Found Love After He Broke My Heart

"I can't believe you did this."

The voice was distant, barely a murmur, but it was enough to stir me awake. My eyelids felt heavy, my body sluggish. Blinking against the harsh white lights above, I slowly took in my surroundings. A hospital. I was in a hospital.

But I wasn’t alone.

"I can do whatever I want." The voice was cold, detached.

A voice I knew too well—Michele. My husband.

My breath hitched as I turned my head slightly, my vision focusing on the window beside the door. Michele stood there, his back to me, alongside someone else. Faro. His closest friend.

"You lied to your wife. And as if that wasn't enough, you used her kidney."

Used my kidney…

A strange chill crept up my spine.

Michele wasn’t even supposed to be here—he should have been resting in his own hospital ward. I shut my eyes, forcing myself to listen, even though I knew I shouldn’t.

Even though I knew it might break me.

Faro let out a humorless chuckle. "You're an unbelievable bastard, aren't you?" His voice was tight, barely restrained rage spilling through. "That woman trusted you."

"Trust?" Michele let out a dark chuckle. "I did what had to be done. She's alive, isn't she? Her kidney is finally restored."

My entire body froze. My stomach twisted violently, nausea clawing at my throat.

I’m alive… My kidney is restored…

The kidney was never meant for Michele.

It was meant for another woman.

Realization slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs.

Clare. My stepsister.

Michele and I had been married for half a year, our union nothing more than a business arrangement between our families. But I had loved him. I wasn’t sure if he loved me in return, but he had been there, caring for me in ways that made me believe—hope—that he did. So much so that I had nearly forgotten about Clare, the woman he had once loved. The woman he had been forced to leave behind because of our arranged marriage.

I had thought it ended there.

But apparently, it hadn’t.

The sting of tears burned beneath my eyelids. My hands trembled against the sheets, fingers weak and powerless. I wanted to move. I wanted to scream. But my body refused to obey, frozen under the weight of betrayal.

Michele sighed in exasperation. "You know how much I love Clare, Faro. You, of all people, should understand why I did this. She only had three months!"

"And so fucking what?!" Faro's voice was sharp with fury before he immediately hushed himself. He turned, likely checking if I was awake. But my eyes remained closed. His voice lowered to a whisper. "Your wife is supposed to be with you forever, and yet you let her give up one of her kidneys for your ex-girlfriend."

I didn’t want to hear any more, but there was no escape.

Michele sighed. "Calm down, Faro. You're not thinking straight. We need to leave before she decides to visit my ward."

After a few more hushed curses from Faro, they left the room. Only then did I fully open my eyes. I stared at the ceiling, a single question echoing in my mind.

What went wrong?

We had been perfect for the past six months. Had I done something wrong? Had I failed him in some way?

Had I ever really had him at all?

Slowly, I sat up, tearing the IV from my hand just as a nurse entered the room. She gasped and rushed to my side.

"Miss!"

"I'm fine," I said dryly. "Can I get some clothes? I want to visit my husband."

The word husband tasted like sand on my tongue.

The nurse hesitated but eventually handed me a simple dress. The pain in my abdomen was unbearable, but I didn’t care. I needed to see him.

Led to Michele's ward, I slipped inside—only for another wave of breath to be knocked from my lungs.

Beside Michele, perched on the edge of his bed, sat Clare.

My stepsister. His supposed ex-girlfriend.

Her hands rested on his.

I paused in the doorway, willing Michele to pull away.

He didn’t.

Instead, he smiled at me. The same smile that now I knew had never been real.

"Ella," he called softly, just as he always had. "Did you come to visit me?"

He attempted to sit up, and Clare helped him.

Swallowing hard, I stepped inside, my gaze locking onto Clare before shifting to Michele.

Why was Clare here? Why was she doing this?

"Sis, are you alright?" Clare asked gently.

I ignored her, turning to Michele instead.

"Michele." I forced myself to smile at him—one last time. "How's your kidney?"

I already knew the answer. His kidney was fine.

His eyes flickered toward Clare for a fraction of a second before settling back on me. His smile remained soft. "Thank you, love. I really appreciate your efforts in keeping me alive."

I nodded, swallowing back the tears that threatened to spill. Leaning down, I placed a light kiss on his forehead.

Then I walked out.

Out of his hospital room.

Out of the hospital entirely.