To save the woman he cherished, Noah bought a dismembered female corpse off the underground market.

He gouged out a kidney with his own hands from the body and implanted it into her.

To avoid being traced by the police, he threw the body into a vat of acid.

What he didn't know... was that the body belonged to me.

1

When my body was placed on that crude operating table, it was still slightly warm.

But no one cared.

Noah Reed took out a scalpel, his movements slow but precise as he made an incision across my chest.

"Huh, only one kidney left?"

He hesitated for a moment but then continued with his work.

His hands moved with expert precision, a true testament to his status as one of the top nephrologists in the city.

Before long, a bloodied kidney was removed and carefully placed into a special preservation unit.

"Send this to the hospital. Get Lily ready for the transplant surgery," he instructed.

Ethan Shade, his close friend, glanced at the mutilated body on the table and asked, "What should we do with this woman's corpse? It was just a torso when you bought it, but something about it feels off... Should we call the police?"

Noah washed the blood from his hands, not sparing the body another glance.

His voice was calm and indifferent as usual.

"Just destroy it. Better to be safe."

2

There was a slight complication when they tried to dispose of the body.

Noah discovered the woman had been pregnant.

He also noticed a familiar burn scar on her abdomen.

I always thought Noah kept the lights off when we slept together because he couldn't stand to look at my face.

But he had been familiar enough with my body.

The scar on my abdomen was a burn mark my father had branded into me with a cigarette.

Noah used to kiss that spot, saying it looked like plum blossoms, a unique mark the heavens had given me.

But now, as he saw the familiar mark, he hesitated for only a second before tossing my body into the acid without a second thought.

It was strange—despite knowing I was dead, I could still feel the searing pain as my body was dissolved in the acid.

And as I watched the cold, indifferent look in Noah's eyes, I couldn't help but think,

"Noah, do you know this is me?

"Or... is this exactly what you've wanted all along?"

Behind him, Ethan sighed softly.

"I wonder whose girlfriend she was, she was pregnant while being dismembered."

Noah paused for a moment and then let out a laugh.

"She was sold on the underground market. No one cared about her. No one will."

"No one cared. No one will."

Those words felt like the sum of my entire life—meaningless and forgotten.

Noah, wasn't that how you saw me too?

3

On the way back, Noah rubbed his temples, looking exhausted.

He had accomplished something significant, yet there was an unease in his expression, a restlessness he couldn't shake.

As if on impulse, he unlocked his phone.

His fingers hovered over our old text messages.

The argument was still there, frozen in time.

A month ago, Noah had suddenly mentioned marriage.

We had been sleeping on the same bed since I turned 18, but he'd never once acknowledged me as his girlfriend.

To everyone else, I was just his "close friend."

Marriage had never been an option.

When he finally brought it up, I felt a rare flicker of happiness in my life.

But then, his next words shattered that moment.

"I'll marry you, but under one condition- donate a kidney to Lily."

Lily Shade. The woman he'd been in love with for years.

I didn't know what I was thinking at the time.

Before I even realized it, I had refused.

And Noah was furious.

We had a massive argument.

"Stella Frost, when did you become so selfish? You're the only match for Lily. Don't you trust me? I'm the best nephrologist there is. Nothing will happen to either of you."

I tried to explain, gesturing desperately that I couldn't donate a kidney.

But he shoved me aside, disappointment etched across his face.

"You've really let me down. You'd only be losing a kidney, but for Lily, this could mean life or death.

"You're just like your heartless father—disgusting. You should just go to hell."

He stormed out, ignoring my desperate signs for him to stop, never looking back.

So, he never saw what I was trying to tell him.

"I'm sorry, Noah. It's not that I don't want to. I only have one kidney left."

Even though I had been abjectly subservient in his presence, I still wanted to live—just to stay by his side.

Until the minute I died.

But now that I came to think of it, even if Noah had known the truth, would it have changed anything?

Probably not.

He had hated me from the start.

Because, well, I was responsible for his mother's death.

4

Noah and I grew up together, we were neighbors from childhood.

I lost my mother early, left alone with an alcoholic father.

Noah's parents divorced, and he moved in next door with his kind, gentle mother.

She adored me. She'd pull me into her arms and tease me, asking if I wanted to be Noah's wife one day.

Noah always grimaced at the idea.

"Why would I ever marry a mute?"

Still, Noah was protective of me.

When kids threw rocks at me, sicced dogs on me, or stole my things, he'd fight them off without hesitation.

Even if he ended up bruised and bleeding, he'd stand there, shielding me.

He claimed he didn't like mutes, but he always said he'd take care of me.

That was until the year my father racked up a huge gambling debt and decided I was worthless—something to be sold off.

Noah's mother found out and saved me, but my father, drunk and angry, gave her thirteen stabs. She never woke up.

I would never forget the look Noah gave me when I came to the hospital.

It was the kind of look that carried the weight of every ounce of his grief and rage.

"Stella Frost! Why weren't you the one that got stabbed?!" His voice trembled with fury, his eyes burning with hate. "I hate you! I'll hate you for the rest of my life!"

He smacked me.

The slap came so hard it knocked me off balance.

It left me dizzy and disoriented.

That was the blow that cost me the hearing in my left ear.

But it was also the blow that kept Noah by my side.

5

Noah hated me, but guilt kept him around.

That night, we both lost the only people we had.

I was left deaf and mute, and Noah was left with his mother's last words, "Stella is my treasure." So, he didn't leave me.

Instead, he took on the role of my protector, raising me as if it were some kind of unspoken duty.

But I knew deep down, he never let go of his hate.

Every year, on the anniversary of his mother's death, Noah would drink himself into oblivion and go alone to visit her grave.

I followed him once. He saw me, drunk and furious, and kicked me away.

He grabbed me by the throat, his face twisted with rage. "Stella Frost, you don't deserve to regret at my mother's grave!"

But the next morning, when he sobered up, he'd hold me, shaking with regret, gently touching the bruises on my neck, whispering, "I'm sorry, Stella. I was just conflicted."

I knew. I knew he was conflicted inside.

Even when we slept together, he'd cover my face.

I was conflicted too.

I wanted to be his sister, to stay by his side forever.

But somewhere along the way, I'd fallen hopelessly in love with him.

And I knew, deep down...

He would never love me back.

Even agreeing to marry me wasn't out of love. It was just to get the kidney he needed to save her.

6

In the car, Ethan kept rambling on, as usual.

"You thinking about that mute?"

"No," Noah answered coldly, tossing his phone aside. "Why would I?"

"If you don't care about her, just tell her straight. She's a mute, that's already pathetic enough."

"Pathetic?" Noah tugged at his tie, irritation creeping in.

"What's pathetic about her? I've given her everything—food, a roof over her head—and did you see how she reapy me? She's selfish, ungrateful, giving me the cold shoulder now. She's no longer that pathetic girl you talked about."

"She grew up with you. Even if you've no love for her, she's still a family to you. Just call her and smooth things over."

"There's no need." Noah shot his phone a glance, his voice growing colder. "She's too used to being spoiled."

Yet, despite all that, a few moments later, Noah picked up his phone and sent me a message.

It was simple and blunt.

Noah: I'll be home for dinner tomorrow night.

Hah... Even when he was trying to make peace, it was always on his terms, without ever considering how I felt.

But what he didn't know was that soon, he wouldn't have to consider my feelings ever again.

Because I wouldn't be there to feel anything anymore.

A notification sound pinged through the car, making Noah pause.

"Ethan, did you hear phone ringing just now?"

Ethan glanced around, frowning.

"What? No way, it's just you and me in here. You've been pushing yourself too hard, bro. You're hearing things."