, all for the sake of her fake brother. Chapter 1 Despite the general anesthesia, I was fully conscious. My eyelids felt heavy. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open them. A sharp, searing pain tore through my lower waist and made my scalp tighten. It hurts! "Doctor, what's happening?!" Miranda's anxious voice came through the darkness. "He's trembling. Can he still feel pain?" Her familiar voice gave me one last spark of hope. Miranda, save me... The anesthesia didn't work. It hurt so much… "Don't worry, Ms. McQueen. This is a normal stress response caused by muscle stimulation. The patient is unconscious. He can't feel a thing," the doctor said. He was lying. The pain crawled up my spine and spread through my body. Lucas let out a fake sigh. "Miranda, I'm so worried… Evan looks like he's in so much pain. Maybe we should stop. My health doesn't matter. I don't want him to suffer." I heard Miranda walk past me to him. "Don't be silly," she said. "Why are you saying that? The doctor said he's unconscious. There's nothing to worry about. Now, just be a good boy. It'll be over soon, and I'll be waiting outside for you." Then, there was a clack. It was the sound of the operating room being closed. I could feel the cold instruments moving inside my body. The pain was so intense that even my soul seemed to shake. A soft chuckle sounded beside me. "You heard all that, didn't you, Evan?" I could feel Lucas seemingly turning toward my motionless body. "I told the doctor to give you less anesthesia than needed and twice the usual dose of muscle relaxant. Does it hurt? So what if you're the McQueen family's biological son? The bond Miranda and I built over more than a decade is real, too. She tricked her own brother onto an operating table and had his kidney removed, all for me." I heard every word, but I could not respond. He was right. Miranda and I shared the same blood, but it could never compete with the bond they had built over more than a decade. The hope that had kept me alive through three years of inhuman torment had been nothing but a cruel joke. There had never been any debt from a past life. I had no idea how long the operation lasted. The agony finally stopped when I heard something metallic clink against a tray. "The operation was a complete success. The kidney is in perfect condition. Congratulations, Mr. McQueen. With this kidney, you'll be completely healthy." "Thank you, doctor. Right, wheel that crippled man out. He's an eyesore." "Of course." The anesthesia still had not worn off, and I could not move. All I could do was endure every jolt pulling at my fresh incision that had just been sutured. People crowded around Lucas and took him to a VIP ward on the top floor. Meanwhile, I was dumped in a regular hospital ward. They didn't even leave anyone to watch over me. Chapter 2 By the time the anesthesia wore off, it was already late at night. My lower waist burned in pain. I struggled to turn my head, and all I saw was an empty ward. Miranda was not there. She had never come. Grandma's hospital bill was also due today. Before I went into surgery, Miranda had promised to pay it as soon as I gave Lucas my kidney. She had also promised to bring in the best specialists to review Grandma's case. I found my phone beside the pillow and turned it on. The screen lit up with dozens of missed calls and messages. Every one of them was from the hospital. My heart skipped a beat as dread swept over me. I opened the last message. It was from the doctor who took care of my grandma. [Mr. McQueen, we regret to inform you that the patient's medication was stopped for more than forty-eight hours because of unpaid fees. After suffering severe emotional distress, she had a sudden heart attack. We were unable to revive her. She passed away at eight thirteen tonight. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible to make arrangements.] Eight thirteen? I was on the operating table at that time. …Had Miranda lied to me? Not only had she cheated me out of a kidney, but had she also taken away my grandma's chance to live?! Before the McQueen family found me, Grandma had raised me on the money she earned collecting and selling scraps and recyclables. We weren't related by blood, but just as Lucas had said, the bond between us had grown over more than a decade too. Not long after I returned to the McQueen family, I missed Grandma so much that I slipped away to see her. Lucas caught me and accused me of stealing from the family. He called Grandma a thief and had his men beat her so badly that she needed long-term hospital care. Miranda had promised to pay for her treatment because she felt guilty. Instead, they used that promise to control me. To save Grandma and repair my relationship with my family, I obeyed Miranda and tried to atone for a crime I had never committed. I could feel grief literally choking me. I had cried until no tears were left, and my dry eyes ached from the weeping. The tears in my grandma's eyes when she sent me away three years ago kept replaying in my mind. "Go, Evan. They're your biological parents and sister. You'll have a good life with them." A good life? It had been hell. I didn't want it anymore. All I wanted was her. I pulled the IV from my hand and forced myself out of bed despite my weak body. Every movement felt as if the wound in my waist were tearing open again. Blood quickly soaked through my hospital gown. A young nurse came in during her rounds and cried out when she saw me covered in blood. "Get back in bed! You just had kidney surgery, and your suture would tear open!" "I'm leaving." The nurse froze. "Are you mad? You'll die if you leave like this! Besides, your bill hasn't been paid in full. Ms. McQueen only paid for the operation..." Ha... She hadn't even paid the entire hospital bill. In her eyes, I supposed the only useful part of me had been my kidney. "I don't want treatment." I pushed past the nurse as I gritted my teeth and staggered toward the door. I wanted to see Grandma. Even if I had to crawl, I would see her one last time. The nurse was too frightened by my condition to stop me again. She rushed out to get a doctor. I leaned against the wall and made my way out of the ward. Several bodyguards in black suits approached, pushing a wheelchair. Lucas sat in it, looking healthy and flushed. Miranda was pushing the one pushing his wheelchair. Our eyes met. The air seemed to freeze. Chapter 3 "Evan, what are you doing?" Miranda walked toward me, her voice sharp with accusation. "You just had surgery, and now you're already wandering around? Who is this performance for? You're already covered in blood. What if you scare Lucas with that?" I leaned against the wall and stared at her. Miranda slowed. Unease flickered across her face despite the sternness around her. "Say something!" "Miranda..." Lucas looked up at me from his wheelchair with faked guilt in his eyes. "Is Evan angry because I took his kidney? If that's the case... I'll give it back to him. I don't want you two fighting because of me." He clutched his stomach and grimaced as if he were in terrible pain. "Shut up!" I growled. Lucas froze, then put on a wounded expression. "How dare you yell at Lucas?" Miranda raised his hand and shoved me. "Apologize to him!" My already weakened body could not take the force, and I immediately fell on the floor hard. The wound split wide open as warm blood poured out, but I laughed. "Miranda, do you know what today is?" My laughter unsettled her. She looked at the blood on the floor and avoided my eyes. "What day is it? What game are you playing now?" "My grandma died today," I spat. Miranda's eyes suddenly narrowed, and cold sweat ran down her temple. "Her medication was stopped because the bill wasn't paid," I went on. "She died tonight. You didn't just lie to me. You killed my real family!" Lucas pointed at me and snapped. "She lived this long on the McQueen family's money! She should've been grateful! What right do you have to blame Miranda? Besides, Miranda's your real family. Stop betraying your own family for an outsider!" As I looked at their ugly faces, my boiling hatred slowly turned cold. I ripped the bracelet that marked my place in the McQueen family from my wrist. Miranda had put it on me herself when I first came home three years ago. She said it meant I was welcome. Now, it looked like nothing but a chain around a dog's neck. "From today on, I'm no longer a McQueen. I don't need your acceptance. I'll consider that kidney something I fed to the dogs. As for my grandma's life..." I stared at Miranda cold. "I'll make every one of you pay for it." I forced myself to my feet and left the hospital. A violent storm raged outside. Sheer willpower carried me to the funeral home. Several employees nearly called the police when they saw me covered in blood. They led me to the morgue only after I gave them Grandma's name and used my phone to prove who I was with a pitiful look. Grandma lay quietly in a morgue drawer. That face that had always smiled at me, and those warm arms that held me tight whenever I was hurt… Her face was white, without a sign of life. "Grandma..." Chapter 4 On the day the McQueen family took me away, my grandma secretly gave me a pouch containing two hundred dollars. That was her entire life savings. "Evan," she said, "when you get to the city, take care of yourself. Buy whatever you want to eat." Whenever I secretly called her, she hid her pain she was suffering because of her sickness behind a smile. "Don't worry about me, Evan. I'm perfectly healthy. The doctors and nurses are taking very good care of me..." She had lied to me too. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." I mumbled as I clutched her dead body. What had I been doing for the past three years? "I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. McQueen." An employee helped me up. He could no longer bear to see me like that. "She's gone. You should lay her to rest as soon as possible. But the cremation and cemetery fees..." He hesitated as he looked at me. I searched every pocket, but I had nothing except my phone. Lucas had already taken those two hundred dollars long ago and thrown them into a storm drain. He said having money would make me disobedient. Helplessness washed over me. "Could I...pay later?" I asked hoarsely. The employee had an awkward look on his face too. "Well… We have rules that we need to..." A slender hand reached forward and offered him a black card. "Use mine." A cool, commanding voice came from behind me. My entire body froze and I turned around when I heard that voice. A woman in a black coat stood in the doorway. She held a black umbrella, rainwater dripping from its edge, but not a drop had touched her. Her facial appearance was one of elegance, but there was coldness in her eyes. She was Isolde, head of the Shaw family. It was one of the few families powerful enough to rival the McQueen family. She was also...the woman Lucas dreamed of marrying. At a banquet a year earlier, Lucas had pushed me into a swimming pool to impress her. He jumped in after me and pretended he had nearly drowned while saving me. Everyone had crowded around Lucas, fussing over him and accusing me of being ungrateful. Isolde had stood beside the pool and casually tossed me a towel. That was the only time our paths had crossed. "Ms. Shaw...?" I asked in disbelief. Isolde nodded toward the employee. "Handle everything with the best services you have to offer. Choose the best plot at Westhill Cemetery." The employee took the card and hurried away, visibly awed. "Why?" I looked at her with caution and confusion. We were complete strangers. Why was she helping me? Isolde closed her umbrella and walked toward me. She had a powerful presence, true. However, it didn't feel oppressive. Instead, it gave me a strange sense of safety instead. She looked at me and frowned. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The McQueen family has been using underhanded tactics against Shaw Group over a recent project. I don't like it. Besides..." She paused and took a clean white handkerchief from her pocket, then held it out to me. "You knew how to swim. Why did you play along with his act and almost let yourself drown?" I froze. She had known. I looked at the handkerchief but didn't take it. My hands were too dirty. "I have nothing to give you in return." I lowered my head and gave a bitter laugh. "Whether you have anything to offer is for me to decide." Isolde pressed the handkerchief into my hand. Then she took off her coat and draped it over my bloodstained shoulders. The fabric wrapped around me, still warm and carrying a faint, cool fragrance. "Come with me, Evan. Give your life to me, and I'll help you crush the McQueen family beneath your feet."