His face and eyes were so sincere, I couldn’t
see a hint of deception.
I had to admit, Jake was a good actor.
“Are you hungry? I got you your favorite beef
“”
noodle soup.”
Jake proudly set a bowl of noodles on the
counter, telling me how he asked them to not
add cilantro.
It was my favorite place, and I usually
devoured the whole bowl.
The noodles looked delicious, but I had no
appetite.
I guess my mood killed my hunger.
I ate a few bites, then, under Jake’s
questioning gaze, went back to the bedroom.
After washing up, I got into bed.
Jake came in with a glass of milk.
“Drink this before you go to sleep,” he said
softly.
I frowned at the milk.
“Come on, just drink it,” he coaxed, like I was
a kid throwing a tantrum.
Jake might seem easygoing, but he was
stubborn about some things.
Like drinking milk before bed.
I’ve always had trouble sleeping, and warm
milk is supposed to help.
Jake brought me a warm glass of milk every
night, without fail, for three years.
I reached for the glass, just about to take a
sip, when Jake’s phone rang.
He tried to play it cool, but I saw the
eagerness in his eyes.
“I have to take care of something. You go to
sleep,” he said, and this time, he didn’t wait
for me to finish my milk before rushing out.
<
I scoffed.
The only person who could make Jake look
like that was Sarah.
After Jake left, I set the glass down.
A few minutes later, I quietly walked to his
office door.
Through the crack, I saw Jake leaning back in
his chair, relaxed.
He was smiling at his phone screen.
“Thank you for the gift, I love it,” he said.
A sweet voice came through the phone.
I knew that voice all too well, it was my half-
sister Sarah.
“Are you sure that calling me every night is a
good idea, what if Claire finds out?”
Sarah sounded a little worried.
But Jake looked confident.
“She won’t.
وو
“I put a sleeping pill in her milk every night. I
only call you after she’s asleep.”
Sleeping pills?
I stared, disbelieving, at Jake in his office.
I stared, disbelieving, at Jake in his office.
My palms were sweating, and my chest felt
tight.
To talk to Sarah without any interruptions,
Jake was drugging me every night.
So, it wasn’t the warm milk that helped me
sleep, it was the sleeping pills.
No wonder I fell asleep so quickly after
drinking the milk, and slept through the night.
No wonder Jake always made sure I drank
every last drop, and took the glass away
himself.
It all made sense now.
く
I can only blame myself for being so naive.
I thought Jake was my salvation.
“Okay, I feel better now, I don’t want to come
between you and Claire.”
Sarah sounded relieved, but I could hear the
smugness in her voice.
“You still need to rest up, so get some
sleep.”
Jake said softly.
“Okay.”
Sarah sounded hesitant.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Г
Jake smiled, his face full of tenderness.
Jake waited for Sarah to hang up, before
slowly closing his phone and putting it down,
like he didn’t want to end the call.
Before Jake could see me, I slipped back into
the bedroom.
The next day, after Jake left for work, I went
to the downtown hospital.
After some tests, they confirmed that my left
kidney was missing.
Then I went to St. Jude’s Hospital, where
Jake worked.
I made sure to go when he’d be visiting
L
Sarah, so he wouldn’t see me.
At the hospital, I went straight to the medical
records department and asked for all my
records from my stay.
Because Jake was a doctor, I had always
trusted him unconditionally.
I had never even looked at my own medical
chart.
Along with the records, I got a copy of an
organ donation form.
My name was signed as the donor.
And the recipient was Sarah.
The date was the day of the car accident.
Leaving the medical records department, I
overheard some nurses gossiping.
The main character in their news story was
my wonderful husband.
I learned that Jake had booked the entire VIP
floor, because he didn’t want anyone
disturbing Sarah.
That didn’t surprise me.
Jake could afford it.
Besides being a doctor, Jake was also the
second son of the Callahan family, the owners
of Callahan Group, the hospital’s biggest
donor.
w lucky Sarah
Everyone was talking about how lucky Sarah
was, and wondering what was going on
between her and Jake.
