Chapter 2My husband's kidney failure was successfully matched. I deliberately told my husband that I was the one with kidney failure, but he reacted like this.

At 7 p.m., the doorbell rang on time. I adjusted my expression, making myself look haggard and weak. Father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law Lydia stood at the door.

Their faces carried the usual critical and scrutinizing look. Ethan followed behind them, seemingly a bit clueless. "Adeline, what’s going on, being all secretive?" my mother-in-law spoke first, with a hint of impatience in her tone.

I didn’t answer immediately. I just silently let them into the living room. "Dad, Mom, Lydia, Ethan…

" My voice carried a deliberately suppressed tremble. "I… am sick."

The usual impatience on my mother-in-law’s face froze like a cheap mask. Father-in-law frowned, eyes scrutinizing. Sister-in-law Lydia smirked, as if saying, "What’s she up to now?" Only Ethan. He stared at me nervously, his voice trembling: "Adeline, what’s wrong? Is it serious?"

I deliberately avoided his eager gaze. "The doctor said… it’s chronic kidney failure, end-stage renal disease." Mother-in-law's eyes widened, her voice instantly rising: "What?! Kidney failure?!" "How could that be?"

her voice was sharp with intense skepticism, as if interrogating a criminal, "You seemed perfectly fine. How could you suddenly have such a serious illness?" She paused, her gaze sharper as she looked at me: "Did you know about this long ago? Have you been hiding it from our family?" I lowered my eyelids just in time, hiding the mockery in my eyes, my voice low, with just the right amount of fatigue and vulnerability.

"It was discovered during a recent checkup." "The doctor said the only treatment is a kidney transplant." "Kidney transplant?!" Her voice rose several more pitches, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "How much would that cost?!"

"What about a donor? Who’s going to donate to you?!" Here it comes. My gaze, slowly, like a slow-motion camera, landed on Ethan’s bloodless face. "Ethan and I… went for a matching test." "The result…" I paused.

"Ethan is the only perfect match." Ethan’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper, and he instinctively stepped back. Mother-in-law's eyes flickered intensely. "A match… matched?" she muttered, her voice changing pitch.

"No way! Absolutely not!" Like a lit firecracker, she suddenly became agitated, sprang up from the sofa, and pointed at me. "Ethan is the only son of the family! The only heir!" "He has to work! He has to support the family! He has to continue our family line!"

"How can he donate a kidney?! Huh?!" "Mom!" Ethan finally found his voice, looking at me with a trace of plea and guilt in his eyes, "Adeline, she…"

"Shut up!" Mother-in-law glared at him like a protective hen, cutting him off. "You have no say here!

What do you understand?!" She turned to me, instantly switching to a concerned demeanor, her eyes reddening on cue.

"Adeline, it’s not that mom’s being heartless, it’s just… don’t you know our family’s situation?" "Ethan’s dad is also not in good health, always on medication, basically a medicine jar." "Everything in and out of the house relies solely on Ethan!"

"Where do we have the spare money for you to have a transplant surgery? I heard it costs hundreds of thousands! And it’s not even guaranteed!"

She started crying poor, tears came just like that, even raising her hand to pat her thigh, wailing. Lydia chimed in, her tone sharp and cutting like a knife.

"Exactly, sister-in-law, it’s not that we don’t want to help you." "It’s just that there’s absolutely no way."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over me with undisguised disdain. "Besides, your illness… sigh." "Why wasn’t this found before you got married?"

"Did you hide it on purpose?" "Can you still have kids now?" "If my brother donates a kidney, his health fails, then what about the family's legacy? Who will carry it on?" Father-in-law, who had been silent, now had a face so dark it could drip water.

He gave a heavy snort. And said firmly: "If you’re sick, accept it, don’t drag down our whole family!"

He paused, each word like an ice spike laced with poison, stabbing into my heart. "Hurry up and get a divorce, don’t hold back my son!" And Ethan?

He stood there like a wooden post. Just like numerous times before. When I needed him most. He chose cowardly silence.