Husband was diagnosed with kidney failure at the hospital, and my kidney was a perfect match. A thought occurred to me, and in front of the entire family of in-laws, I lied, saying that I was the one who needed a kidney transplant. Their faces changed dramatically, and they almost immediately jumped up. “A kidney transplant? How much would that cost? Our family doesn’t have money to treat your illness!” “Let your husband donate a kidney to you? No way! He’s the only son of our family, his health must not be compromised!” “If you’re sick, just accept it. Don’t drag our whole family down! Hurry up and get a divorce, don’t hold back my son!” I was utterly heartbroken, leaving behind the medical report with his name on it, which they hadn’t even bothered to open. I signed the divorce papers and left with nothing. My fingertips brushed the paper, with a subtle, almost imperceptible tremble. My gaze was fixed on the creatinine level column. It was frighteningly high. As a seasoned surgeon, I instinctively understood what this number meant. End-stage renal disease! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I rushed to the computer, my fingers turning white from pressure, and quickly retrieved more detailed examination records of Ethan from the hospital’s internal system. Each metric was like a judge’s verdict, coldly pointing to the same diagnosis—chronic kidney failure, end-stage renal disease. Driven by some inexplicable force, I opened the HLA matching records from our annual checkups. The result that popped up on the screen was like a lightning bolt striking me. A perfect match! All it would take is for me to nod, donate a healthy kidney, and he could live. The man who always chose silence and avoidance when I needed him most. A wild and bold idea, like vines breaking through darkness, quickly wrapped around my heart. I picked up the phone and dialed my mother-in-law’s number. “Mom, are you, Dad, and Lydia free this evening?” My voice was calm, without a trace of emotion. “Come to our house.” “I have something very important to announce.”
At 7 p.m., the doorbell rang on time. I adjusted my expression, making myself look haggard and weak. Father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law Lydia stood at the door. Their faces carried the usual critical and scrutinizing look. Ethan followed behind them, seemingly a bit clueless. “Adeline, what’s going on, being all secretive?” my mother-in-law spoke first, with a hint of impatience in her tone. I didn’t answer immediately. I just silently let them into the living room. “Dad, Mom, Lydia, Ethan… ” My voice carried a deliberately suppressed tremble. “I… am sick.” The usual impatience on my mother-in-law’s face froze like a cheap mask. Father-in-law frowned, eyes scrutinizing. Sister-in-law Lydia smirked, as if saying, “What’s she up to now?” Only Ethan. He stared at me nervously, his voice trembling: “Adeline, what’s wrong? Is it serious?” I deliberately avoided his eager gaze. “The doctor said… it’s chronic kidney failure, end-stage renal disease.” Mother-in-law’s eyes widened, her voice instantly rising: “What?! Kidney failure?!” “How could that be?” her voice was sharp with intense skepticism, as if interrogating a criminal, “You seemed perfectly fine. How could you suddenly have such a serious illness?” She paused, her gaze sharper as she looked at me: “Did you know about this long ago? Have you been hiding it from our family?” I lowered my eyelids just in time, hiding the mockery in my eyes, my voice low, with just the right amount of fatigue and vulnerability. “It was discovered during a recent checkup.” “The doctor said the only treatment is a kidney transplant.” “Kidney transplant?!” Her voice rose several more pitches, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “How much would that cost?!” “What about a donor? Who’s going to donate to you?!” Here it comes. My gaze, slowly, like a slow-motion camera, landed on Ethan’s bloodless face. “Ethan and I… went for a matching test.” “The result…” I paused. “Ethan is the only perfect match.” Ethan’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper, and he instinctively stepped back. Mother-in-law’s eyes flickered intensely. “A match… matched?” she muttered, her voice changing pitch. “No way! Absolutely not!” Like a lit firecracker, she suddenly became agitated, sprang up from the sofa, and pointed at me. “Ethan is the only son of the family! The only heir!” “He has to work! He has to support the family! He has to continue our family line!” “How can he donate a kidney?! Huh?!” “Mom!” Ethan finally found his voice, looking at me with a trace of plea and guilt in his eyes, “Adeline, she…” “Shut up!” Mother-in-law glared at him like a protective hen, cutting him off. “You have no say here! What do you understand?!” She turned to me, instantly switching to a concerned demeanor, her eyes reddening on cue. “Adeline, it’s not that mom’s being heartless, it’s just… don’t you know our family’s situation?” “Ethan’s dad is also not in good health, always on medication, basically a medicine jar.” “Everything in and out of the house relies solely on Ethan!” “Where do we have the spare money for you to have a transplant surgery? I heard it costs hundreds of thousands! And it’s not even guaranteed!” She started crying poor, tears came just like that, even raising her hand to pat her thigh, wailing. Lydia chimed in, her tone sharp and cutting like a knife. “Exactly, sister-in-law, it’s not that we don’t want to help you.” “It’s just that there’s absolutely no way.” She paused, her gaze sweeping over me with undisguised disdain. “Besides, your illness… sigh.” “Why wasn’t this found before you got married?” “Did you hide it on purpose?” “Can you still have kids now?” “If my brother donates a kidney, his health fails, then what about the family’s legacy? Who will carry it on?” Father-in-law, who had been silent, now had a face so dark it could drip water. He gave a heavy snort. And said firmly: “If you’re sick, accept it, don’t drag down our whole family!” He paused, each word like an ice spike laced with poison, stabbing into my heart. “Hurry up and get a divorce, don’t hold back my son!” And Ethan? He stood there like a wooden post. Just like numerous times before. When I needed him most. He chose cowardly silence.
Not long after. My phone buzzed. A new SnapChat group chat invitation popped up. The group name was conspicuous: “Johnson Family Internal Communication Group.” Initiated by sister-in-law Lydia. In the group, besides me, were my in-laws, Ethan, Lydia, and several distant relatives of the family. Lydia’s message popped up: “Brother, you must not be foolish! That woman is bad luck, a jinx!” “She can’t even have children, and now she wants to drag you down!” Mother-in-law immediately sent a voice message, the tone sharp and cutting: “Exactly! Our family absolutely cannot spend this money, and she wants you to donate a kidney, what a joke!” “If she really can’t make it, just let her go back to her family! Don’t drag down our family!” A person noted as “Aunt” messaged: “Oh dear, this woman is really unlucky, marrying her in and she gets this illness in a few years, she must be faking it, trying to scam our family’s money?” Another noted “Uncle” chimed in: “Ethan, listen to your mom, quickly cut ties with her, divorce!” “Otherwise, there will be endless trouble in the future!” I looked at those unbearable words without any expression. Saved the chat records as screenshots. The last bit of warmth in my heart. Extinguished completely at that moment. Ethan began avoiding me like the plague. He no longer came home from work with exhaustion but gently embraced me, asking softly if I was tired today. Now, he always came home late. Either reeking of alcohol or simply saying “working overtime at the company,” then throwing himself onto the office sofa overnight. Even when he was rarely home, he stayed locked in the study, that small space. I didn’t hysterically question him. I just watched coldly, with a kind of cruel calmness. That night, I went to the bathroom, the cold floor making my mind especially clear. Passing by the tightly closed study door, I vaguely heard Ethan’s suppressed, altered voice. “Mom, I know… I really know… Please stop pushing me, okay?” His voice carried a fatigue on the verge of collapse. “Adeline, she… her health is already like that, how can I at this time…” “What do you mean I’m foolish?! Should I just watch her… watch her die?!” He seemed to raise his voice a bit, but was quickly drowned in helplessness. “I don’t mean that… but… donating a kidney… Mom, it’s a kidney! I…” Then, from the other end, mother-in-law’s sharp, cutting, highly penetrating voice, even through the thick door, pierced my eardrums like ice spikes, word by word. “Die? What kind of illness does she have? It’s a bottomless pit! It’s an incurable disease! She wasn’t going to live long anyway!” “Even if you donate a kidney to her, can you save her? Don’t be foolish, son!” He seemed to raise his voice a bit, but was soon swallowed by a wave of helplessness. “I don’t mean that… but… kidney donation… Mom, it’s a kidney! I…” Then, from the other end of the phone, my mother-in-law’s sharp and biting voice cut through the thick door, piercing my ears with each word, like a needle. “Die? What kind of illness does she have? It’s a black hole! A terminal illness! She wouldn’t live long anyway!” “Even if you give her a kidney, can you save her? Don’t be foolish, son!” “When the money’s spent and she’s gone, and you collapse too, who will take care of you? Who will look after us in our old age? Who will carry on our Johnson family name?” “Ethan, I’m telling you now! If you dare to think about donating a kidney, I’ll die before you do!” “Now! Immediately! Go ask her for a divorce!” “Tell her you love her, that you’re afraid of dragging her down! That you don’t want to hold her back! Make her go back to Adeline’s family to rest!” “Better a short pain than a long one! Our Johnson family can’t be dragged down by this jinx!” In the study, Ethan’s breathing became heavy. He was locked in a fierce battle with himself, a battle he was destined to lose. For a long time, long enough for the air to feel like it was frozen. “…I understand, Mom.” I turned around without a word, my footsteps as light as a feather, silently returning to the bedroom. Sure enough, what had to happen couldn’t be avoided. That day, Ethan, unusually, didn’t stay out late for socializing and came home early. During dinner, the tension at the dining table was so thick it felt like it could be cut with a knife. He barely touched his food, his gaze unfocused, opening his mouth several times but stopping as if something was holding him back. After dinner, I quietly cleaned the dishes as usual. Then he suddenly called out to me, “Adeline.” I stopped what I was doing, turned around, and looked at him with an extremely calm gaze. “Let’s… get a divorce.” Finally, the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads fell. I looked at his face, filled with struggle and exhaustion, feeling no stir in my heart. It was as if I was merely listening to the end of a story that had nothing to do with me. “Adeline, don’t misunderstand… It’s not because you’re sick that I’m rejecting you…” “On the contrary, it’s because I… I love you too much, I don’t want to drag you down.” Ethan began his clumsy and hollow performance. “Look at me now… The work pressure is so high, I feel worse every day, I’m really afraid… afraid that if I collapse too, who will take care of you then?” “So… while we can… let’s part ways. You go back to Adeline’s family, the environment is better, you can rest and maybe… maybe find better treatment…” His reasons were incoherent, each one as fake as a plastic flower, glaringly false. “Afraid of dragging me down?” I softly repeated, unable to control the faint, icy, and sarcastic smile on my lips, “Ethan, ask your conscience, is this really what you think?” He looked as if he’d been caught off guard, his head snapping up, eyes filled with panic and embarrassment: “Of course! Adeline, you have to believe me! I mean it! I’m really doing this for you!” “Fine.” “I agree to the divorce.” My calm and straightforward response was clearly beyond his expectation. It appears that no text was provided for translation. Could you please supply the Chinese text that needs translating? “Did you… agree?” His voice was filled with disbelief. “What else?” I replied indifferently, my tone emotionless. “Should we wait for your mom to hold a knife to your throat, forcing you to sig
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