Chapter 3

The sound, a sharp crack followed by Sarah's piercing scream, cut through the party chatter.

Liam was there in an instant, his face a mask of fury as he saw Sarah on the floor, cradling her arm.

His eyes found Maya. "What did you do to her?" he roared, rushing to Sarah's side.

"Liam, it hurts!" Sarah sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at Maya. "She... she pushed me!"

Maya stood frozen, the accusation hanging in the air.

Liam gently helped Sarah up. "We're going to the hospital." He glared at Maya. "You're coming with us."

At the emergency room, the diagnosis was a fractured ulna. Sarah, pale and tearful, leaned heavily on Liam.

A doctor approached them. "Ms. Chen has lost a fair bit of blood from the laceration, and her blood type is a little rare. We're running low. Mr. Donovan, are you the same type? Or perhaps... Mrs. Donovan?"

Liam looked at Maya, his expression unreadable. "She'll donate." It wasn't a question.

Maya's mind raced. She remembered vague warnings after... after something years ago. A procedure. She couldn't donate blood easily. It might expose something she wasn't ready to reveal, something about her own medical history, a sacrifice she'd made that she herself barely understood.

"I... I can't," Maya said, her voice barely a whisper. She needed an excuse, any excuse. "Not unless I'm compensated." She tried to make her voice sound greedy, mercenary.

Liam's face contorted in disgust. He reached into his wallet, pulled out a thick wad of cash, and threw it at her feet. "There. Is that enough for your precious blood, you leech?"

The money scattered on the sterile hospital floor.

Humiliation washed over Maya, but she bent down and picked up the bills, her hands shaking. "Fine."

She followed the nurse to a small room. The phlebotomist was cheerful. "Just a few questions first, dear."

As Maya answered, detailing a past, significant medical procedure – a bone marrow donation she'd made years ago, anonymously, when Liam himself had been desperately ill – the phlebotomist's smile faded.

"Ma'am, with this history... you're deferred from donating blood. Permanently."

The phlebotomist, unaware of the storm brewing outside the door, called the attending doctor.

Liam was brought in. The doctor explained. "Mr. Donovan, your wife made a significant bone marrow donation some years ago. It appears to have been for you, according to the dates and the recipient match in the system, though it was logged as anonymous. Due to that, she's not eligible to donate blood now."

Liam stared at Maya, his face a battleground of shock and disbelief.

Then, his eyes narrowed. "She's lying," he spat. "She's making this up. She'd do anything for money, to make herself look good." He gestured to the cash still clutched in Maya's hand. "She probably bribed someone to fake those records!"

Maya's heart ached. He still saw the worst in her. She looked at the doctor, then back at Liam.

"He's right," she said, her voice hollow. "I made it up." Let him believe it. It was safer.

Liam's face flushed with rage. "You admit it?" He turned to the terrified phlebotomist. "She can donate. She just didn't want to. Take her blood. Take a lot. She owes me."

The phlebotomist looked to the doctor, who looked helplessly at Liam's imposing figure.

Maya felt a needle slide into her arm. She watched her blood fill the bag, a dark crimson tide.

She felt cold, then dizzy. The room started to spin. Her body trembled.

The last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was Liam's furious, unyielding face.

She woke up in a hospital bed. A small bowl of congee sat on the bedside table. Plain, just the way Liam used to make it for her when she was sick, back when they were happy.

A painful memory. He wouldn't have ordered this for her now. A nurse must have.

She heard voices from the hallway. Liam's, soft, tender. Sarah's, weak but pleased.

Maya pushed herself up slightly. Through the crack in the door, she saw Liam gently feeding Sarah a spoonful of soup.

"My brave girl," he murmured, stroking Sarah's hair. The same words, the same touch he once reserved for Maya.

Her heart clenched.

Sarah looked up, saw Maya watching. A faint, triumphant smile touched her lips.

"Liam," Sarah said, her voice just loud enough for Maya to hear. "Please. Stop loving Maya. She doesn't deserve you."

Liam didn't turn. He didn't look at Maya.

But his voice was clear, cold, and carried directly to Maya's ears.

"Love her?" He laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "Sarah, I don't love Maya. I haven't loved her for a very long time."

He finally turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Maya, dismissive and absolute.

"I feel nothing for her but contempt."

Then he turned back to Sarah, as if Maya had ceased to exist.