I don’t want fake affection
Chapter 1
The day I was supposed to say “I do,” my
fiancé ran off and married my half–sister.
I became the laughingstock of the whole town
overnight.
At what felt like the lowest point in my life,
my childhood best friend, Jake Callahan, got
down on one knee with a diamond ring and
poured his heart out to me.
In that moment, I really thought I’d finally
found happiness.
But three years later, on the way to a routine
prenatal appointment, we were in a car
accident. Jake instinctively threw his body
over Sarah, who was in the backseat with us.
I took the brunt of the impact, lost the baby,
and found out I couldn’t have any more.
As if that wasn’t enough, while recovering, I
overheard Jake talking to a doctor friend.
“Jake, you married Claire to be closer to
Sarah, knowing it would change your life.”
“And now, for Sarah, you secretly arranged to
have Claire’s kidney transplanted to her,
sacrificing your own child in the process.”
“Was it really worth it, man?”
“Have you even considered how unfair and
cruel this is to Claire?”
L
After a long, heavy silence, Jake’s voice,
strained and desperate, broke through:
“All Sarah ever wanted was to marry Ryan
and be healthy.”
“If she’s happy, then everything I’ve done is
worth it.”
“I never wanted kids with Claire anyway, so
maybe losing the baby was for the best.”
“And Claire…”
“If my kidney had been a match for Sarah, I
wouldn’t have gone through this charade and
created this accident. I’ll spend the rest of my
life making it up to her.”
My body freze
く
My body froze, like I’d been struck by
lightning.
Jake’s words hit me like a bucket of ice
water, chilling me to the bone.
For three years, the happiness I thought I had
was nothing but a joke.
Jake said he never wanted to have kids with
me, but when I first told him I was pregnant,
he was over the moon, tears in his eyes,
talking about how excited he was to be a dad.
My whole pregnancy, Jake was so attentive,
always putting me first.
We spent countless nights dreaming about
our future together, a happy family of three.
く
When the baby was gone, Jake was so
heartbroken.
He explained that the reason he protected
Sarah first was because she was closest to
him in that moment.
It all happened so fast, he didn’t have time to
think.
But I was closest to him!
While I was in the hospital, besides being in
surgery, Jake was there around the clock,
taking care of everything.
So, despite my doubts, I chose to believe him,
because he looked so tired and worn down.
After the accident, I noticed my body wasn’t
the same. I felt weak, exhausted all the time.
Even walking up the stairs or lifting
something felt like too much effort.
I thought it was just from the trauma and the
miscarriage, that I hadn’t fully recovered.
But now I know it was because I lost a kidney.
And I was so touched that Jake bought me all
those expensive supplements and took such
good care of me.
Three years of marriage, Jake’s tenderness
and attention made me fall for him, little by
little.
But it was all part of his carefully planned
deception, all for the woman he truly loved.
He wanted to keep me away from Ryan
forever, keep me from ruining Sarah’s
happiness, and take my kidney without me
ever knowing.
You have to admit, Jake is shrewd.
And I didn’t even realize when I had a match
test done with Sarah.
My heart felt like it was being ripped open.
The pain was unbearable.
Tears finally spilled over, streaming down my
face and onto the floor.
<
I stumbled out of the hospital.
Ignoring the stares of passersby, I wandered
aimlessly through the streets.
Jake called several times.
I ignored every call.
The memory of Jake’s cold, heartless words.
made my chest ache.
Only when I’d cried all my tears and had no
energy left did I take a cab home.
When I opened the front door, Jake was on
the phone with someone, his voice all soft
and gentle:
anu yenie.
“Okay, you just had surgery, so you need to
rest.‘
99
My heart clenched.
The only person Jake would talk to like that
was Sarah.
The second he saw me, Jake hung up.
A flash of panic crossed his face, so quick I
almost thought I imagined it.
Jake rushed to me, pulling me into a hug.
“Where were you? Why didn’t you answer
your phone? Do you know how worried I
was?”
Jake’s voice trembled, and the concern in his
eyes seemed genuine.
I used to think Jake’s arms were the safest
place in the world.
Now, held so gently, so carefully, I felt
nothing.
I stepped back from him, pulled my phone out
of my purse, and saw the screen was black.
“Dead battery.”
I forced a smile, trying to sound casual.
“I thought something had happened to you. I was about to call the police,” Jake said,
taking my hand. “Your hands are freezing!”
く
He noticed I wasn’t wearing a coat. “You
always get cold easily, why wouldn’t you wear
a coat on a day like today?”
When he asked that, I remembered that my
coat was at the hospital.
“Oh, I forgot.” I smiled weakly.
Jake didn’t seem to notice that my smile
didn’t reach my eyes.
Jake playfully pinched my nose, shaking his
head.
“You’re such a scatterbrain.‘
I stiffened.
Jake had done that countless times over the
BUT I AIAN I тeel any of the oia sweetness, just
emptiness.
I stared at Jake.
