Chapter 2 Cruel Family

Yvonne felt everything go dark, and someone stuffed her into the car. She curled up in the corner, shivering in despair. She could not go through with the kidney donation. It would kill her, and she could not die just yet.

"How has prison treated you, Yvonne?" Zacharias stared at the scared Yvonne. She no longer had the pride she used to possess, and he felt mixed emotions over it.

Yvonne shrank. She held her head in fear, perhaps a conditioned reflex caused by being bullied in prison.

Zacharias looked at her in disgust, and he grabbed her chin. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

Blood trickled down Yvonne's forehead, in contrast to her face that was as white as a sheet. "Good…" Yvonne said tremulously. Aside from despair, there was also hatred in her eyes. Thanks to the bastard, she lived a hellish life in prison.

On the day of her release, her tormentor couldn't take it anymore, so she told Yvonne the truth. Zacharias' men had paid her to torture Yvonne during her stay.

Zacharias looked at the scars on Yvonne's face and gulped. He then shoved her away in disgust.

Yvonne stared numbly at the man she spent her best years loving. She felt nothing. The love had worn out a long time ago.

…

They arrived at Seaton Hospital, and Zacharias yanked Yvonne out of the car. Yvonne went down on her knees, pleading for mercy. The abuse she suffered in prison had turned her into a coward.

"Zacharias, please. I can't donate my kidney. I don't meet the conditions. I can atone for my sins in other ways. I'll do anything!" She groveled and kowtowed.

She was just a lone woman without anyone backing her up. If Zacharias and the Starrs wanted to kill her, they could do it easily. If they wanted her to live a miserable life, then that was what she must do.

She had to live a life more miserable than they could expect to survive, and then she would start making plans. Yvonne knew neither Zacharias nor the Starrs would show her mercy.

She had to live. There was still something she needed to do.

Zacharias took a step back, mixed emotions filling his heart. Never did he expect that the erstwhile princess of the Starrs would beg for mercy.

"Chester, please. The family has enough power to find a donor for Lara. There must be a lot of them. Please, you and Mr. and Mrs. Starr know I can’t endure this."

Yvonne was born with a heart condition. Even though she had gone through surgery when she was young, she couldn't take the damage a kidney donation would inflict on her.

Chester knew that, yet he looked at Yvonne coldly. "You owe Lara this. If your mother hadn't switched Lara out at birth, you would have been dead a long time ago."

Yvonne stiffened up like a cadaver, and she plopped onto the ground weakly. "Can't I atone in any other way?"

"You think you're in a position to negotiate?" Zacharias sneered. "Do you think you can atone for your sins with a five-year stint in jail? Did you forget what you did to me? When you cheated on me, did you think that this day wouldn't come?"

Yvonne didn't have the courage to even remember the horror that happened five years ago, and she was powerless to explain herself.

Chester swore he would protect her forever, yet when he knew she was switched at birth, he plotted and schemed to make her sleep with another man, all to ruin her.

She was just a fake in Chester's eyes, and everything she had should belong to Lara, including her fiance. So Lara brought Zacharias on a trip to catch Yvonne red-handed.

Lara and Chester set her up. Lara was the real princess anyway, so everyone trusted her. She, on the other hand, was the daughter of a thief. No one would believe her.

…

Lara was in the ward, unconscious and pale. Yvonne shrank, hanging her head low. Beside the bed were George Starr, who was the head of the family, and his wife, Melissa Gingers. They were Yvonne's parents, until recently.

The moment Yvonne showed up, Melissa slapped her furiously. Compared to Melissa, George was a lot calmer. "Has she agreed?"

"She has no right to refuse." Zacharias made the decision for her, and he forced her to kneel by the bed.

A shivering Yvonne looked at George. "D… Mr. Starr, I don't meet the requirements of a kidney donor. Please, have mercy on me. I can atone for my sins in another way. I can pay off my debt…"

George's face fell. He was displeased.

Yvonne stared at everyone. She knew these people, and yet she didn't know them at all. For a moment, she wondered if the twenty-one years she had spent before entering prison was nothing but a dream.

"Yvonne, did you forget? Five years ago, you gave birth to that bastard's baby and sent it away. That bastard child should be five years old now." Zacharias tore open Yvonne's old wounds and twisted a knife in it.

Yvonne jerked her head up and stared at Zacharias. She knew he was forcing her to make a choice.