Chapter 1

I was born with a failing heart. Out of sheer desperation, my parents turned to an old superstition. They adopted Chloe Mercer, a girl born at the exact same hour as me, believing she could act as my "astrological shield" to absorb my bad luck and illness.

My parents gave her everything. They sent her to an elite private school, introduced her to New York’s high society, and gave her an endless allowance. They raised her as their second daughter.

But on my wedding day with my childhood sweetheart, Ethan Cole.

Chloe stood in front of everyone, holding a medical report showing terminal gastric cancer.

"Summer Vance! Your family only adopted me to be your spiritual scapegoat!"

"And now, your sick ritual worked! Your illness was transferred to me! You get to marry the love of your life in perfect health, while I’m left here to die in agony!"

"I don’t have much time left! I beg the Vance family, please, set me free!"

Hearing this, Ethan rushed forward. He scooped the frail, trembling Chloe into his arms right in front of the crowd.

"To cure yourself, you actually used dark superstitions to transfer your illness to an innocent girl? Summer! You utterly disgust me!"

I didn’t know when Ethan’s feelings for me had started to rot because of Chloe. But today, he chose to completely humiliate me.

Watching his retreating figure, a sudden wave of nausea hit me, and I coughed up a mouth of bright red blood.

But Ethan... the "shielding" plan was stopped years ago.

My illness had never actually gotten better.

Chloe fell to her knees, weeping hysterically.

"Please, stop forcing me to eat leftovers! Stop locking me in the basement and beating me! I’ve already played my part as Summer’s shield! Why won’t you just let me go?!"

My dad frowned, his face darkening. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? When has our family ever treated you like that?!"

Chloe bit her trembling lip, suddenly slapping her own face and bowing her head to the floor.

"Mr. Vance, I didn’t even complain when you tried to push me onto older men for business deals! I didn’t complain when Summer burned me with a curling iron just because Ethan looked at me! I don’t care about any of that anymore! Just please, let me go! I want my freedom!"

Instantly, the wedding guests erupted into whispers.

"Stop twisting the truth and making up lies! If you want to accuse us, show everyone the evidence!"

It all happened so fast, and I was too stunned to react.

But then, my groom, Ethan, knelt down and wrapped Chloe protectively in his arms.

"I’m so sorry, Chloe. If I had known what the Vance family was doing to you behind closed doors, I would have taken you away a long time ago!"

With that, he lifted her up, ready to walk out.

"I, Ethan Cole, will never marry a woman with such a wicked, rotten heart!"

"Summer, you reap what you sow!"

I stumbled after him, holding up my heavy wedding gown.

"Ethan, I didn’t do any of those things! Today is our wedding!"

"I can explain everything. Please..."

Ethan finally tore his eyes away from Chloe’s face. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a cold, venomous hatred I had never seen before.

"Your entire family is made of monsters. Chloe was only eight when you brought her in. You used her as a curse-breaker. Are you even human?"

His words pierced my heart like a dagger. My hands gripped my dress so tightly my knuckles turned white. "It’s not like that," I whispered, my lips trembling.

Ethan let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "My parents regretted adopting her after a week. They stopped all those superstitious rituals. Can't you believe me?"

"Then why is she the one dying of cancer now?! Summer, are you still going to lie to me?"

"You expect me to marry a woman like you? You make me sick."

He tightened his grip around the shivering Chloe, each word he spoke cutting deeper into my chest.

"Just last week, you magically found a perfect heart donor for your transplant. Meanwhile, Chloe, who has always been perfectly healthy, is suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer. You expect me to believe that’s a coincidence?"

"If Chloe hadn’t told me a week ago, how much longer was your family planning on hiding this?!"

Chloe looked up at that moment, her pale face streaked with silent tears. She looked at me, her voice trembling but clear enough for everyone to hear:

"Ethan, please don't blame Summer... I did this willingly. The doctors said... I don't have much time left. I just... I just want to live my last days in freedom..."

With every word she spoke, Ethan’s grip on her tightened, and the look he gave me grew colder.

The whispers of the guests rushed over me like a suffocating wave. Their judging, disgusted, and pitying eyes felt like they were drowning me.

"Enough!"

My father was shaking with rage. My mother was already in tears, pulling me protectively into her arms.

My dad stepped forward, furious.

"Ethan, have you lost your mind? How dare you treat my daughter like this! Don’t forget, your family was the one begging for this merger!"

"And you, Chloe! When we brought you in, we were desperate enough to believe in those superstitions. But we have a clear conscience. We never starved you, we never locked you up, and we stopped all those ridiculous rituals after your first week with us!"

"If we hadn't, how could our Summer still be..."

"Dad!"

I cried out, cutting him off, my tears spilling over.

"Just... let them go."