Chapter 1
1
I never in my darkest nightmares imagined that I would end up donating my own blood to the woman sleeping with my husband.
Just an hour ago, my life looked perfect. I was at home, carefully setting the table for a romantic candlelit dinner. It was our fifth wedding anniversary, and I wanted everything to be flawless for Robert Mars. Then, my phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number.
I hesitated at first, but something told me to answer. It was the hospital. They told me Robert had been involved in a serious car accident.
My heart shattered into a million pieces the second I heard the news. I didn’t even stop to take off my cooking apron. I just bolted for the door, shoved my feet into my shoes, and ran.
The drive was a blur of complete fear and terror. I blew through several red lights, desperate to reach him. At one point, another car grazed my arm, but I didn’t stop. I could hear the other driver screaming at me in a rage, but I ignored it and kept going until I reached the hospital.
I spotted Robert standing in the hospital corridor under the harsh, pale overhead lights. He looked incredibly fragile, and his face was as pale as a ghost. Seeing him like that broke me even more.
I wanted to throw myself into his arms, but I was moving so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet. As I got closer, I reached out for him, but he did something that stopped me cold: he flinched away.
That was when I noticed the bandage wrapped around his arm, stained with a small amount of blood. My heart clenched with worry. I tried to touch the bandage to see if he was okay, but he moved away before I could even get close.
I was losing my mind, and the questions started pouring out of me:
“Rob, how did you even get into a car accident?”
“How is your arm? Are you in pain?”
“Why are there no nurses attending to you? Why are you just standing here?”
“Did you break it? What did the doctor actually say to you?”
Robert didn’t answer me. Instead, he lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. His fingers clamped down like iron handcuffs. His face was pale, his eyes darting around with a frantic, desperate energy I had never seen before.
“Stop asking questions!” he snapped, his voice shaking with anxiety. “You don’t need to know anything. Just go in there and donate your blood to June. Do it now! Hurry up!”
He practically screamed the last words, his breath hot against my face.
I stumbled back, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Okay, okay! Calm down, Robert. I’m going!” I reached out to touch his shoulder, trying to ground him. “I’ll head over there right now. Just breathe.”
I turned toward the hospital wing, but then I saw it.
Through the glass of the emergency doors, a gurney was being pushed fast. On it lay a woman covered in blood. My heart stopped. It was June Rodney.
June—my best friend.
My brain felt like it was short-circuiting. What was she doing here? Why was she with my husband in the middle of the night? And how were they both in a car accident together?
I spun back to him, my voice trembling. “Rob... why was June in your car? What is going on?”
Robert didn’t even flinch. His face hardened into a mask of pure ice. He grabbed my arm again—harder this time—and began dragging me toward the operating room doors.
“What fucking right do you have to ask me that?” he hissed, his voice low and dangerous. “Shut up and go donate the blood. That is your only job.”
He leaned in closer, his eyes cold and full of a strange hatred. “And listen to me carefully. If anything happens to June... if she dies... I will hate you for the rest of my life.”
The pain in my wrist was sharp, but the pain in my chest was worse. Tears blurred my vision as I tried to pull away.
“Robert, let go!” I sobbed, struggling against his grip. “You’re hurting me! Let go of my hands!”
Hearing the commotion. Suddenly, the operating room doors swung open, and a nurse stepped out, her face tight with worry. “Is this the person here to donate blood for Ms. Rodney?” she asked, her voice sharp and urgent.
Before I could even catch my breath, Robert shoved me forward with a rough hand. “Yes, that’s her,” he snapped, his voice sounding more like a command than an introduction. “She is AB Negative. Take whatever you need, just save her!”
I stumbled forward, my heart hammering against my ribs, but I forced a shaky smile onto my face. “Yes… I’m here. I’m ready to donate,” I whispered. The nurse looked at me for a long moment, her expression unreadable—almost like she was hiding a dark secret. “Come with me to the blood collection room immediately,” she said, turning on her heel.
I had to jog a few steps just to keep up with her fast pace. Even after the way Robert had treated me, I couldn’t help but turn back one last time to reassure him. “Rob, honey, don’t worry,” I called out, trying to reach him through his panic. “June Rodney will be fine. I’m going to donate my blood right now, and everything will be okay.”
He didn’t even acknowledge me. His dark eyes remained fixed on the operating room door, filled with a level of devotion and fear that he had never once shown for me in a long time.
I walked into the blood collecting room and it was cold and smelled of disinfectant. After they drew my blood, the nurses had to check the results to ensure everything was perfect before the transfusion could begin. I laid there, feeling weak and hollow, when I heard a sound that chilled me to the bone.
Two nurses were huddled in the corner, whispering frantically. They were talking about June, the woman with the rare AB negative blood type. “The reason for her severe blood loss is just... bizarre,” one whispered, her eyes wide.
“It’s scandalous,” the other replied, leaning in closer. “The injuries didn’t all come from the car. Something happened during a wild, intense car sex’ with a man right before the accident.”
My entire body went stiff as the words hit me like a physical blow. I turned my head slowly, feeling like a wooden doll, as I listened to the nurse vividly describe the scene. The room began to spin, and my vision blurred. My body swayed dangerously, and I nearly fell off the hospital bed as the truth began to sink in.
Robert Mars and June Rodney…. Having sex? My heart clenched painfully, causing my entire body to ache. My breathing became rapid, and I just couldn’t feel my fingernails digging into my own skin.
How could Robert be that kind of person?
He was so good to me, always home on time, and wouldn’t even glance at another woman. How could Robert be having intense sex in the car with June? Despite trying to reassure myself that they might just be gossiping without knowing what exactly transpired, my heart pounded harder, almost leaping out of my throat.
Then, the nurse’s last words shattered all my entire defenses.
The nurse glanced in my direction and lowered her voice even more. “I heard that the person who came to donate blood was his wife!”
