?Chapter 265:


    “I need you to brace yourself,” Elliana said atst, her voice low and steady. “What I’m about to tell you about Boris… It’s not easy to hear. But you’ve got to promise me you’ll stay strong. No running, no breaking. Just look it in the eye and take it.”


    The weight in Elliana’s words made Hailee’s pulse spike. After a year of exhaustion and emotional knots, anything with Boris’ name on it triggered her like a tripwire. Her fear had always lived in the same room as love—afraid that any day, Boris’ health would fall off a cliff. So, the second Elliana spoke, her thoughts spiraled. Her voice cracked. “Did the doctors say something? Is it getting worse? Is Boris past saving?” A quiet sigh slipped from Elliana’s lips. While Hailee sat there unraveling over Boris’ well-being, Boris was off nning an engagement bash with another woman, partying like a king without a care in the world. The contrast was staggering. Pure-hearted devotion pitted against shameless betrayal.


    “Hailee, before I show you anything, I need your word—you’ll hold it together, no matter what,” Elliana said, her voice firm but not unkind. She needed that promise.


    Elliana wanted Hailee to finally wake up, to cut herself loose from Boris’ maniptions and start living for herself again. But that didn’t mean she wanted to watch Hailee crumble under the weight of it all. Hailee wavered for a second, teeth sinking into her lip. “I swear, Elliana. Whatever it is, I’ll deal with it. I won’t fall apart.”


    “That’s all I needed to hear,” Elliana replied, her shoulders easing slightly as a flicker of relief touched her lips. Without another word, she passed her phone to Hailee. “Watch this.”


    The screen lit up, and a paused video appeared, footage Elliana had quietly recorded during her visit to the hospital on that fateful day. Hailee gave Elliana a puzzled nce before tapping the y button.


    The clip sprang to life. Boris lounged in his hospital bed, grinning like a yboy, surrounded by his usual sleazeball friends. Laughter filled the ward as sses clinked, the whole scene reeking of celebration.


    Everything inside Hailee seemed to freeze. Her body locked up, breath stalled, eyes glued to the screen like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.


    Hailee locked her eyes on the screen, watching Boris lift a champagne ss with an infuriating smirk stered across his face. His every word sliced straight through her. “She’s just something I mess around with when I’ve got nothing better to do. Saving her from the rushing car? Please. That was just a little stunt I pulled for kicks.”


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    As the video came to a jarring stop, Hailee felt the floor fall out from under her. Up until this moment, her life had been simple—quiet, untouched by this level of cruelty. She’d never stood face-to-face with malice so raw. Even the darkest shows she’d binge-watched hadn’t prepared her for something this vicious. A spoiled heir, bored out of his mind, had manipted her into almost giving away a piece of herself—a literal piece. A kidney.


    Hailee couldn’t fathom the depravity. Her mind rejected it. “This… This can’t be happening,” she murmured, her head moving back and forth as if she could shake the truth out of existence.


    Everything in her screamed denial. She couldn’t believe a person, any person, could be this grotesque. She especially couldn’t reconcile it with the image she’d built of Boris. The apparently sick man she’d nursed and worried over was now bouncing around with a champagne flute, joking like the world was his stage.


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