I Rented My Husband Out and Bought My Daughter A Heart Surgery Chapter 03

I Rented My Husband Out and Bought My Daughter A Heart Surgery Chapter 03

By the time I reached Greenridge Memorial Park, I was barely steady on my feet.

Alistair was already there—directing workers as they began digging up my mother’s grave.

“Stop!”

I lunged forward, shoving two of them aside and grabbing a shovel, planting myself in front of the plot.

Alistair pulled Coraline and Dexter behind him and let out a short laugh.

“Maren Halbrook, isn’t this how it works now?”

“As long as the money’s there, anything can be rented.”

“I already paid for this plot. So what exactly are you protesting?”

My teeth were shaking.

“Alistair… what the hell is wrong with you?”

He shrugged.

“I followed your rules.”

“How does that make me the bad guy?”

“Or is it that in your world, everything is sacred—except our marriage?”

“That’s the one thing cheap enough to put a price on?”

My nails dug into my palms.

I barely felt it.

I couldn’t understand it.

The man who had once knelt beside my mother’s hospital bed—swearing he would never betray me—

How had he become this?

Coraline stepped forward, holding a framed photo of a golden retriever.

Her eyes shimmered with tears.

“Forget it, Alistair. I know how much this means to Maren.”

“Even if Dexter and I saw Max as family… it’s still just a dog.”

“Taking over her mother’s plot… it doesn’t feel right.”

Alistair’s voice turned cold.

“Maren. Move.”

I bared my teeth. “Not happening.”

He stepped closer, lowering his voice near my ear.

“Bria’s surgery is next month.”

“You might want to cooperate until then.”

Cold spread through me.

“She’s your daughter.”

“You’re threatening me with your own child?”

He reached up and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“Yeah.”

“But Dexter is my son too.”

“The night before our wedding, Coraline came to see me. I was drunk.”

“One mistake was all it took.”

“You and Bria have money. You have the legal status.”

“You should be the ones who understand.”

My skin broke out in a cold sweat.

Bria collapsing… gasping… that image flashed again and again in my head.

Slowly, I loosened my grip on the shovel.

My legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds.

Step by step, I moved aside.

Dexter rushed forward, grinning.

“Nice! Old lady’s finally making room for Max!”

He yanked the photo off my mother’s headstone and grabbed the urn. Like he was about to smash it.

“Don’t!”

Everything went blank.

I threw myself forward.

My head slammed hard against the stone as I shielded the urn.

The world spun. Red flooded my vision.

“Maren!”

Alistair caught me, his hands shaking as he tried to wipe the blood from my forehead.

“Does it hurt? Are you dizzy?”

I shoved him away.

Then pulled the documents from my bag and slammed them against his chest.

“The payment wasn’t enough.”

“Sign.”

He glanced down.

Property Transfer Agreement.

His face went cold instantly.

“Fine, Maren. You really outdid yourself.”

He pulled out a pen and signed without hesitation.

Then tossed both the pen and the papers to the ground before wrapping an arm around Coraline and walking away.

The pen snapped in half.

It had been my gift to him on our third anniversary.

The first thing he ever signed with it was our marriage license.

I picked up the documents.

Behind the transfer agreement was the divorce settlement.

His signature cut across the page in sharp strokes.

I laughed.

Then I cried.

Holding the urn, I forced myself to stand.

Once Bria’s surgery was over—we were done.

The day of the surgery finally came.

I watched as they wheeled Bria into the operating room, and only then did I let myself breathe.

I sank to my knees outside, praying under my breath—just let her make it through. Please.

But before the surgery was even over, my phone buzzed again.

Another deposit notification.

I hadn’t even read the note, when the doors to the operating room burst open.

Doctors rushed out, still wearing blood-stained gloves.

My hands went numb.

I grabbed the last one by the sleeve.

“My daughter’s still in surgery.”

“Where are you going?”