Chapter 3

My relief was short-lived.

Minutes later, another message from John Smith popped up, angry and accusatory.

"Just got a call from 'a doctor at the hospital.' Said the patient is fine, no blood needed. What kind of sick game are you playing, faking an emergency for attention? Heard it' s some family drama. Don' t waste people' s time!"

My heart sank.

Ethan. Or someone he' d enlisted. They were actively sabotaging me.

Dr. Mark Peterson. Ethan' s college friend, a young doctor at this very hospital, infatuated with Chloe. He was the likely culprit.

Just then, a notification: "You have been removed from the O-Negative Donor Group by an administrator."

I stared at the screen, disbelief warring with a sickening sense of inevitability.

My phone rang. Unknown number.

I answered, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach.

"Sarah? This is Dr. Mark Peterson from City General." His voice was cold, condescending. "I' ve been made aware of your... disruptive behavior. You' re harassing Chloe on her birthday, spreading false information about your mother' s condition to garner sympathy, and now spamming donor groups? It' s inappropriate and frankly, quite spoiled."

"Spoiled?" I choked out. "My mother is dying!"

"According to your brother, her condition is being exaggerated by you. He also mentioned you have a history of this kind of attention-seeking. Please refrain from causing further distress, or I' ll have to involve hospital security."

He hung up.

Before I could even process his threat, my phone rang again. Ethan.

His voice was smug, triumphant.

"Heard you got a little chat with Mark. Maybe now you' ll stop your scams, Sarah. Chloe is very upset, you know. You really need to learn your place."

He hung up before I could utter a word.

I sank onto a hard plastic chair in the waiting room, the phone slipping from my numb fingers.

They were actively trying to kill her, just like they had, indirectly, killed me.

The casual cruelty, the layers of manipulation, it was all repeating.

Tears welled, hot and furious, but I blinked them back.

Crying wouldn' t save Mom.

I had to find another way. I wouldn't let them win. Not this time.

My resolve hardened into a diamond point of fury. I would make them pay for every lie, every obstruction.