Chapter 1

The night my younger brother Noah went into cardiac arrest, I called Julian twenty-seven times to ask for money.

He picked up on the last call.

"Thirty-six thousand dollars? The Sterling family's money is for strategic investments, not for pouring into that bottomless pit you call a family."

"Start a GoFundMe. Send me the link and I'll share it."

"Adults need to take responsibility for themselves. Stop expecting other people to carry you."

I collapsed outside the ER, cold all over.

In the early hours of the morning, I went home to get some documents and heard him in the study, speaking gently to his assistant.

"Order Lily a pink Panamera. A hundred thousand dollars. Put it on the company account."

"She fell off her bike today and scraped her knee."

"Scars don't look good on a girl. From now on, that car will be just for driving her around."

Lily had been an intern at his company for all of seventeen days.

He turned, saw me, and nodded approvingly.

"That's more like it. Adults handle their own problems."

"I donated ten dollars to that GoFundMe of yours too. You are my wife, after all. I have to look out for you."

Ten dollars and a hundred thousand dollars.

I said nothing and walked into the study.

In that moment, I finally understood.

It wasn't that he didn't have the money. It was that I wasn't worth it.

I pulled the divorce papers I'd prepared out of the drawer and signed my name.

From then on,

we would go our separate ways and owe each other nothing.

...

When Julian's ten-dollar donation came through, Noah's heart rate dropped below twenty for the third time.

The nurse stood in front of me, speaking quickly.

"Ms. Carter, the patient needs to be moved into the hybrid OR immediately. Please pay the outstanding thirty-six thousand dollars first."

I stared at my phone screen.

Donor: Julian Sterling

Amount: $10

Message: Adults need to learn to carry their own weight.

The call finally connected. His voice was full of irritation.

"Evelyn, how long are you going to keep this up?"

I said hoarsely,

"Noah went from ventricular tachycardia into ventricular fibrillation. The doctor said if this goes on any longer, his brain will be starved of oxygen. Please front me the thirty-six thousand. I'll sign an IOU."

He gave a short laugh.

"Do you have any idea how much money Noah has cost over the years? Sterling money is for strategic investment, not for keeping your family alive."

Someone in the OR shouted, "Get ready to defibrillate!"

I could barely stay on my feet.

"He's only twenty-two. I'm begging you."

"Begging won't change anything. People have to learn to face consequences. You can't dump every risk on someone else whenever something goes wrong."

He hung up.

At two-thirty in the morning, I went back to the Sterling house to get Noah's old medical records.

The living room was dark.

Julian stood in the doorway of the study, his voice so gentle it sounded unfamiliar.

"Don't wait for the hospital in Switzerland. Pay extra and get her through the VIP channel. Lily scraped her ankle too. Scars don't look good on a girl, so have them do scar treatment while she's there."

He hung up, saw me, and frowned.

"Why are you back again?"

"To get the medical records."

He reached for the papers in my hand.

"How is the hospital?"

"They're still trying to save him."

He paused.

"I already donated."

I looked at him.

"Ten dollars?"

His expression darkened.

"The amount isn't what matters. What matters is that I made the gesture."

So ten dollars was a gesture.

I asked quietly,

"What about Lily?"

"She scraped her ankle, and you bought her an entire rehab slot in Switzerland."

Julian's gaze went cold.

"Lily isn't the same as you. Her sister Chloe saved my life. I owe the Hensleys."

"So Noah's life is supposed to make way for hers?"

He cut me off sharply.

"Stop dragging Noah into everything! Chloe died in that fire. Can the Carters stop using illness to wear me down for once?"

The words hit me like something blunt to the chest.

Maybe he knew he'd gone too far. He pulled out the first-aid kit and put a Band-Aid over my split fingernail.

"Pain can be endured. Don't turn pain into an excuse to demand things from other people."

Years ago, when the Sterling Group's cash flow collapsed, he was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer.

I stayed beside him for three days and three nights.

Every night, my phone vibrated nonstop with calls from creditors.

I pressed my fingers to my temples and called everyone I could think of while sitting beside his hospital bed, too afraid to close my eyes.

I scraped that money together dollar by dollar, begging for every cent, and forced myself through every sleepless night.

When he woke up, he held my hand and said,

"Evelyn, I'll owe you for the rest of my life."

Later, he gave his guilt to the Hensleys and his patience to Lily.

All he left for me were self-righteous little lectures.

I pulled my hand back, went to the bedroom, and took out the divorce papers.

I'd revised them many times.

Starting with the first time he abandoned me for Lily's birthday party.

Starting with the first time he called Noah a "long-term risk."

Tonight, the last thread snapped.

I signed my name.

Evelyn Carter.

My hand didn't shake when I wrote it.

When I finished, I left the divorce papers on the living-room table and walked out of the house.