Chapter 9
After three days, the test results finally came in.
The bad news: no one in the Brooks family matched.
The good news: a compatible donor had been found who agreed to the transplant.
Upon hearing this, Cassie immediately called Callum. Her call went straight to voicemail.
Knowing he’d likely been working around the clock searching globally for a donor, she decided to visit Reid Enterprises in person.
As she approached his office door, urgent voices carried into the hallway.
“For God’s sake, Callum, you can’t seriously be planning to donate your own kidney!” Matt, his longtime assistant, sounded desperate. “You’re married. Your wife is pregnant. Maybe it’s time to let the past stay in the past and focus on the family right in front of you.”
“He’s right,” another voice chimed in–probably his friend from legal. “Have you even researched the complications? Decreased kidney function, risk of infection, potential for hypertension… this isn’t like donating blood. This is permanent. Can’t you think about Cassie for once? Or your child’s future?”
Callum was the donor?
Cassie froze, her hand suspended mid–air, mind struggling to process what she was hearing
“We’re done discussing this,” Callum replied, his voice unnervingly calm. “I’m donating this kidney regardless of what either of you think. If Laurina needed my heart instead, I’d give that up just as willingly.”
A chair scraped against the floor as his voice hardened. “As for Cassie–she’ll never know about this. You’re both going to help me maintain the story that I’m in Australia overseeing the new renewable energy project. She won’t question it if it comes from both of you.”
Cassie’s hand, poised to knock, dropped limply to her side.
Well, Callum Reid. What a devoted romantic you’ve turned out to be.
Don’t worry. I’ll make this easy for everyone. I’ll remove myself from this twisted equation permanently.
She took a steadying breath and silently retreated down the corridor.
Back home, she booked a one–way ticket to Rome. The irony wasn’t lost on her–fleeing to the very place he’d once
tried to follow Laurina to.
The next morning, she woke at dawn–their mandatory divorce waiting period had officially expired.
She took a taxi to the courthouse, efficiently retrieved her divorce certificate, then purchased an elegant black gift
10:13
Addio To The Stand In Past, This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
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box where she placed both the divorce papers and her abortion documentation side by side,
Box in hand and suitcase packed, she headed to the hospital.
Outside the VIP ward, she spotted Callum standing like a sentinel at Laurina’s window.
His expression–unguarded, thinking himself unobserved–was a kaleidoscope of raw emotion, Joy at her improving vital signs. Tears at her suffering. Pain at being unable to protect her. And most unmistakably, boundless, consuming love that left no room for anyone else in his universe.
Cassie stood silently behind him for several long minutes, committing his true face to memory before finally breaking the silence, her voice slightly hoarse.
“When’s the surgery scheduled?”
Callum startled and turned. The moment he registered her presence, a remarkable transformation occurred–all genuine emotion vanished, replaced by that carefully curated pleasant smile she’d grown to despise.
“Three hours from now, according to the surgical team.” Perfect husband mode engaged, he continued smoothly, “Unfortunately, I have to leave on an emergency business trip to Australia. Probably won’t be back for about a month. I’m sorry I can’t be here while your aunt recovers.”
Once again, she chose not to expose his lie.
“It’s fine, Callum. I’m used to it.” Her voice was neutral, almost conversational.
“Used to what?”
His brows furrowed slightly, confusion momentarily breaking through his mask.
Cassie remained silent, answering only in her mind:
Used to being invisible to you. Used to being the understudy in my own marriage. And soon, blissfully used to a life without you in it at all.
Before she could verbalize any of this, his phone chimed with a message.
As Callum checked it and moved toward the elevators, Cassie called after him, extending the gift box.
“Your birthday’s in two weeks. Here’s your present.”
Callum accepted it without opening, immediately passing it to his hovering assistant.
“I’ll save it for the actual day.”
Cassie said nothing, watching him walk away for the final time.
Then she turned and walked in the opposite direction, not looking back.
While he was being prepped for surgery to donate his kidney to Laurina, she passed through airport security, her
To Doclaim My Own Life
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Chapter 9
wedding ring left deliberately in a dish on their bedroom dresser.
As anesthesia flowed into his veins, she methodically deleted every digital trace of their connection–social media accounts, phone contacts, photo albums–severing all virtual ties.
Just as his surgery concluded successfully, her plane lifted off, carrying her toward a life where she would belong solely to herself.
Gazing at the clouds outside her window, a smile of genuine peace curved her lips for the first time in months.
Callum Reid, from this moment forward–across oceans and continents–you and I are strangers again.
I am no longer your replacement, your shadow, your second choice.
I am simply Cassie Brooks.
Nobody’s substitute.
Nobody’s reflection.
Just me.
