Chapter 1

"Mrs. Ashford, Bianca needs a heart transplant. We need you to come in for a compatibility test."

"Okay."

"It's a match. Are you absolutely sure you wish to proceed with the donation?"

"I'm sure."

On the day of the surgery, he knocked the last cake I'd ever bake for him to the floor.

"Get out. Bianca's in surgery today. Don't bother me."

He never knew the heart for his lover was mine.

The anesthetic crept cold through my veins.

Before the dark pulled me under, I heard his tender voice through the surgical curtain.

"Don't be afraid, Bianca. When you're well, we'll marry."

It's fine.

This life. I owed it to his sister anyway.

When the heart monitor flatlined, he finally asked where I was.

The doctor pointed next door. "The donor. Would you care to see?"

He scoffed. "A corpse? Why waste my time?"

But, Lucas, when you learned that corpse was me, why did you lose your mind?

Raina's POV

Today was my fourth wedding anniversary with Lucas Ashford.

Instead of him, I got a call from his law firm, from his lead counsel, Mr. Preston.

"Mrs. Ashford, Mr. Ashford is being sued by Miss Bianca White for unlawful restraint. As his legal spouse, your presence is required."

I tightened my grip on the phone.

Another one of Bianca's games.

In four years, this had become routine. Another performance to prove who really owned him.

But I still went.

I was Lucas's legal wife. This was my duty.

In the law firm's top floor conference room, the air conditioning hummed too cold.

Through the glass door, I saw Bianca White before I entered.

She was complaining, her tone caught between a boast and a grievance.

"Mr. Preston, don't you think he went too far? He kept me locked on his private island for three days and nights. I couldn't leave."

The nearby assistants didn't even blink.

One leaned over and murmured to the intern beside her.

"This isn't a lawsuit. It's a lover's quarrel. Mr. Ashford indulges her completely. It's a game. She's making a scene just to have the wife summoned and forced to watch."

The intern caught on at once.

"So that's why they called Mrs. Ashford? Following protocol?"

"Exactly. To rub her face in it."

Those not-quite-whispers pierced me, one after another.

I pushed open the door and sat down on a sofa in the corner.

Before long, Lucas arrived.

He wore a black custom-tailored suit, bringing a frigid chill with him as he entered. The temperature in the entire conference room seemed to drop several degrees.

But when he saw Bianca, all that ice instantly melted.

He reached up and gently stroked the top of her head, his movements tender.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have locked you up. Have you forgiven me?"

Bianca pouted.

Lucas pulled out a velvet box from his pocket and opened it. A pink diamond brooch lay quietly inside.

"I won it for you at an auction a few days ago."

He pinned the brooch to Bianca's chest.

"Don't be angry anymore, okay?"

Bianca looked surprised and delighted, but still wouldn't look at him.

Lucas pulled her into his embrace and tilted his head to kiss her.

Throughout the entire process, I was like a transparent spectator, forced to witness my husband's intimacy with another woman.

Lucas, holding Bianca, finally turned around and noticed me in the corner.

His gaze swept over me, and he paused briefly.

Bianca leaned against him.

"Lucas, I had Mr. Preston notify her to come. You're not upset with me, are you?"

"It's fine."

Lucas said flatly.

Those words stabbed into my heart like a sharp blade.

Four years ago, it wasn't like this.

Back then, Lucas's sister, Isabel, was my best friend in the world.

I used to be afraid of him too.

But later I discovered that while Lucas was cold to everyone else, he showed me a tenderness that others couldn't imagine.

He would remember my period and have hot drinks and heating pads ready in advance.

He built an elaborate shelter for the stray cats under my dorm building, just because I'd casually mentioned feeling sorry for them.

Whenever I went out, he'd always find excuses to stay by my side, protecting me completely.

Little by little, I let my guard down. We were passionately in love for two whole years.

During those two years, I was the princess Lucas cherished in the palm of his hand.

But a sudden disaster shattered all that beauty.

After our wedding, Isabel and I went shopping when we encountered an armed robber.

In the chaos, Isabel used all her strength to push me away, screaming at me.

"Raina, run! Go get help!"

I turned and ran. I hadn't gotten far when my stomach suddenly erupted in unprecedented pain.

The pain made everything go black, and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, the world had changed.

Two pieces of devastating news hit me simultaneously.

First, the doctor told me I had stomach cancer. Terminal stage.

Second, Isabel had fought back and been stabbed to death by the vicious criminal.

I didn't even have time to process the sudden catastrophe before I was engulfed by Lucas's overwhelming hatred.

His eyes bloodshot, he gripped my shoulders tightly, roaring his questions at me.

"Why didn't you save her? Why were you the only one who ran!"

Looking at this man who had just suffered the pain of losing his sister, how could I bear to tell him that his wife wouldn't live much longer either?

I couldn't let him bear the double blow of losing both his sister and his wife simultaneously.

So I chose silence.

And my silence, to Lucas, was confirmation.

From that moment on, all the love in his eyes transformed into hatred that would consume everything.

To punish me, he found Bianca-someone who resembled me slightly.

He took all the affection he'd once given me and lavished it on that replacement, multiplied.

I placed my hand on my abdomen.

It was still flat, but inside, the cancer cells had already spread throughout my body.

Three days ago, I received my latest test results.

The doctor looked at me and pronounced my final sentence.

"Mrs. Ashford, I'm very sorry. You have a month at most."

One month.

That's fine.

This endless torment would finally be over.

Isabel, wait for me.

I'll come to confess to you very soon.