Chapter 1

I had waited two years for a life-saving surgery, only for my husband, Ethan Blackwell, to sign it away to his ex-girlfriend with a single signature.

When the nurse cut off the pre-op wristband from my wrist, I thought something had gone wrong with one of my tests.

Later, I learned that Sienna Rhodes had once shielded him from an accident. He owed her his life.

So he decided to repay her with mine.

My father begged everyone he could find, humbling himself everywhere, just to get me another chance.

But they wouldn't even spare him.

Eleven days after my surgery was taken away, my father was cornered in the hospital corridor, a phone shoved in his face as people demanded answers.

"Are you using your daughter's illness to extort favors from people?"

When my father collapsed from a heart attack, he was still clutching my medical files in his hand.

I no longer have a father.

This time, I'll make every single one of them pay the price.

Amelia POV

I had waited two years for a life-saving surgery, only for my husband, Ethan Blackwell, to sign it away to another woman with a signature.

When the nurse came in to remove the pre-op wristband from my wrist, I thought something had gone wrong with one of my tests.

I was lying on the prep bed, medical tape still on the back of my hand. The pre-anesthesia confirmation had just been completed, and I could hear people wheeling equipment past the door outside. Just one more step, and I would be in the operating room.

The moment the wristband was cut off, my fingers froze.

"Did my results come back abnormal?" I pushed myself up to sit, my voice tight. "Didn't the doctor say this morning I could be taken in?"

The nurse avoided my eyes, seemingly afraid to look at me, and crushed the cut wristband into her palm.

"Ms. Cross, there's been a temporary change in the schedule. Please return to your room."

"What do you mean?"

The nurse's lips moved, but she didn't dare look at me.

I threw off the blanket and got out of bed. My legs felt weak as my feet touched the floor. I gripped the edge of the bed and stared at the nurse. "Who changed it?"

The nurse seemed to retreat a step under my pressure, her voice dropping lower. "Ethan signed off on it."

Ethan.

My husband.

For the past two years, every time a doctor emphasized the risks, he sat with me outside the office.

The doctors said this opportunity wouldn't come easily, and if I missed it, my body would find it even harder to hold on.

Ethan had held my hand then and said, "From now on, I'll sign all these forms. You just focus on staying alive."

I believed him.

The medical authorization form. I had personally let him fill in that section.

Now that same pen in someone else's hands had become the blade that pulled me off the operating table.

I pulled out the IV needle and threw on my jacket, heading toward the doctor's office. The nurse couldn't stop me and could only follow behind, calling for me to slow down.

The doctor seemed to notice my pale face and first asked me to sit.

I didn't sit.

"Who did you transfer my surgery to?"

The doctor was silent for a moment.

"Ms. Cross, you can't get agitated right now."

"Who did you transfer it to?"

The office fell quiet.

The doctor finally spoke. "Sienna Rhodes."

When I heard that name, my fingers clenched tightly around the edge of the desk.

Ethan's ex-girlfriend.

All these years, whenever Sienna made a single phone call, Ethan would drop everything and rush to her side.

The doctor continued. "Years ago, she took the hit for Ethan in an accident and was left with lasting complications. This time, the relapse came on suddenly. Ethan felt she couldn't afford to wait, so he requested the surgery be transferred to her first."

I didn't ask about that old accident, nor did I ask how much Ethan owed Sienna.

I simply held out my hand. "Give me the authorization form."

The doctor passed the document over.

It clearly stated: Medical Confirmation Change.

Signature: Ethan.

I stared at those three words, my throat feeling like it was stuffed with something hard that I could neither swallow nor spit out.

The door was pushed open from outside.

When Ethan arrived, his expression looked dark. He saw the authorization form in my hand, first asked the doctor to leave, then reached out to pull me.

"Come back to the room with me first."

I avoided his hand and held the authorization form up to his face.

"Ethan, what gave you the right to sign for me?"

Ethan's brow furrowed tightly.

"Sienna's situation is more urgent. She became like this because of me back then. I can't just watch her die."

"So you're going to let me die instead?"

He paused.

"I'll find another way for you. We can find other doctors. Money isn't an issue."

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

"Did you ask me?"

Ethan avoided my eyes.

"There wasn't time."

"No time to ask me, but plenty of time to give away my life?"

His impatience finally seemed to break through.

"Amelia, stop being stubborn. Your body can still hold up. Sienna really can't wait any longer. Just this once. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Don't make a big deal out of it.

My father had waited with me for two years, waited until his hair turned white. And now, in Ethan's mouth, it all came down to "don't make a big deal out of it."

The corridor suddenly became chaotic.

At the entrance to the prep area, Sienna was being wheeled over by nurses. She was already connected to the pre-op procedures, covered with a blanket, her face weak and pale.

When she saw me, her eyes immediately reddened.

"Ethan, did I steal Amelia's chance?"

Ethan immediately bent down and gripped her hand.

"Don't think like that. The arrangement is set. Just go in with peace of mind."

Only then did Sienna look at me, her voice soft and trembling. "Amelia, I know you've been waiting a long time too. But I really can't hold on anymore... Ethan just wants to save me first. Please don't blame him."

I knew.

I knew whose spot this originally was, and I knew who Ethan had chosen.

I lowered my head, folded the authorization form, and crushed it in my palm.

The nurse came to urge. "Sienna Rhodes, you can enter the prep area now."

Ethan supported Sienna and turned back to say to me, "Go back to your room and wait for me. Don't cause any more trouble. I'll come find you after I handle this."

His hand was still resting on Sienna's shoulder, his gaze still fixed on her.

I stood there, watching as Sienna was wheeled inside.

The operating room doors slowly closed.

Ethan didn't notice that I had already turned around and was walking toward the service desk.