“Is that so?” Zach massaged the center of his brows again and shut his eyes.I, too, shut my eyes.If Zach had asked a few more questions to get a clearer answer or even called me, even if I could never hear his voice clearly again, my phone would still ring… in the trunk of his car.But he did not do it.Not in the past, and not in the present.He would not do it in the future either.With my kidney, Catherine’s surgery was a success.Zach was really concerned about Catherine. Even if she had not woken up, he never left her side.When she did, he finally felt relieved.“Thanks for saving me, Zach.”“You don’t have to thank me. We’re friends, after all. Besides, you saved my life.”Catherine forced a smile and said nothing else, as if she was weakened by the surgery and did not have the strength to speak.But I was the only one who knew that she was feeling guilty.She knew that the one who saved Zach in the past was not her, but me.Honestly, though, I think that to Zach
Catherine first showed up in our lives when Zach was in university, and he started talking about her a lot.Catherine, Catherine…I went to see her in secret once. She was really pretty and came from a good family. She was like a prideful swan.Compared to me, who could not speak and could not hear clearly, she was like a precious gemstone, and I was dirt.Later on, when Zach went hiking with her, I followed behind them in secret as well.I saw Zach smiling at her in a relaxed fashion. It was a smile he had never shown me.At that moment, I was really worried about losing him.I was like a dull clown who was following behind a couple who were perfect for each other.Then, when I saw them arguing and splitting up, I felt relieved.But their argument that time nearly cost Zach his life.He slipped and fell off the cliff.I did not really know how I managed to find him, nor did I know how I managed to carry someone who weighed more than 140 pounds back to the hiking track when
Once he was certain that all of Catherine’s vital signs were normal, Zach was satisfied, and he went back home.He had sent a message to me and told me that he was coming back for dinner tonight. So, he thought that I would welcome him with an apron around my waist and a table full of food, like a dog who would foolishly wag my tail at him while I waited for my master to come home.But he never thought that he would be welcomed by cold silence.When he could not find me in any of the rooms in the house, he took his phone out and finally called me.It was on the third day of my death.Just as I expected, Zach was told that my phone was turned off.Frustrated, Zach threw his phone away.“Stella! You think you’re hot sh*t now, huh?! Fine! It’s not as if you can throw a tantrum forever, anyway!”Then, he picked up his phone and typed a message.[If you don’t come home today, don’t ever come back again!]Once done, he threw the phone on the sofa. After some thought, he added anoth
That night, Zach occasionally checked his phone like a trapped beast.He did not even go back to his bed to sleep. He just kept waiting on the sofa, just like what I did all these years.When the sun rose, he finally opened his bloodshot eyes.“Well, well, Stella, you’ve got guts. When I find you, I’m going to skin you alive!”But you have already skinned me, Zach.I sighed, but no one knew about it.The wind blew past the curtains.After a night of not sleeping and me not picking up when he called me, Zach finally thought about going to my work studio.But before he reached my work studio, he got a call from the hospital.It was Catherine. She was kicking up a fuss and saying that she felt sick.He hesitated for only one second before he turned around and left.My heart was already as calm as still water a long time ago.Of course, he would do this. This was not the first time Zach cast me aside because of Catherine.Naturally, it would not be the last.When Zach was s
With great yearning, I cast a glance at my work studio. I had died too soon. I had an incomplete statue in my work studio.Oh well. It did not matter anymore.Zach rushed back to the hospital, and Catherine was crying up a storm.“Zach, I feel sick. Is it because there’s something wrong with the kidney? It really hurts…”Zach gave her a thorough examination. Once he noticed that there was nothing wrong with her, he placated her with a gentle voice. “Don’t worry, Catherine. It’s all in your head. It’s just a kidney transplant, so it’s fine. Look at me. I’ve had a kidney transplant for years now, and I’m fine, aren’t I?”“Really?” Catherine asked with teary eyes.“Yes. Speaking of which, we’re both suffering from the same fate. You got a kidney transplant, and I got one as well. We also have a rare blood type. If I didn’t have kidney problems of my own, I would have given you one of mine.”As Zach spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, and his expression soured.Catheri
For some reason, Zach did not stay long in Catherine’s ward.Instead, he called someone who was an upperclassman of his in university.“Sam, is it really impossible to figure out who my kidney donor is?”“Zach, don’t make this hard for me.” Sam sighed on the other end of the phone and said, “You’re about to marry Stella. Life has been hard for her, so be kind to her.”When Zach’s mother passed away, he blamed me for it, but I also knew that he felt guilty about it.That day, he should have been the one who came to my house.But he threw a tantrum, and his mother came over to give me a cupcake.Over the years, he always felt guilty for his mother’s death.Honestly, he was a gentle and kind person.That was why I had begged Sam not to tell Zach that his kidney donor was me before the surgery.I did not want him to live on with guilt toward me.Sam had always kept this a secret.Zach’s expression turned dark, and he charged home like a madman.Despite us keeping this a secret
I could see that Zach was getting anxious.Perhaps he was trying to get confirmation on something, but he started to look through everything at home.When he saw that none of my clothes were missing, he sighed in relief.Soon, his phone rang.Delight shone on his face, and he quickly answered it.But it was from the wedding company.“Hello, are you Stella Riverra’s family? We’re from Longing, a wedding company. We have been unable to contact Ms. Riverra over the past few days, so we had no choice but to call this number. Ms. Riverra has asked to cancel her wedding dinner reservation, but based on company rules, we can only return 30% of the deposit.”“A wedding company?” Zach was surprised.But he was even more surprised by something else. “Why is she cancelling it?”“Ms. Riverra said that she can’t marry her boyfriend anymore, so she’s cancelling it.”Thud.Zach’s phone fell on the floor. He wanted to pick it up, but he was feeling lost, and his hands were shaking.“Stella
Zach finally went to my work studio, but Gale was the one who met him there.“Is Stella still mad at you? I heard from the others in the work studio that she hasn’t been to work for seven days.”“What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”“Why? Because you gave your full attention to Catherine, is what! I thought that you didn’t care about Stella anymore. Besides, while she’s mute and deaf, she’s an adult. She’ll be back after her anger cools down and she’s hungry.”Bam!Zach punched Gale in the face and glared at him. “If you know that she’s mute and deaf, then you should know what’s going to happen if she’s harassed while she’s out!”“Harassed while she’s out? Zach, you’re her biggest bully in the world.”Gale flung him off and tugged at his wrinkled collar. “If I were you, I’d stop vying for someone else while keeping her around. At this point, I’d call the police. Of course, you could continue waiting for her to come back like a complete loser. She might even have been by your side a
‘I don’t want it, Zach.’ I thought. ‘Since we were children, I always wanted you to live freely and happily. I never wanted to be a burden that stopped you from running to your future.‘I don’t want you to ruin it and turn into such a scary person because of me.’“Stella, you’ve never been my burden. You’re my one and only family in the world.“I was useless and didn’t protect you well, but don’t worry. I’ll go over and be with you very soon.“I told you before: I’ll stay beside you and protect you forever.”When he cut his flesh open with the surgical knife, I screamed. I wanted to go over and stop him, but I could not touch anything.I could only watch as Zach cut his torso open.The pain made him unable to continue. He hissed.“So, it hurts this much?”But he only smiled and injected anesthesia in himself. Then, he continued cutting open his torso.He was covered in blood and looked like a demon.I had no idea how long he kept this up.The pain made his survival instin
The final time I met Zach was by the pool of sulphuric acid.He held my head and carefully covered it with a beautiful white veil.Bound beside him were Catherine and Gale.“Zach, if you want to take revenge, come at me! This has nothing to do with Catherine!”“So, you can actually feel fear, Gale?”Zach put me on a table and wiped away nonexistent dust on my face.He then kissed my rotten head and said with a smile, “Be good, Starling. Once I deal with your bullies, we’ll go home together.”‘Don’t!’ I screamed. ‘Zach, have you lost your mind?! This is a crime!’“Zach, are you crazy?! Not only did you break me out of prison, but you also kidnapped my sister! The police will know about this soon enough! You can’t ruin your future!”“Future? What other future do I have?” Zach smiled. “Do you know why I became a doctor? Because Starling nearly died from a fever when she was twelve. I carried her on my back while begging for money door to door, but no one helped me. From that mome
Since my head was discovered, I found that I started growing weaker.I knew then that this must mean that my attachment to the world was about to fade away.I was about to disappear.Gale was sentenced to death.Even though he said that he killed me because he found Zach an eyesore, we all knew that he did it for Catherine.He was the adopted son of the Queen family and had always taken care of his sister.He would do whatever it took to keep Catherine alive, regardless of the cost.He would even kill his sister in all but blood.From that day onward, Zach stopped going to work.He stayed home with my head in his arms.Just like before, he cleaned up the house and cooked my favorite food.He would then remove the fat on the meat and eat the food I could never again finish.He even bought a wedding gown for me.But I only had a head left, so I could only wear the veil.He told me that I was the prettiest girl he ever met.He even told me that he rejected my proposal becau
Bam!When Zach got home, he destroyed that huge, heavy statue.After it crumbled to pieces, a head that was preserved perfectly via chemicals showed up.She looked calm, and her eyes were wide open, as if she could not feel any pain.It was as if she was asleep, just with her eyes open.Zach acted as if he discovered treasure. He pushed away the hair over her face and nuzzled against her cheek.“Don’t worry, Starling. I’ll always protect you.”
A police officer rushed over to Zach.“Mr. Clark, we identified the person who picked Ms. Riverra from your house seven days ago. Do you know Gale Queen?”When Gale was arrested, he appeared exceptionally calm.“Yes. I did it. I lied to her to get her out and had someone kill her.“It’s nothing, really. I just found Zach an eyesore, that’s all.”Gale smiled. When he looked at Zach, it was as if he still treated him as a friend.“Where is she?”“What are you saying, Zach?”“I’m asking you: where is she?”Gale was still smiling. “Didn’t I tell you? She has always been beside you. Zach, you’re smart. You should know that there aren’t that many coincidences in the world, right? Why would the black market have a female corpse all of a sudden? It even had a kidney that was a match for Catherine! That woman had also donated her kidney once and only had one left. Coincidentally, she was also pregnant.”“You… You b*stard! Even though she’s harmless and your sister in everything but bl
‘Starling must have been scared, and she called me three times, just as we promised.‘If I had answered, she would have been so happy.‘No matter how much pain she was in and how terrifying the person threatening her was, she must have believed that I would save her.‘But I did not go.‘I even snapped at her. I said, “Stella, could you stop?! I told you that Catherine is in danger! If you won’t help her, stop annoying me!” ‘I abandoned her.’Honestly, when I was stabbed, it hurt a lot.But after Zach snapped at me, for some strange reason, I lost all sense of pain.Even when my head was cut off and my limbs were severed, I did not feel much pain.Right from the start to the end, I never shed a tear.But Zach cried, though he only came to realize it much later.“Why am I crying? It must be fake. Why would I be crying?”He eventually wiped away his tears when he got a call from the hospital.“Are you Stella Riverra’s family? I’m from the First Hospital. She’s scheduled for
“You’re lying!”Zach’s eyes burned with rage, and he grabbed Catherine’s neck.“That can’t be possible! She’s weak, and she even trips over her own feet! How could she have carried me out of the mountain?!”“Cough… Let me go, you crazy b*stard!”Catherine shoved him away.“I’m going to tell you something else, Zach. Stella was the one who gave you her kidney! I heard her begging Sam not to tell you. She didn’t want you to feel guilty, and so she decided to hide it from you forever!“Hahaha! What an idiot! She decided to devote herself entirely to a man! It’s no wonder she died! Hahaha!”“Shut up! Just shut up!”That day, Zach acted as if he had lost his mind.In the end, the police came and had to fight tooth and nail to save Catherine from his hands.But when he was at the police station, he finally got news about my death.“Even though we haven’t managed to find Ms. Riverra’s corpse, based on the amount of blood we found at the scene of the crime, we believe she was dismem
A few days passed. Zach never went to work.He did not answer any phone calls either.He just tied an apron around his waist and cleaned up our house. He also made a lot of my favorite foods.He even filled up my plate for me and cut off all the fatty bits of my meat.“You don’t like eating fat, but you want your lean meats to still have fat on them. Why are you so spoiled? Eat up. I’m not going to spoil you again.“Stella, you think you’re a hot shot now? You can’t even finish that bit of food? Look at you! You’re so skinny!“Forget it. Hand your food over. I’ll finish it. Don’t waste your food anymore. Wasting food is a despicable thing, understand?!”I watched him talk to the air, just like that.Then, he would happily eat the food on my plate.After that, he went back to our bedroom and hugged my pillow, just like how he usually hugged me. He would also caress the pillow gently.“Starling, I’m really tired. Let me hold you for a bit.”I knew that Zach was acting strange.
Zach finally called the police.They looked through the security footage and finally came to the conclusion that I had gone missing near an abandoned factory.While it was an abandoned factory, when it snowed, couples would go there to take photos and upload them on social media. It was a famous date spot.Zach drove over to the place.As he stumbled around, he shouted my name.Then, he seemed to have remembered something, and he looked at the abandoned factory in disbelief.Had he finally realized that he was really close to the place where he cut open that nameless torso?“Mr. Clark, our police dogs found this in the snow.”It was a bloodied hearing aid.I could not quite describe Zach’s expression accurately. He seemed shocked but also in disbelief.In the end, he took the expensive, custom-made hearing aid he bought for me.“That’s impossible… This can’t be hers… There are plenty of hearing aids in the world. This can’t be hers. She’s still waiting for me at home for us