wly, replaced by a dull, th

and white. Five years ago, this room was where I ga

uccessful architect, or

ing. Her kidneys were failing, and she ne

er the knife, and gave her my kidney. A father's

p from that surgery

t her eyes held a strange glint. She told me Lily was recoveri

ver ca

tied to a chair in a dark warehouse, crying and begging for hel

stitched across my abdomen. Bu

women's clothing, put on clown makeup, and perform a series of humiliating acts. They t

ey asked. I debased myself on

t to every news o

vert Architect's Bizarre Conf

physically unharmed. She cried in

from my father forced me out, citing the scandal. My reputation was destro

, Sophia and L

," Lily would tell me, her face full of

l get through this, Ethan. We have e

e. I lived as a broken man, finding comfort in the fami

shattered

I heard them talking in the living room, their voic

s Lily's voice, no longer a child's, but a young

s sharp, cold. "He can never know. Do you

caught in

"He got the kidney. We got the firm. Isn'

ni

had always been jealous of me

I had never heard before. "And Daniel needed that kidney. Your 'sickness' was the only w

ts axis. The air in m

ly asked. "Was that

e needed him to be a public joke, a freak, so Daniel could take over the company without anyo

d, cruel laugh

ll has some savings. Once that's gone, we can

und of their voices echoing in the sile

r's illnes

kidnapping

ce was for

as a calculated

age built on five

at kept me sane, was nothing but an

or and closed it silently, the soft click of the

ool. A man stripped of his dignity, his career, his hea

acrifice, now burned with a different meaning. I

hock receded, replaced by

end another da

another minute b

ments steady and precise. I pulle

for a one-way ticke

the best divorce

ad. The man the

plan my escape.