Avalanche of Betrayal

Hearing their conversation, I figured the patient they mentioned was probably my body.

I turned to look at Reese and saw him completely absorbed, eyes fixed on Sandra, oblivious to everything else around him. His voice was full of worry. "Sandra, don't worry. I've already sent people to find Carmen. Her blood type's the same as yours. She'll save you."

Fresh out of surgery, Sandra was pale, her voice faint. "Reese, if you do that… Carmen won't be happy. You shouldn't upset her. She's still carrying your child, after all. Carmen was right about one thing—since I'm not your biological sister, I should've left the family long ago. I never should've stayed and caused so much trouble."

Reese tensed the moment she said that.

He grabbed her hand, almost panicking. "What are you talking about? You are my sister. I won't allow you to leave the family. Where would you even go? Back to that house where they used to beat you? If you hadn't helped me escape those traffickers back then, I wouldn't even be alive today. Don't overthink it. Carmen won't say no. She loves me so much—of course she'll be willing to give blood."

I stood by, watching him gently coax Sandra into his arms.

And then I laughed.

So that's what it was all along…

All these years of being unwelcome, pushed aside—it was because Sandra had once saved Reese.

But then something in my memory shifted. The guy I had saved back then… it was Reese. It had been I who helped Reese escape. Alone. I was the one who stood in front of those traffickers and got beaten to the brink of death. I had a high fever for days. I nearly died.

And Sandra? She was the one who reported me. I still remembered that part vividly.

By the time I came to, she had already been adopted by Reese's family.

Meanwhile, my real family had found me. I was taken back to my biological home.

As the memories faded, I looked at the two of them curled up together on that hospital bed.

A bitter smile curled at my lips.

Reese, if you knew the truth, would you still look at your precious sister the same way?

The girl you've cherished for so long—she was half the reason I nearly died.

After soothing Sandra, Reese stepped into the hallway to make a call.

Curious, I drifted closer. He was calling me.

The screen kept flashing "no connection."

I scoffed. I was dead. How could a call possibly go through?

When the call finally cut off, his face darkened. He tapped on a chatting app to text me, only to discover I'd been blocked for a long time.

After removing me from the blacklist, he typed a message:

[Carmen, don't make this any worse than it already is. Get to the hospital and donate blood for Sandra. Or don't blame me for divorcing you!]

Reese always liked using "divorce" to threaten me into submission. Even when I clearly didn't want to do something, he'd still hold that word over my head.

And every time, it was because of Sandra.

Just then, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and smirked like he'd expected it all along. He let it ring until the last possible second before answering.

"Carmen, glad to see you've come to your senses. Sandra and I are at Ragner Hospital. Get over here and donate 800cc of blood. If you do that, I might forgive your little tantrum from earlier."

He finished speaking and waited for a reply.

A moment later, a stranger's voice came through the line.

"Are you the next of kin for this number's owner? I'm sorry… she's already dead. Her body's at Ragner—"