Chapter 2

I was the sick kid. Always.

Fragile lungs. Weak heart. A blood type so rare the hospital couldn't keep up. Every flu was a coin flip. Every surgery, a near miss.

Then one operation went sideways. I bled out faster than the blood bank could refill. The doctors gave Caleb a number. He had hours.

So he tore the city apart looking for a match.

He found one.

A skinny little orphan girl with the same rare blood running through her veins.

Zoe Bennett.

Her blood saved my life. And just like that, she went from nobody on the street to the adopted golden daughter of the Hartleys.

That's when my brother stopped being my brother.

The Caleb who used to check my forehead every hour when I had a fever? Gone. The Caleb who carried me on his back down hospital hallways? Gone.

Zoe and I got hurt at the same time once. Same day. Same accident. He didn't even look at me. Scooped her up — the one with the smaller scratch — and ran.

Left me sitting on the floor.

I lost my mind after that. Jealous. Furious. Wild. I made ruining Zoe's life my full-time job.

One sweet little angel of a sister. One screaming, scheming, vicious one.

You don't have to guess who he picked.

But deep down? I still told myself the lie. He loves me most. He has to. He's only nice to her because she saved my life. That's all.

God, I was wrong.

So wrong.

In my last life, the day they found the kidney disease, Zoe went under the knife. To save me. Again.

She died on the operating table.

I lived. Miracle of miracles.

And from that day forward, my brother hated me. The kind of hate that words can't fix. He said things to me siblings shouldn't even know how to say. Like we weren't family. Like we were enemies in some war I never signed up for.

Not this time.

This time, let it be me.

The New England winter is brutal. Wind like razor blades. Snow stinging my face raw.

The ache in my kidney is dull and deep. The burn on my arm is sharp and bright. Together they make breathing feel like a luxury I can't afford.

I hunch my shoulders. Pull my coat tighter. Keep walking.

I got greedy back there.

I came back for one reason. To give Caleb the sister he actually wanted. I should've left the second I opened my eyes.

I need to disappear. Now.

A horn blares behind me.

A window rolls down. Caleb's cold face. Cold voice.

"Get in."

I open my mouth to refuse. His bodyguard is already on me, half-lifting me into the back seat before I can blink.

The heat is blasting. I'm still freezing.

I curl up against the window so he can't see me shake, and stare at the streets blurring past.

"You didn't even get your arm dressed." His voice is glacial. "What's the angle this time, Grace? The victim card didn't land — so now you're playing the martyr?"

I'm quiet for a second.

Then I turn and look him dead in the eye.

"I'm serious, Caleb. You won't have to deal with me anymore. I'm moving out. I'll stay out of your life."

He laughs. It's an awful sound.

"Move out? Grace, look around. The clothes on your back, the cash in your wallet, the roof over your head — all Hartley. Every last thing. Step out that door, you're a stray. How long do you think you'd last?"

Not long. I already know.

I drop my eyes.

"That's my problem."

I keep my voice soft. Steady.

"I was a brat. I thought if I screamed loud enough, broke enough things, you'd look at me. I get it now. Some things aren't yours, no matter how hard you fight for them. Zoe saved my life. Of course you love her. I shouldn't have stood between you two. I'm done."

His eyes cut into me. Hunting for the lie. The angle. The next manipulation.

He doesn't find one.

What he finds is ash. Cold gray ash where there used to be a fire — the jealousy, the desperation, the clinging please-just-look-at-me love. All burned out.

It makes him angrier than anything I could've said.

"You think pretty words are going to soften me up? You think I'll buy that you've finally grown up? Grace, I've seen this act a hundred times."

"It's not an act, Caleb."

My voice comes out smaller than I want it to.

"I'm just… tired. I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want…"

I don't want to walk into the next life carrying your hate.

I don't say it out loud.