Divorce Papers or Death Certificate Chapter 7

**Evelyn's POV**

Marcus is standing outside Kaley's door. He can still hear her voice: "She's already dead." He doesn't push it open. Instead, he turns and walks to my room.

It's tucked in the farthest corner of the house, barely bigger than a closet. When he opens the door, dust hits him in the face. Everything's covered in it. He just stands there. I've been gone for days, and nobody even came in here.

He starts packing up my things. A few faded shirts, a stack of old books, a photo frame. Inside the frame is our wedding picture. I'm smiling so big. My eyes are full of love.

There's not much. One box and he's done. As he's leaving the house, he pulls out his phone and calls his assistant.

"Dig up everything you can find on Evelyn and Kaley. Their whole lives. I want every detail."

He hangs up and starts the car. Through the window, the lights in the house are still on.

Back at his apartment, Marcus sets the box on the coffee table and picks up the wedding photo again.

It all comes back to him.

We met at a business school lecture. He'd just started his company and was about to go under. His funding fell through. He was ready to quit. I walked up after and said, "I read through your plan. This is gonna work."

I was always like that. Optimistic. Never complained. Barely talked about my family.

Later, when his business was struggling, something happened at a construction site. A piece of rebar came loose and fell toward him. He remembers someone shoving him out of the way. Then everything went black.

When he woke up, Kaley was sitting next to his bed.

She squeezed his hand. "I saved you."

He was grateful. And later, she told him more. About how her sister bullied her growing up. How I stole everything from her.

He believed her. Why wouldn't he? She saved his life.

Then I showed up and told him I was the one who saved him.

He laughed in my face. "Even this? You're gonna claim you saved my life too?"

He remembers my expression. Shock first. Then disbelief. And finally, nothing. I opened my mouth like I was going to say something, but I didn't. I just turned around and left.

After that, the version of me that used to smile all the time disappeared.

Marcus closes his eyes. That was probably when I gave up on him. The one person I loved turned into just another version of my parents.

He thinks about the day I agreed to donate the kidney. How pale I looked. How I had to lean on the wall to make it upstairs. How I threw up blood. He saw all of it. And he still thought I was faking.

It was right in front of him. And he saw nothing.

Marcus lifts his hand and slaps himself hard. Twice.

Then his eyes land on something at the bottom of the box. A deep blue journal. The cover's worn out. He picks it up and opens to the first page.

I'm floating behind him. The truth is about to come out. Can you handle it, Marcus?

The first half is full of happy memories.

"Met this guy today with a startup idea. Says he's gonna change the world. I believe him."

"He took me to dinner to thank me for encouraging him. But I'm the one who should be thanking him. He showed me what life could be like."

"He proposed. I said yes. I know my family's gonna lose it, but I want to live for myself. Just this once."

Marcus stares at the handwriting. His mouth curves up a little without him realizing. All those good things he forgot. I remembered every one.

He keeps turning pages.

Then his hand freezes.

The handwriting gets messy.

"There was an accident on site. I saw the rebar falling toward him and I pushed him out of the way. It hurt. I gave him my blood. Then I passed out."

"When I woke up, I wanted to see him, but my sister said he was still unconscious. By the time I could get out of bed, she was already next to him, holding his hand, telling him she saved him."

"I tried to explain. But the way he looked at me changed. He said, 'You're even gonna steal this?'"

"Whatever. He doesn't believe me anymore."

After that page, the journal stays blank. Until the very last entry.

"Doctor told me I have late-stage brain cancer."

"Honestly, I feel relieved."

"Goodbye."

Marcus's hands are shaking so hard the journal almost falls.

"What..." His voice comes out rough. "What do you mean you saved me? It was Kaley. Wasn't it? Why would you..."

His phone rings. It's his assistant.

He grabs it. "What'd you find?"

The assistant's voice sounds heavy. "Mr. Sterling, I found some things. Really bad things."

For the next ten minutes, every word feels like a knife going into his chest.

Kaley was always the favorite. From the beginning. I was the one who got sacrificed. Ignored. Blamed for everything.

The construction accident. It was me who saved him. I pushed him out of the way. The rebar hit me. I gave him my blood and passed out. Kaley waited until I was unconscious and took credit for it.

At the detention center, Kaley used Marcus's name to bribe people to hurt me. Cigarette burns. Beatings. They didn't feed me.

Kaley was never sick. She paid off the hospital. Faked all the test results. The day of the surgery, there was no transplant at all. They threw my kidney away.

The phone slips out of Marcus's hand and hits the floor.

His eyes are bloodshot. His whole body is shaking.

Finally, he tilts his head back and screams.

---

The next morning at the house.

Kaley and my parents are eating breakfast. The mood is light. Like yesterday's funeral never even happened.

Suddenly, the door crashes open.

A dozen cops storm in. Guns drawn.

The officer in front holds up a warrant. "Miss Kaley, you're under arrest for assault, fraud, and involuntary manslaughter."

Kaley's face goes white. She starts screaming. "Who the hell are you? You can't just—"

Dad rushes forward. The cops shove him back.

"You can't touch me!" Kaley's voice cracks. "My boyfriend runs Sterling Group! Do you have any idea what he'll do to you?"

Footsteps echo from the doorway.

Marcus walks in. His eyes are ice cold.

"I'm not your boyfriend."