5
a
I learned about Celeste’s hospital room from the nurse.
Inside, Celeste’s right eye was wrapped in bandages, yet she showed no sign of post–surgery frailty.
As I stormed in with my eyes swollen from tears, she met me with no guilt, almost smugly:
“Oh, you’re here? Did you see your brother’s wretched state?”
“You know Quentin is my brother?” I asked Celeste in surprise:
“Then why didn’t you explain to Orion?”
Celeste laughed at my question:
“Because I wanted to see you suffer.”
Seeing the redness of anger in my eyes, Celeste tore off the bandages from her right eye:
“You’re angry now, but if I told you that your brother’s cornea was tossed into some dirty trash bin for any stray to chew on, wouldn’t you be even angrier?”
Under the bandages, Celeste’s right eye was perfectly fine.
Her supposed eye injury was a complete fabrication!
But this lie shattered my brother.
The shock made me scream and pounce on her, slapping her frantically.
Yet, as if expecting my outburst, Celeste didn’t resist at all.
“What are you doing?”
The next moment, a force threw me backward.
Orion glared at me fiercely, veins throbbing with anger.
Celeste cried out to Orion for help:
“Orion, Nora wants to kill me… I’m terrified…”
“She wants to blind me and bury me with her lover… I’m truly scared…”
Hearing that I was still thinking about another man, Orion kicked me in the chest:
“Nora, you brought this on yourself with your dishonesty! You owe Celeste this cornea!”
I wiped the blood from my lips, a bitter laugh escaping me:
“I owe Celeste? Orion, all along, it was you who owed me!”
My legs shook as I stood, removing my top layer by layer under Orion’s harsh gaze.
Seeing my actions, Orion’s eyes widened in disbelief:
“What are you doing…”
But upon seeing the ugly scar on my abdomen, his voice caught in his throat.
Even Celeste, who had been crying, suddenly fell silent.
10:24 AM
<
“Orion, three years ago, I was the one who anonymously donated a kidney to you.”
“The one who lay on the operating table with you, sharing life and death, was me.”
“The donor who vanished after your recovery was also me!”
With each word, my voice quivered with emotion, and Orion’s anger turned into confusion:
“How can that be… Celeste was the one who donated the kidney…”
I choked up:
“Orion, I never regretted saving you, nor hiding the truth. I even hoped you’d forget about me and live well…
“But how could you harm Quentin for Celeste? He’s my only brother!”
Realizing Quentin truly was my brother, Orion panicked.
He instinctively pushed Celeste aside, reaching for my hand:
“I didn’t know… Nora, I didn’t know any of this…”
As Orion grasped my hand, filled with guilt and remorse, I felt nothing.
From the moment we reunited, I knew his hatred masked a painful, conflicted love for me.
So I stood before him, revealing the truth from three years ago with my own hands.
I wanted him to punish Celeste and himself!
Seeing Orion believe me, Celeste cried out desperately:
“Orion, don’t believe her! Nora’s just making things up! I’m the one who shared hardships with you!”
I didn’t shy away from Orion, instead showing vulnerability:
“Celeste, you took credit for my actions before, I didn’t mind, but you repeatedly hurt my family. I won’t tolerate it this time.”
“Orion, if you don’t believe me, you can investigate. I’ll wait. I want a resolution for these three years, a resolution for my brother!”
The resolve in my eyes made Orion’s heart tremble.
Afraid I might do something drastic, he immediately had people investigate my and Celeste’s past actions.
Within just one afternoon, Celeste’s past was laid bare.
Orion never doubted Celeste’s kidney donation because of the scar on her abdomen.
But the investigation revealed the scar wasn’t from a kidney donation.
It was from a surgical abortion at a small clinic during her college years when she got pregnant out of wedlock.
Seeing how I had worked various jobs to save on medical expenses over the past three years, Orion felt as if a piece of his heart was being gouged out.
While I struggled to make ends meet, he easily spent lavishly on Celeste.
Remembering how he had treated me before, Orion’s overwhelming regret made him vent his anger on Celeste.
Celeste had only heard that Orion was looking for the kidney donor and had impersonated out of greed.
She never imagined the donor would actually be me.
Elet
10:25 AM
<
Now, with her lies exposed, Celeste’s legs gave out, and she kneeled:
“Orion, I… I only did it because I loved you so much and wanted to stay by your side… I had no ill intentions…”
“My love for you over the years is undeniable. Even if Nora donated the kidney, she’s no longer the same Nora!”
Watching Celeste still slandering me, I found it laughable.
Yet, Orion hesitated for a moment.
Just then, a bodyguard pushed another bodyguard inside:
“Mr. Orion, we found something wrong with the ring lost at the diamond exhibition!”
