Chapter 1Dad Threatened Me With Mom’s Life, My Reply Stunned Him

Right after my kidney transplant.

My supposedly perfect father stood by my bed with bloodshot eyes, claiming he had three earth-shattering secrets to tell me.

I figured it was just some bad investments he wanted me to bail him out of.

Instead, he delivered a crushing blow.

"Fiona, you aren't our biological daughter. Sabrina is."

Seeing my lack of a reaction, he pushed harder.

"You’ve been living in luxury on borrowed time. It’s time to give the Lockhart Group inheritance back to her."

He didn't care at all that I had just come out of major surgery and couldn't handle any stress.

He even had the audacity to play the saint.

"You’ve always been a good, dutiful daughter. You wouldn't want to watch your mother die on the operating table, would you?"

Looking at his smug, confident face, I just wanted to laugh.

"Is that it?"

The kidney transplant was over.

My mother was still unconscious, but I had just woken up.

"Fiona, there are three secrets I need to tell you."

I stared at my father, Marcus, a man with a spotless reputation as the perfect dad. I figured he had just botched an investment and needed me to clean up his mess.

"Go ahead," I said.

His eyes welled with tears, his voice cracking with emotion. "You aren't our biological child."

I frowned slightly.

"During the transplant compatibility tests, I noticed your blood type didn't match ours. Your mother and I are both type O, but you're type A."

"I was completely blindsided. I quietly ran a DNA test, and the results confirmed it. You aren't ours."

I kept quiet, watching his tears fall. "The truth is, Sabrina is our real daughter. Helena and I... we are her biological parents."

Sabrina? The girl our family had been sponsoring for twenty years?

"Sabrina grew up in a run-down foster home, suffering so much. She’s dreamed of having a real family her whole life, of having parents who cherish her."

"Now that we’ve finally found her, I can't let her suffer any longer."

"Fiona, I know this is a massive shock, but blood ties can't be denied."

He buried his face in his hands, weeping as if he were the victim of some tragic twist of fate.

"Marcus," I said, my voice flat, "I gave Mom a kidney. I didn't lose my brain."

He froze, looking up at my calm expression. "DNA results don't come back that fast. You knew Sabrina was your daughter long before today."

"No matter when you told me this, I still would have given Mom my kidney."

"So why did you have to wait until the exact moment my surgery was finished?"

Lying on the hospital bed, I looked at his tear-stained face. "You really are cold-blooded."

He scrambled to explain. "No! That's not it! I love you, of course I do. It’s just that your mother's health has always been fragile, and the doctors said we couldn't stress her before the surgery..."

Just then, the door burst open, and Sabrina stepped in.

"Fiona, don't talk to Dad like that!"

With teary, pathetic eyes, she stood close to my bed. "He was only doing what was best for you and Mom..."

When I looked at her, she lowered her head and sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Fiona. I didn't mean to steal your parents."

"I honestly had no idea I had real parents out there."

She spoke in a trembling voice, tears spilling over her cheeks.

"Back in the foster home, I had to fight just to get a warm meal. I didn't even have a winter coat. My hands were covered in chilblains."

"I dreamed of having a home. Of having parents who loved me."

"Now, heaven has finally shown mercy and brought me back to them."

She wiped her tears, looking at me like a wounded puppy.

"Fiona, I finally have a mom and dad... You won't throw me out, will you?"

"We can still be a family, right?"

Her voice grew softer, desperate and fragile.

Marcus wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, looking at me with disapproval.

"Fiona, Sabrina has had a hard life. Just let her have this."

"You've had everything since you were a child. She had nothing."

"She just wants her real parents back. You wouldn't deny her that, would you?"

I looked at his hand resting on Sabrina's shoulder.

"So, what is it you actually want me to do?"