Chapter 2

Two weeks had passed before I finally regained consciousness. I felt nothing at all when I saw that the skin of my abdomen had been stapled together. What was I supposed to feel?

My body was like a worn-out dishrag. Even if a few more holes were made to remove a couple more organs, it wouldn't hurt too much anymore.

However, Howard's betrayal continued to cut me like a knife, leaving holes in my heart.

Right then, Howard entered my hospital room. When he saw my eyes open, he immediately rushed over and cried out, "Yvonne! You're awake at last. This is wonderful. I was so afraid you wouldn't make it."

I stared at Howard. He was a sight with his messy hair and stubbled chin.

In the past, I would've shakily raised my hand to gently stroke his face. I would've teared up out of my gratitude for his willingness to keep me alive.

But this time, I raised my scrawny hand and slapped him in the face. In my cracking, wispy voice, I declared, "H-Howard, I want a divorce."

Indeed, I wanted to divorce Howard. Since he made sure I survived, I was going to do everything I could to put an end to this revolting marriage.

When Howard heard what I said, he stiffened briefly before quickly composing himself.

Eyeing me with a grim expression, he said, "Yvonne, I went through all that effort to save you, but you want to divorce me?"

As he spoke, his eyes turned red, and a few tears even trickled out of the corners of his eyes.

Had I not known the truth, I would've been fooled by him. I would've assumed that he was deeply in love with me. But now, I felt nothing but an iciness in my heart.

He wasn't afraid of me dying. He was afraid I'd get a divorce because once I did, he wouldn't be able to decide what to do with my corneas.

As soon as Howard finished speaking, Dad came over too. His wizened figure seemed to be enveloped in pain and sorrow.

"Yvonne's right, Howard. You two should get a divorce. I'll look after her. She's gone through too much pain already. I don't want her to have to continue living through the torment of having organ after organ removed from her," Dad said.

"I know you love Yvonne, but you should accept that this is her fate. Please. I'm begging you. Just let her go."

After hearing what Dad said, I felt a sob catch in my throat. Dad knew all along just how painful it was for me to be kept alive like that. He knew it was torture.

I thought that with Dad's help, I would be able to get the divorce, but Howard pushed Dad away in fury and howled, "A divorce? What gives you the right to interfere with our marriage, huh? I sold my house and car for Yvonne. I sacrificed everything to keep her alive. Without my permission, not even she gets to decide whether or not she wants to stay alive, let alone you."

I trembled in anger after hearing what Howard said, and Dad started shaking too. He stared at Howard in disbelief while exclaiming, "H-Howard! How could you say that? Although you're Yvonne's husband, she's my daughter too! I still have the right to decide if she should continue receiving treatment."

Howard scoffed. "What right? You think you have the right to decide anything? I only allowed you to hang around Yvonne's hospital room out of consideration for your old age. Since you've taken my kindness for granted, you can't blame me for not showing you any more kindness."

With that said, he grabbed Dad to drag him out of the hospital. He did it so roughly that he even banged Dad's head against the metal frame of the hospital bed.

When I saw Dad cradling his head and groaning in pain, I struggled to get off the bed, but having just gone through a major surgery, I could barely even lift a finger, let alone help Dad.

All I could do was clutch my bandaged abdomen and shriek in fury, "Howard! What on earth do you want?"

Snorting, Howard glanced at Dad before coming over to press my slightly raised body back down on the bed.

"Yvonne, do you know that if it weren't for your corneas, I would've been more than happy to let you die off long ago?" Howard said.

"To this day, the thought of how you shamelessly ingratiated yourself with my mother until she ended up forcing me to marry you fills me with anger and resentment. The fact that I'm forced to take care of a cancer-riddled deadweight like you makes me long for your death more than anything else."

Once he finished, he grabbed a plum and stuffed it into my mouth as if to stop me from speaking.

As I stared at Howard's cold, merciless face, tears started falling down my cheeks.

Only now did I find out just how much he hated me.

Howard and I met through his mother. I had saved her at a supermarket, and she had introduced me to him. He was handsome and had a good career. I ended up falling in love with him at first sight. We even got married after just six months of dating.

All along, I thought we married for love until I saw Howard's diary on his computer. It was then that I found out he had a girlfriend he had been dating for seven years, but his mother had threatened to take her own life to force him to break up with his girlfriend and get together with me instead.

When I discovered the truth, I was beside myself in pain. I never thought that our entire relationship, even when we started dating, had been a lie.

Yet, even though Howard was a victim in our marriage, wasn't I one too?

Perhaps the emotional anguish and turmoil I felt, combined with Howard's continued torture of me, made my body break down. The medical devices started beeping again.

As I watched the lines turn red on the screens, I started laughing.

I was going to die.

I was finally going to die.

Dying was a good thing. That way, I didn't have to suffer any further torment at the hands of Howard anymore.

However, when Howard heard the warning beeps, he pressed the emergency button to call for the doctor before grabbing my shoulder tightly.

"Without my permission, Yvonne, no one gets to decide whether you live or die; not even you."