Chapter 9

Sean was standing a distance away from the table and could not see what Carolien looked like. He nodded at Eddy’s words.

As the most skilled kidney specialist in the world, a surgery like this was child’s play to him. He only came back to handle this surgery because of Kirk.

“I’m going to leave. The rest is in your hands,” Eddy said to Sean before turning to leave.

At this moment, outside City Hall, Kirk got down the car, attracting the attention of many.

He wore ordinary clothes, and his car was nothing extraordinary. However, his bearing made him stand out among the crowd, and with his handsome features and perfectly sculpted figure, it was hard to go unnoticed.

Kirk was standing alone at the door, faced with their attention. He looked at the watch on his wrist, revealing the smooth contours of his muscles.

It was already ten minutes past nine, but Caroline had not yet appeared.

He did not like tardy people.

He called Caroline on his phone, but no one answered. This made him frown slightly. He was about to call her again, but then a Rolls-Royce approached City Hall.

Rolls-Royces were common in Osbury, so that wasn’t striking on its own. What really stood out, however, was the license plate. It read, “A0XXXXX.”

Only the Morrisons could own these license plates.

He narrowed his eyes, watching as the car stopped at the entrance to City Hall. Then, a few bodyguards opened the door, and Eddy stepped out in a white suit.

When the people around them saw him, they screamed.

“Oh my god, it’s Eddy Morrison!”

“Oh no, he’s at City Hall!”

“Could he be marrying the Evans’ daughter?”

Eddy merely smiled at their questions. With the help of his bodyguards, he walked toward City Hall.

Then, he spotted Kirk amongst the crowd. He strode toward him in pleasant surprise.

“Unc—” It was then that he remembered Jude’s warning to keep Kirk’s identity a secret. He then quickly said, “We meet again.”

Kirk nodded slightly and walked into City Hall with him.

The crowd was left behind outside the doors. Eddy finally went next to Kirk and said in a soft voice, “What are you doing here, Uncle?”

Instead of answering, Kirk asked, “What are you doing here?”

Eddy said, “I’m registering my marriage.”

A chill went up Kirk’s spine. “With whom?”

Eddy replied, “With the girl that Grandpa arranged for me. I’ve mentioned her to you before.”

“Didn’t you hate her?” Kirk was not invested in Eddy, but Eddy considered him his idol. He’d brought up his marriage more than once to him. In Eddy’s words, Caroline was a scheming, conniving woman. He was adamant about not marrying her.

“That was before.” Eddy didn’t wish to say much more. He changed the topic. “So what are you doing here, Uncle?”

Kirk stared at him. “Where is she?”

Eddy didn’t understand what he meant. “Who?”

Kirk moved closer toward him and grabbed his collar. His gaze was cold. “I’ll only ask you one more time. Where is she?”

His suppressive aura was enough to have Eddy struggling to catch his breath. He finally understood.

His mind went blank as he stuttered, “In the hospital. She’s going through a kidney donation operation.”

Kirk’s pupils constricted, and the veins on his arms popped. He gritted his teeth. “What did you say?”

Eddy had abducted Caroline for the operation!

Before Eddy could reply, Kirk pushed him away and strode toward the exit. But then, he turned back, his gaze sharp as that of a fierce predator, and grabbed Eddy tightly. “If anything happens to her, you’re mincemeat.”

Then, he turned and left.

Eddy stared after him in a daze, taking a long time to recover.

What had happened to his uncle? He’d never met Caroline before. Why was Kirk so angry? Why was it as if he had damaged something of Kirk’s?

…

Meanwhile, in the operation theater, Caroline’s voice had grown hoarse. Her wrists had been grazed raw, but the door to the room remained tightly shut.

Right as she was about to give up, the door opened, and a swarm of doctors came in.

Caroline lit up with hope. “Let … let me go …”

“Don’t struggle anymore, cousin,” a silvery voice rang throughout the hall. “You can’t go through a surgery when you’re so agitated.”

Layla appeared before Caroline with a nurse behind her wheeling her in. She looked at Caroline in glee.

Caroline clenched her fists. “I will not give you my kidney, Layla!”

Layla said nonchalantly, “Did you really think I would not do anything to you just because Grandpa favors you? Don’t forget that Eddy is the one who’s inheriting everything.” She dug her fingernails into Caroline’s flesh.

Caroline looked at her coldly. “If I’m not mistaken, we haven’t matched yet. Aren’t you afraid that my kidney won’t be a match for you?”

Layla laughed. She looked Caroline straight in the eyes and said, “No.”

Caroline was stunned.

She always thought that Eddy brought up the kidney trade for marriage because he’d secretly matched her and Layla, which was why she wanted to stall Layla with this.

But now, she was discovering a dirty secret.

“If we haven’t matched before, why are you …” Caroline paused, a terrifying thought surfacing in her mind. She looked at Layla in horror. “You never wanted to use my kidney. You just wanted me to die!”

If she died, the marriage would be invalid. There would be nothing standing between Layla and Eddy.

Layla was laughing in scorn. “You’re not as dumb as I thought.”

Goosebumps appeared on Caroline’s flesh. She struggled even more. “You’re fucking crazy!”

They would sacrifice a human life just to be together.

Layla laughed wildly. “That’s right. We’re fucking crazy. I’ve gone crazy being jealous of you. Why were you the princess of the family? Why couldn’t it have been me? I’m part of the Evanses, too. Why do I have to let you have everything just because we were born a few years apart?”

Caroline looked at Layla’s distorted features in disbelief. She’d never known how much Layla truly hated her. And it was all because of one marriage certificate.

Right this moment, the door opened again. Sean, surrounded by several doctors, walked in.

“Begin the operation.”

“Get the anesthesia.”

Caroline was jolted back to reality at once. She screamed at Sean, “I didn’t sign up for this! Let me go!

Let me go!”

Sean frowned and looked at her. When he saw her pale face, he suddenly found her familiar.