Volume One Chapter 1 Sang Wan, You Deserve This!

Sang Wan was dying.

Kidney failure.

Terminal stage.

But there was not a single family member by her side.

Lying on the cold hospital bed, listening to the ticking of the IV drip, Sang Wan felt as if she could hear the sound of her life ebbing away.

Yet, she missed her husband and son so terribly.

She wanted so much to go home.

“Jin Nian…”

Sang Wan called Lu Jinnian. “Could you come and take me home?”

Six months ago, when Lu Jinnian was diagnosed with late-stage kidney disease, Sang Wan felt her world collapse.

Before the hospital could find a donor, it was discovered that Sang Wan was a perfect match.

They didn't even need to spend money buying a kidney.

After the transplant, each of them carried one of Sang Wan’s kidneys within.

Lu Jinnian had smiled and said, “Wanwan, now, we truly belong to each other.”

In just half a year, Lu Jinnian recovered as if nothing had happened, while Sang Wan’s kidney function declined until she suffered renal failure.

Terminal stage.

But Sang Wan was not as lucky as Lu Jinnian.

No kind soul had come forward to donate her a kidney.

The noise on the other end of the line gradually faded, and Lu Jinnian’s voice was weary, “Sang Wan, can you stop making a scene? Today is Xiao Mu’s birthday, there are a lot of guests at home, I can’t get away…”

Today was Lu Xiaomu’s fifth birthday.

Last year, on his birthday, their son had wished for nothing more than for his parents to always be by his side.

Even though she was about to die, at least she could still spend one last birthday with her son.

Sang Wan’s pale cheeks flushed with hope. “Jinnian, I want to come home, let’s celebrate Xiao Mu’s birthday together!”

Lu Jinnian’s impatience was evident in his voice, “In your current state, how can you celebrate his birthday? Have you thought about your son? Doesn’t he care about his dignity?”

In the glass, her reflection looked monstrous.

Tubes everywhere, haggard face.

Her complexion was as pale as a ghost.

Sang Wan forced herself to swallow the pain. “But Jinnian, I’m dying!”

“Then just go die!!!”

Lu Jinnian’s patience finally snapped. “Sang Wan, must you ruin things for me and our son when we’re finally happy?”

Her breath caught; Sang Wan’s eyes widened.

“Tell him yourself if you must!”

With that, the call was abruptly handed over.

A clear, childish voice answered, “Hello?”

“Son, Mommy misses you so much, I—”

“Why are you so annoying?”

Before Sang Wan could finish, Lu Xiaomu cut her off irritably. “I’m opening my presents, you’re so bothersome!”

“Xiao Mu…”

Sang Wan was stunned, her soul adrift.

These two—

One was her childhood sweetheart, her husband from school uniform to wedding dress.

The other was the flesh of her flesh, carried for ten months and born in pain.

Once, they were her greatest pride.

But now, father and son, with just a few words, had destroyed all the happiness in her heart.

The husband who once doted on her through her difficult pregnancy, insisting she rest at home.

The son who used to beam at the sight of her, and, once he learned to talk, would say again and again, “Mommy, I love you!”

Both had changed completely.

When Sang Wan came back to herself, the call had already ended.

She hadn’t even managed to wish her son a happy birthday.

Unwilling to give up, Sang Wan dialed again.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

She tried her son’s smart watch, but again, there was no response.

Just as Sang Wan, pale and exhausted, was about to hang up, the call finally connected.

“Xiao Mu, happy—”

“Sister Sang!”

A bright, spirited face appeared on the screen.

Lin Chaochao.

The new intern at the company.

“Sister Sang, Xiao Mu is making a wish and blowing out candles. It’s such an important moment, don’t disturb him…”

On the screen, the warm scene from the Lu family’s living room appeared.

Lin Chaochao set the watch on the bookshelf facing the living room.

A dining table covered with presents.

A birthday cake, candles lit.

Lu Xiaomu, wearing a birthday hat, making a wish.

And—Lu Jinnian and Lin Chaochao standing beside him.

It was cozy and full of joy.

As if they were a real family of three.

Sang Wan’s smile was bitter.

And as she smiled, tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

She remembered how she’d insisted on natural childbirth, believing, as she’d read, that it would make the baby smarter—how she’d labored for three days and nights to bring her son into the world.

She remembered running to countless hospitals for Lu Jinnian’s kidney, being treated as a madwoman by doctors, then weeping with joy when she found she was a match.

She remembered the years she’d spent looking dull and bloated, like a worn-out housewife.

Sang Wan clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms.

Sang Wan, you deserve this.

“Son, blow out the candles!”

On the screen, Lu Jinnian was all smiles, not a trace left of the earlier irritation.

Cheers and laughter filled the sterile hospital room.

Sang Wan let out a shaky breath.

Then she heard her son’s wish.

“I hope Daddy makes lots of money!”

“I hope Auntie Chaochao stays young and beautiful forever.”

“I hope Auntie Chaochao can always be with me and Daddy, and the three of us can always be together!”

Son, what about me?

Sang Wan stared at her son’s smiling face on the screen.

Don’t you want your mother anymore?

The candles were blown out, and the other side erupted in celebration.

Lin Chaochao, like the lady of the house, helped Lu Xiaomu cut the cake and served it to the children.

A dab of cream on his nose, Lu Xiaomu glanced at Lin Chaochao’s gentle, smiling face, then took Lu Jinnian’s hand and walked to the kitchen island.

Close enough for Sang Wan to see the light in her son’s eyes. “Daddy, the doctor said Mommy’s really sick.”

“That’s right.”

Hope flickered in Sang Wan’s heart.

Then she heard her son say, eyes shining, “So… when Mommy dies, can Auntie Chaochao be my new mommy?”

Mouth half open, Sang Wan felt like a goose with its neck wrung.

Before she could make a sound—

She heard a man’s voice, “...Yes!”

The cold wind cut through her heart like steel wool.

In the silent hospital room, Sang Wan’s soul was a barren waste.

Indeed, refusing to see the truth, refusing to resign oneself to fate only invites retribution.

Bang!

Her phone slipped from her hand.

The laughter and cheers on the other end abruptly ceased.

The cold ward was filled with deathly silence.

She couldn’t breathe.

Her head spun.

Sang Wan stared at the flickering ceiling above, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye.

In the moment when darkness closed in, Sang Wan heard a desperate cry.

“Sang Wan!”

For a moment, Sang Wan’s thoughts froze.

These past few years, she’d revolved around her husband and son.

People called her Mrs. Lu.

More often, she was just Xiao Mu’s mom.

She’d nearly forgotten—she had such a beautiful name.

Do not say the twilight is late; the glow still fills the sky.

Sang Wan.

“Sang Wan! Sang Wan!!! …If you can’t save her, I’ll make you all pay with your lives!”

It was a furious, desperate roar from the depths of the soul.

Such anger.

Such urgency.

Sang Wan desperately wanted to wake up.

Who was it?

Who was calling her?

Who would dare try to snatch her back from death’s grasp?

But it was too late…

She was dying.

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were heavy as lead.

Her fingertips twitched lightly.

Darkness descended over Sang Wan’s mind.