Chapter 1 No.1

The paper in Catherine's hand was not heavy, but it felt like she was holding the weight of her own gravestone.

The fluorescent lights of the master bathroom hummed with a clinical, detached indifference. They reflected off the white marble countertops, the chrome fixtures, and the terrifying starkness of the letterhead from the specialist's office. Catherine stared at the words until they began to swim, dissolving into a blur of black ink against white paper.

Abnormal Renal Function Detected.

Creatinine Levels: Critical Elevation.

Urgent follow-up required for definitive diagnosis.

Potential indication of progressive failure.

She read the sentences again, forcing her brain to process the syntax, hoping that if she parsed the grammar, the meaning would change. It didn't. The numbers were a warning siren. The biology was whispering a threat she couldn't ignore.

Her hands began to tremble. It started in her fingertips, a subtle vibration that traveled up her wrists, shaking the paper so violently it made a crinkling sound in the silence. She looked at her reflection in the expansive mirror. The woman staring back was beautiful in the way a porcelain doll is beautiful-perfect, pale, and entirely hollow. Her skin had an unnatural translucence, the kind that aristocrats prized but doctors worried about. She had applied extra blush this morning, a protective layer of Chanel pink to hide the gray undertone that had been creeping into her complexion for weeks.

She was fading.

The realization didn't hit her like a thunderclap. It settled over her like a heavy, wet wool blanket, suffocating and cold. She was twenty-five years old, the wife of Sebastian Vanderbilt, the envy of every socialite in Manhattan, and her body was slowly, quietly betraying her.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the bedroom.

Catherine froze. The sound of Sebastian's shoes on the hardwood floor was distinct-measured, confident, rhythmic. It was the sound of a man who owned the ground he walked on.

Panic, sharp and acidic, surged in her throat. She couldn't let him see this. Not now. Not when their marriage was already balancing on a razor's edge, held together by the fragile tension of silence and unspoken resentments. If Sebastian knew she was sick-weak, defective, requiring care-he would look at her with that specific expression he reserved for injured animals: a mix of duty and pity.

She refused to be his charity case. She refused to be another broken thing he had to manage.

Catherine moved with a frantic speed. She shoved the preliminary report into the small, personal shredder she kept under the vanity for "sensitive documents." The machine whirred to life, a grinding mechanical jaw that chewed up her secret. She watched the strips of paper fall into the bin. Abnormal. Failure. Urgent. All of it, turned into confetti.

She flushed the toilet for good measure, a noise to cover the sound of the shredder, then turned on the tap. She splashed freezing water onto her face, gasping as the cold hit her skin. It grounded her. It forced the tears back into her ducts.

She grabbed a towel, patted her face dry, and practiced her smile in the mirror. It was a muscle memory, a reflex honed over three years of galas and board dinners. Lift the corners. Soften the eyes. Hide the fear.

"Perfect," she whispered to the empty room. Her voice sounded like broken glass.

She walked out into the bedroom.

Sebastian was standing by the window, loosening his silk tie. The city skyline glittered behind him, a backdrop of diamonds and steel that suited him perfectly. He looked exhausted. The lines around his eyes were deeper than usual, and his shoulders, usually squared with military precision, were slumped slightly.

"You're home early," Catherine said, her voice steady.

Sebastian didn't turn around. "The merger talks stalled. Harrison is being difficult."

He stripped off his suit jacket and tossed it onto the chaise lounge. He didn't look at her. He never really looked at her anymore. To him, she was part of the furniture-an expensive, tasteful fixture in his life that required maintenance but not attention.

Catherine walked over to the bar cart. The crystal decanter clinked as she lifted it. She poured two fingers of his favorite single malt whiskey, the sound of the amber liquid hitting the ice filling the silence.

"Here," she said, extending the glass.

Sebastian turned then. He took the glass, his fingers brushing hers. His skin was warm; hers was ice cold. He flinched, a microscopic reaction, but Catherine felt it like a slap. He pulled his hand back quickly, taking a sip and turning his attention immediately to his phone.

"Thanks," he muttered, his thumb scrolling through emails.

Catherine stood there, her hands clutching the hem of her silk robe. The pain in her lower back was throbbing, a dull, constant ache that she had been pretending was just fatigue from her Pilates classes. She took a deep breath.

Say it. Just ask him.

"Sebastian," she started.

He didn't look up. "Hmm?"

"We need to talk about the trust fund requirements."

Sebastian sighed, a long, weary exhale through his nose. He finally lowered the phone, his eyes cold and impatient. "How much is it this time, Catherine? Did Julian get into trouble again? Does the facility need a new wing?"

The accusation stung. He thought she was a leech. He thought her only purpose in this room was to extract resources for her autistic brother.

"It's not about money," Catherine said, stepping closer. She needed him to see her. "The board... they've been asking questions. About the succession plan."

Sebastian froze. The air in the room shifted, becoming sharp and dangerous. "Succession?"

"We've been married three years," Catherine said, her heart hammering against her ribs. "The clause in the pre-nup. The grandfather's trust. It requires an heir within five years to secure your position as Chairman permanently."

She wasn't doing this for the trust. She wasn't doing this for the money. She was doing it because the report had terrified her. She felt time slipping away like sand through an hourglass. She wanted to leave something behind. A part of her that would exist in this world if her body failed her. A piece of her that Sebastian would have to love, even if he couldn't love her.

"An heir," Sebastian repeated, his voice flat. He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "You want a child? Now? In the middle of the Kensington merger? With the stock price volatile?"

"It would stabilize the image," Catherine argued, desperation creeping into her tone. "It would show stability. Family values. It's what the public wants."

"You sound like a PR consultant, not a wife," Sebastian snapped. He set the whiskey glass down on the nightstand with a loud clack. He towered over her, his height intimidating, his presence overwhelming.

"You are a Vanderbilt on paper, Catherine. Don't get greedy. You have the lifestyle, you have the care for your brother. Isn't that enough?"

Catherine felt the blood drain from her face. Greedy. He thought she wanted a baby to secure her payout.

"I want a family," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I want... us."

Sebastian looked at her, and for a second, she saw something flicker in his eyes. Confusion? Guilt? But before it could form into a word, a sound cut through the room.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

It wasn't the standard iPhone chime. It was a specific, melodic tune. Clair de Lune.

Catherine knew that ringtone. It was the one assigned to Serena Kensington.

Sebastian's face transformed instantly. The cold mask of the CEO shattered, replaced by raw, unadulterated panic. He scrambled for his phone, answering it before the third ring.

"Serena?" His voice was breathless, urgent. "Breathe. Tell me what's happening. I'm here."

He listened for a second, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the device.

"Okay. Okay, listen to me. Put the phone down and sit on the floor. I'm coming. I'm leaving right now."

He hung up and grabbed his keys, moving with a frantic energy that Catherine had never seen directed at her.

"Sebastian?" Catherine reached out, grabbing his arm. "Where are you going? It's our anniversary. The dinner reservation is in twenty minutes."

He looked at her hand on his arm like it was a foreign object. He shook her off, effortlessly, without even thinking about it.

"She's having a panic attack," Sebastian said, his voice tight. "She's alone in her apartment. She can't breathe."

"And I'm your wife," Catherine said, the words tearing out of her throat. "I am standing right here."

"This is life or death, Catherine!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. "Stop being so selfish. It's just a dinner. She could hurt herself."

He didn't wait for a response. He turned and stormed out of the bedroom. Catherine heard his heavy footsteps running down the hall, then the slam of the heavy front door. The sound reverberated through the penthouse, shaking the crystal chandelier.

Silence rushed back in, louder than before.

Catherine looked at the calendar on the wall. Today was the anniversary of the day they met. The day she thought he saved her life.

A sharp, stabbing pain radiated from her lower back, buckling her knees. Catherine collapsed onto the expensive Persian rug, clutching her side. She curled into a ball, biting her lip to keep from screaming.

Her husband was rushing to save a woman who was having a panic attack.

Meanwhile, his wife lay on the floor, her body waging a silent war against itself, alone in the dark.