Chapter 1
so heartless?”
Ryan’s friends swarmed in, their voices a tidal wave of condemnation.
“Ruby, that’s low. Ryan’s always so good to you, and now that he needs you, you’re making excuses.”
“Yeah, it’s just one kidney! What’s there to even think about?”
“If my girlfriend acted like this, I’d have dumped her ages ago. Ryan must have been blind.”
The sheer hypocrisy was suffocating.
“It’s not that I won’t help,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “But donating a kidney isn’t like getting a paper- cut. I had a check-up last week, and my doctor said my own kidney function was a little unstable. If I go through with this, we could both end up in trouble.”
“You’re lying!” Colby shrieked. “You’re just making up excuses because you don’t want to do it!”
Ryan frowned, his voice laced with disappointment. “Ruby, you’re lying to me? At a time like this? If you don’t
want to save me, just say so. You don’t have to make things up.”
I looked at him and suddenly smiled. “I’m not lying. But fine. You want my kidney? Say it. Say it loud and clear, right here, in front of everyone. Say, ‘I, Ryan Hayes, am in renal failure and I need Ruby Stone to donate her kidney to save my life.’ Say that, and I’ll go through with the tests.”
Ryan froze. Colby tugged at his sleeve. “Ryan, just say it! It’s just one sentence!”
My smile widened. “Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?” I asked, my words aimed at the air. “Sometimes, if you repeat a lie enough, it has a way of becoming true.”
No one paid attention to my warning. All eyes were on Ryan.
He clenched his jaw, his gaze darting from the expectant faces around him to Colby’s pale, pained expressi-
- Finally, he took a deep breath.
‘I, Ryan Hayes, am in renal failure, and I need Ruby Stone to donate her kidney to save my life.”
The second the words left his mouth, his face went another shade whiter.
No one else noticed. But I did.
Looking at his ashen face, I finally agreed to cooperate.
Just then, my mother pushed through the crowd. She spotted me and pointed a finger right at my face.” Ruby, have you lost your mind? Ryan is in this state, and you’re still refusing to help? How can you be so cold
and selfish!”
“Mom, 1-”
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me!” she cut me off. “Ryan is such a wonderful boy! He’s so good to you! And now that he needs you, you’re dragging your feet. If you don’t agree to donate that kidney today, then you’re no daughter
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of mine. We’re done, you and I, as of right now.”
