The day after my mom used my 800 thousand dollars—the money I needed for a kidney transplant—to buy wedding gifts for my adopted sister Freya Sterling, my husband Wesley Hunt asked me for a divorce.
“Grace.” Wesley set down the divorce papers on my hospital bed. “Just sign these.”
My voice was shaking. “Why?”
“I’ve been here with you for three years.” His eyes were red. “That 800 thousand dollars was supposed to save your life. It was our last hope. But now it’s gone.
“Your parents think your adopted sister’s wedding is more important than your life, and you’re their actual daughter. I’ve spent everything I had, and I’ve done everything I could, but I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore.”
He pulled off his wedding ring and walked out without looking back.
My phone lit up. My mother had sent me photos of Freya in her wedding dress, and there was a voice message too.
I could practically hear the smugness in her voice. “Our daughter’s getting married in style. Our lives are complete now.”
I looked at the photo of Freya smiling so happily, and I calmly liked it and left a comment. Then I blocked everyone’s contact information.
If their choice was always going to be her, then from now on, their happiness or regrets had nothing to do with me anymore.
I just wondered if they’d remember the daughter they pushed away today when this precious daughter of theirs was pulling their oxygen tubes out some day.
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 08 I die on a Tuesday, exactly sixty years after my transplant. Maya’s kidney lasted my whole life, and I am grateful for every single day. Maya—the doctor, not the donor—sits with me at the end. Wesley Jr. is there too, holding my hand. Wesley has been […]
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 07 Fifteen years after the transplant, Maya (my Maya, not my kidney’s Maya asks me the question I’ve been dreading. “Why don’t I have grandparents like my friends do?” She’s ten, wise beyond her years, sitting at the kitchen counter while I make cookies for the foundation’s
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 06 My father is extradited on a Monday in October. I find out from a news alert on my phone while I’m at a foundation board meeting. His mugshot is the same man who walked out of my hospital room three years ago, but older, tired, defeated.
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 05 The foundation processes its tenth application on a Thursday morning. I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, a cup of tea, and the checklist Dr. Morrison gave me for monthly health monitoring. Maya’s photo is propped against the sugar bowl. Lena convinced her firm
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 04 Freya is arrested on a Tuesday. I see it on the news before Marcus calls me. The local station shows her being led out of the Sterling family’s guest house in handcuffs, a blazer thrown over her head to hide her face. The caption reads: “Woman
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 03 The Sterlings’ attorney’s office makes Marcus’s look like a broom closet. It’s in a historic building with crown molding and oil paintings of serious men who probably owned half the city a century ago. I’m shown into a conference room by a woman whose suit costs
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 02 The nurse stands there with her hand out, waiting for a credit card I don’t have. Her eyebrows are raised, and I can see the judgment in her eyes. Another dying girl without insurance, another bed they’re losing money on. “I’ll be out by tonight,” I
Adopted Sister’s Dowry That Costs My Life Chapter 01 The day after my mom used my 800 thousand dollars—the money I needed for a kidney transplant—to buy wedding gifts for my adopted sister Freya Sterling, my husband Wesley Hunt asked me for a divorce. “Grace.” Wesley set down the divorce papers on my hospital bed.
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