Born As Kidney Donor For My Sister

Liam said to me, “Ashie, you should try to chase your dreams…”

“If you don’t try, how will you ever know if you can succeed?”

“There’s a music audition next month. If you pass the preliminary round, you can compete in the contest. Want to give it a shot?”

“I’ll be there with you…”

In his sincere gaze, I saw something that even Elijah had never shown me–encouragement to try, to push myself, to pursue what I wanted.

For the first time, I felt like I found my true calling.

I nodded.

I hired a lawyer and had a divorce agreement drawn up. After signing it, I sent it to Elijah.

Then I focused on preparing for the audition next month. Singing, listening to music–I felt a renewed sense of purpose in my life.

The audition day finally arrived, and Liam accompanied me.

Hallie, somehow finding out about my participation, showed up just to taunt me:

“A deaf woman in a music competition?”

“What if your cochlear implant runs out of battery in the middle of the performance?”

“Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”

I didn’t get angry. She was no longer my friend, and I had no reason to waste my energy on someone who didn’t matter.

Seeing that her words didn’t affect me, Hallie continued, “I don’t believe you’ll even make it through the auditions.”

I smiled, my expression calm and composed. “We’ll see about that.”

With her attempts to provoke me failing, Hallie turned and walked away.

The preliminary auditions were about to begin, and Liam stayed by my side, cheering me on and helping me stay calm.

After the initial round, I felt a wave of relief.

Liam handed me a large bouquet of sunflowers and said, “Ashie, you’ll definitely make it to the next round.”

I accepted them with a grateful smile.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

We were chatting and laughing as we left the audition site when we ran into Elijah.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at me. His lips moved, but he remained silent.

He rushed up to me, saying, “Ashie, I won’t sign the divorce agreement.”

“I can’t divorce you…”

I stared at him expressionlessly, wondering how- much of his current demeanor was genuine and how much was feigned.

Calmly, I responded, “What normal man would marry a deaf person?“.

He shook his head desperately. “No, that’s not it!”

He moved closer to me, but I recoiled slightly, noticing the lingering scent of Hallie on him.

He seemed taken aback, perhaps not expecting that I would so easily pull away from him.

“Are you marrying me just to be with him?” Elijah asked, frowning and pointing at Liam.

I was about to explain when I heard Liam’s voice:

“Do you know that back in school, when your were being bullied, it wasn’t me who saved you, but him?”