I Gave Him My Kidney, He Gave Her My Children.

Pushing the heavy oak door open took the last ounce of my strength. I pressed my palm hard against my abdomen. The fresh surgical incision tore, sending a blinding white flash of agony through my nerves. Warm dampness soaked through my oversized sweater. Blood.

I stumbled into the foyer. Voices drifted from the living room. Soft murmurs. A woman's gentle coaxing.

"Just one more bite, Liam," Maya murmured.

I leaned against the archway. My husband rested against the plush velvet cushions, his face gaunt and pale from his recent transplant surgery. Maya sat perched on the edge of the coffee table, blowing on a spoonful of steaming broth before lifting it to his lips.

My five-year-old twins, Leo and Mia, rested their heads on Maya's lap.

"Auntie Maya makes the best soup," Leo announced.

Mia nodded, her pigtails bobbing. "Better than Mommy's."

I gripped the doorframe. My knuckles turned stark white.

Liam swallowed the broth. His gaze shifted, landing on me.

The tender expression on his face vanished. His jaw locked. He snatched the porcelain bowl from Maya's hands and hurled it.

*Crash.*

The bowl shattered against the edge of the marble tea table. Hot liquid splattered across the rug.

"You have the nerve to show your face here?" Liam's voice cracked like a whip.

I flinched, my free hand instinctively hovering over the bleeding wound hidden beneath my clothes. "Liam—"

"Shut up!" he roared, gripping the armrest to hoist himself forward. "Where were you, Clara? Where the hell were you?"

Maya quickly placed a hand on his chest. "Liam, please. Your stitches. Don't agitate yourself."

He shoved her hand away gently, keeping his furious eyes pinned on me. "I was dying on that operating table. My body was failing. And my wife? My wife packed her bags and vanished!"

I tried to speak. The metallic tang of blood flooded the back of my throat.

"I didn't vanish," I managed to whisper.

"Liar!" Liam spat. "The doctors paged you for hours. Maya was the one who stayed. Maya was the one who found the anonymous donor at the last second!"

A bitter, twisted laugh scraped its way out of my mouth. An anonymous donor. Is that what Maya told him?

I stared at the spot where my liver now beat inside his chest. The organ keeping him alive.

"You think this is funny?" Liam demanded.

"No," I answered flatly. "I find it fascinating."

Maya stood up, smoothing her skirt. "Clara, you shouldn't be here. You abandoned him when he needed you most. You lost the right to walk into this house."

"This is my house," I fired back.

Leo and Mia scrambled up from the floor. They darted behind Maya, burying their faces in her skirt.

"Go away!" Leo shouted, pointing a tiny finger at me. "You're a bad woman!"

"We want Auntie Maya to be our mommy!" Mia cried, hiding in the fabric.

The physical pain in my abdomen paled in comparison to the sudden, hollow drop in my