Chapter 3

I woke up in the hospital corridor.

Theo didn't bring me there, but a passing security guard found me fainted in the snow and called an ambulance.

The doctor looked at my test results and shook his head. "Miss Powell, your heart condition is serious. You'll need specialized treatment and ongoing medication-likely costing several hundred thousand dollars."

Five hundred thousand.

I had the money.

Although I didn't hold any real power, I actually worked on the ore projects at the Powell company.

At the beginning of the year, the company distributed year-end bonuses based on performance, and I had a fifty-five-thousand bonus.

I'd earned that bonus through months of grueling work on the ore projects.

Dragging my ailing body, I rushed to Theo's office.

As I pushed open the door, I froze.

Theo was sitting in his chair, playing with a check in his hand.

Across from him sat Teresa, eagerly browsing an auction catalog on her iPad. "Theo, I really like this antique piano, but it's a bit expensive. It costs five hundred thousand."

Theo smiled indulgently and handed her the check. "Buy it. If you like it, no matter the price, we'll get it."

I saw the number on the check clearly.

It was fifty-five thousand.

It was precisely my year-end bonus.

I was overcome with anger as I rushed forward and pressed down on the check. "This is my money!" I stared at Theo with intensity. "This is my year-end bonus! It's the reward for my work on the projects!"

Teresa was startled and shrank back into Theo's arms. "Dolores, why are you so fierce..."

Theo frowned and brushed my hand away. "What do you mean? Your money? The company belongs to the Power family, so naturally, the money does, too. Teresa just had surgery and is in a bad mood. She needs to buy something to cheer up. You're her sister. Do you really want to squabble over this money?"

I stared at him in disbelief. "Squabble over this money? Theo, I need that money for my treatment!"

I pointed to my chest and said in a trembling voice, "The doctor said without proper care, my condition could become life-threatening!

Theo pulled out a file and frowned. "Your last check-up showed only mild arrhythmia. Why are you making it sound so dire? Is this really about the money?"

I looked at the report and felt as if struck by lightning.

The report wasn't mine-or at least, not the full truth. Someone had downplayed my condition long ago.

So Theo never trusted me.

Even when I collapsed from pain, he never believed me.

In his eyes, it was all an act. It was a ploy for sympathy.

"Theo, don't blame her." Teresa feigned innocence, tugging at his sleeve. "Since she wants the money so badly, just give it to her. I won't buy the piano."

"No way," Theo was resolute. "We can't indulge her when she is so greedy."

He took out a black bank card from his wallet and tossed it at me. "Use this. Stop acting like you haven't seen the world. Shame on you."

I picked up the bank card.

It was a supplementary card with a very low limit.

But I had no choice.

I need to survive. I had to buy the medication.

Swallowing my humiliation, I ran to the pharmacy. "Give me two boxes of imported targeted heart medication."

The pharmacist took the bank card and swiped it through the machine.

"Beep-" The red light came on.

The pharmacist handed the bank card back and looked peculiar. "Miss, this bank card is frozen."

I was stunned. "Impossible! This is Theo's bank card!"

Unwilling to give up, I asked him to try again.

It still didn't work.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a message from Theo. "Teresa has her eye on a piece of jewelry, and the limit isn't enough, so I froze your bank card's limit. "If your condition isn't as serious as you claim, basic supplements should suffice."

Staring at those words, a chill spread through my body.

The pharmacist sighed and set the medication aside. "If the payment doesn't go through, I can't release these."

I stood at the pharmacy entrance and watched the bustling street.

In that moment, I understood: to Theo, my well-being meant less than a trinket for Teresa.