My footsteps halted. A bitter smile curved my lips.
"I've been alive for over twenty years and never once tasted this so-called wealthy life. I don't want your money."
"But my kidney? That, I will take back."
I walked out of that gilded office, stepped into the elevator, and descended.
Outside the hospital, I pulled out my phone and dialed the complaint hotline without a second thought.
"Hello, I want to report Jerome Swanson and Stacy James for using illegal methods to steal my kidney donor!"
"What is your relationship with these two individuals?"
"Do you have concrete evidence?"
The operator's voice remained calm and professional.
I murmured under my breath.
"They're... my parents."
The operator's tone shifted, rising involuntarily.
"Your parents stole your kidney donor?!"
"For a stranger?!"
Ignoring her shock, I recounted everything.
Back in my rented basement room, I waited for hours.
During that time, my parents didn't call once. Didn't send a single text.
It wasn't until the third hour that Mom's number finally lit up my screen.
"Penelope, you've really outdone yourself!"
"You actually dared to report me and your father!"
"Having a child like you—we should have strangled you at birth!"