She Took Half My Life For A Dream

Vivian sent someone to bring me to the hospital.

The hallway to the VIP wards was very quiet, and the smell of antiseptic hung in the air.

I walked down the long hallway and looked through the glass window to see Wendell lying in a bed.

His eyes were closed, his face was pale and ashen, and his lips were bloodless.

Vivian sat by his bedside, holding his hand. Her head was down, and her shoulders trembled minutely.

I opened the door and went in.

Vivian looked up. Her face was not tear-streaked as I had expected.

“You’re here.” Her voice was calm.

“Yes.”

She stood up and walked over to hold my wrist.

“Come outside with me. I have something to talk to you about.”

She pulled me to the end of the hallway.

The stark light shone on us, and I could hear nurses rushing about in the distance.

Vivian let go of my wrist.

“Wendell doesn’t have long to live.”

I was quiet.

Vivian raised her hand and placed it on my chest.

“He needs a heart transplant.”

I could feel the coolness of Vivian’s palm even through my shirt. She could feel my heartbeat under her palm. Her eyes were distant. She seemed lost in a dream.

“Your heart is the best match.”

Suddenly, I understood everything.

Vivian had drugged Wendell’s milk in the middle of the night to give him a heart attack. That way, he would have a good excuse for needing a heart transplant. The heart he needed was in my chest.

Vivian wanted Randall’s heart to go into a body that looked like his.

Everything she had done was intentional, from letting me see them getting intimate at the office to bringing him into our home.

She did not want to chase me off immediately because I still had value to her. Randall’s heart was still in my body.

I looked into Vivian’s eyes and saw determination there.

It seemed that I was not going to be able to escape this.

After calming my emotions, I calmly said, “Isn’t Randall’s heart the only thing you want, Vivan?”

Vivian’s expression froze.

“You didn’t fall in love with me at first sight back when we first met. You like lying on my chest and listening to my heartbeat because this heart belonged to Randall Summers.”

Vivian’s eyes widened. She was shocked, and I could see the disbelief in her eyes.

“Y-You know?”

“I know.” I pushed Vivian’s palm away.

She stood rooted to the spot, looking as if she had been struck.

I looked at Vivian, whom I had loved for the past five years. I had cooked countless meals for her, done all her laundry, and waited for her to come home for countless nights.

When I thought it all over, I realized those five years felt more like a dream.

It was a dream I had willingly lost myself in.

I took a deep breath and let out a chuckle.

“I can give you what you want, but I have a condition. I want a divorce and a fifty-million-dollar settlement. Once I get the money and the papers are signed, I’ll do the heart transplant. I’ll give you Randall back.”