Kneeling for a Second Chance Novel

---- Chapter 447 In the biting winter cold, Sebastian's palms were slick with sweat. His heart raced with unease, and he kept forcing himself to stay calm. Jackson's private clinic sat on the edge of the city. It was a two ~story cream-colored building . Outside was an open fitness plaza, but the area was nearly deserted. Even the plaza looked half-finished. This part of the west side had developed slowly. Just down the road stood an abandoned apartment complex, the construction long since halted, with barely anyone around.

Upstairs , in the private operating theatre, the sharp tang of disinfectant filled the air. Valeria slowly came to. The sky outside had already gone dark. Her head throbbed, her body ached, and as her vision cleared, she realized she was ina strange place. She tried to sit up, only to find her wrists and ankles strapped down. Amiddle -aged man with blond hair and pale eyes walked in wearing a lab coat and a surgical mask. His expression was grave. Speaking in Inkkish, he said, "Calm down. It will be over soon." Over soon? Achill swept through Valeria.

She tried to shout, but realized her mouth was sealed with tape. She tried to scream, "Let me ---- go! Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?" However, the words came out muffled. When the door swung open again, Valeria saw Wendy walk in with Gabriella. She suddenly understood what they intended todo. She could only stare in shock as Wendy stepped toward her, narrowing the distance. She had never imagined Wendy would go this far. "Tonly need one of your kidneys. I asked the doctors. They said you can still live a normal life with just one.

But Alexander doesn't have much time left," Wendy explained , almost as if trying to convince herself. "I gave birth to you. The least you can do is give me one kidney." Then, she went on, "You can hate me if you want. Dr. Lowell's team is already running the tests to see whether you and Alexander are a match. In five hours, we'll have the results. Once they're in, the surgery begins." The kidney removal and transplant would happen at the same time. Wendy couldn't bring herself to look Valeria in the eyes, as those eyes that mirrored her own.

Staring out the window instead, she whispered, "The sun will be up soon..." She couldn't stand to stay in the room any longer. At that moment, she was even afraid of meeting Valeria's gaze. She ---- hurried out, leaving only Gabriella behind. Gabriella lingered with the smug grin of someone who thought she had already won. She sneered. "Tell me, should I take just one kidney? Or both? After all, if something goes wrong on the table and you die, who's really to blame?" She pulled out her phone and thrust the screen toward Valeria. "Tbooked a flight to Moanora at 9:00 am.

Once I see you dead, Iwill be gone. The only thing I regret is not being around to watch Uncle Sebastian lose his mind or to see Wendy completely fall apart. "By the way, I guess you still don't know, do you? You're Alexander's and Wendy's real daughter. And me? What am I? They never loved me or ever treated me like I mattered. Why you? Why do you get to be their child while I'm nothing but a joke? "And Wendy didn't even know. She spent her whole life desperate to have a child with Alexander, and now she's about to die without knowing the truth.

Worse, she'll go down as the one who killed her own daughter with her own hands. Isn't that just... ironic?" She spat, "God, I've hated you since high school. You were fat, and yet Lucas still liked you. Do you have any idea what that felt like? "That day, at the championship basketball game, the whole school was cheering him on. I was the cheer captain, handing him water, cheering at the top of my lungs. ---- "And do you know what he asked me? He asked me where you were and why you weren't there.

"What do you have that I don't?" She suddenly lunged forward, her hands locking around Valeria's throat. With her wrists and ankles bound, Valeria couldn't fight back. The choking pressure crushed down on her chest, every breath a desperate gasp as she shook her head, struggling for air. Gabrielle shrieked, "Iwas about to marry Lucas! Do you know how long I chased after him? And even drunk, he still called out your name. What does that say about me? I wasn't worth more thana fat ass like you? "After graduation, I was supposed to study music at Stredview University .

But Uncle Sebastian ordered me to apologize to you in private. I refused to do so. And with just one word, he sent me abroad. That look he gave me... it was frigid. "Before I left the country, I wanted to see Lucas one last time. He was ina private room, and right there in front of everyone, he shoved nine thousand dollars into my bra. Then, he laughed and asked if I was really so desperate for money that I had to steal from the class fund."