Chapter 1 One

The first thing Katrina Donovan understood that night was this-

Felix Clarke had never loved her.

"Doctor, prepare for surgery. I want everything foolproof."

Rachel's voice drifted lightly through the darkness, calm and elegant, as if she were discussing a dinner reservation instead of a life.

"I've searched a long time for this heart," she added, a faint smile curving her lips. "Now it's finally time to harvest it."

A shrill scream ripped through the closed-down medical wing, echoing against the hollow walls.

"Ah-!"

The sound tore into the night, sharp and desperate against the suffocating silence.

Katrina's wrists strained against the restraints binding her to the stretcher. Cold metal bit into her skin. The sharp scent of rust and disinfectant filled the air, turning her stomach.

Her heart pounded violently in her chest.

Her heart.

The one they wanted to rip out.

"Rachel... what are you doing?!" Katrina's voice trembled, fury burning in her crimson eyes. "What are you trying to do to me?!"

Rachel stepped forward from the shadows.

Under the dim light, her face looked delicate, almost fragile-the kind of woman others instinctively wanted to protect.

But her eyes were cold.

Mocking.

"Trying to do?" Rachel tilted her head slightly. "Kate, don't make it sound so dramatic. You should feel honored."

Honored?

A dull ache spread from Katrina's chest outward, as if invisible claws were tearing through her ribs. For the first time in her life, true fear coiled around her spine.

She suddenly turned toward the man standing beside Rachel.

Toward the man she had trusted more than anyone.

"Felix!" Her voice cracked. "Hurry-stop her! She's gone insane! Stop her!"

For a moment, he didn't move.

Then-

"Heh."

A low, cold laugh slipped from his lips.

The gentle, refined expression Felix had always worn-the mask that had fooled her for years-shattered completely. What replaced it was something ruthless. Detached.

Almost disgusted.

"Kate," he said calmly, "give it up. This is fate."

Fate?

Her fingers curled tightly into her palms.

"Even if you die," Felix continued, his tone disturbingly reasonable, "your heart can still be preserved. And with your status, being able to donate your heart to Miss Sterling is the greatest honor of your life."

The words struck harder than any blade.

Katrina stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.

Strange.

Terrifying.

Was this really the childhood sweetheart who had held her hands beneath the summer sun and promised to protect her forever?

The man who had sworn, over and over again, that he loved her?

Not only had he deceived her feelings-

He wanted her dead.

He wanted to carve out her heart and offer it to that vile woman as a gift.

Heh... Felix Clarke. I trusted you so completely.

A bitter laugh rose in her throat but never escaped. Grief flooded her chest, heavy and suffocating. All these years... she had been blind.

Blind enough to fall in love with a man like him.

Resolve surged through her veins.

With a sudden burst of strength, Katrina broke free from one of the loosened restraints and hurled herself toward a stone pillar.

Even if she died, she would never let them take her heart to prolong that bitch's life.

"Trying to die? You think I'll let you?"

"Grab her! Strap her back onto the stretcher!"

Rachel stepped forward, a faint, smug smile curling on her lips. In her mind, this battle had already been won.

She looked down at Katrina like a queen passing judgment on a condemned criminal.

The doctors and nurses exchanged knowing glances, their movements swift and practiced.

Rachel took a slow breath and lay down on the operating table. Confident as she was, facing such a major surgery still left her palms damp with sweat. But the thought that, once successful, she would never again have to worry about her condition filled her with anticipation.

She turned her head toward the other stretcher.

Katrina lay there, restrained once more, struggling in vain.

"Katrina," Rachel said, her voice brimming with triumph, "say goodbye to the world. Hahaha..."

"No! Rachel, you can't do this! This is a crime! You can't-let me go!"

Terror consumed her. Tears streamed down her face as she fought desperately, but it was useless.

The nurses pinned down her arms and legs. The masked doctor, expressionless, lifted a gleaming scalpel.

Slice.

Then another.

And another.

The blade cut into her chest, each stroke sending waves of agony through her body. Her vision blurred, darkness creeping in from the edges as if Death itself were calling her-step by step, dragging her into a bottomless abyss.

Every second felt like an eternity.

Watching herself slowly die was worse than death itself.

'Rachel Sterling... if there is another life, I will carve you into a thousand pieces and grind your bones to dust. This debt will be repaid.'

'And you, Felix-if there is another life, I will become your worst nightmare and make sure you suffer for eternity.'

Her bloodshot eyes burned with hatred. If looks could kill, Rachel would have been torn apart a hundred times over. That vicious woman not only stole her man-she wanted her heart.

Such hatred could never be washed clean.

But it was too late-

The surgery was nearing its end. The searing pain in her left chest completely devoured her senses. Perhaps in the next second, she would truly die.

"Katrina!"

Suddenly, just as her consciousness began to fade, a breathless shout pierced through the darkness-like dawn breaking through night.

"I-I'm here..."

She tried with all her strength to respond, but her voice was no louder than a whisper. Her throat was raw, her body drained of all strength.

And then-

She was pulled entirely into hell.

...

Intensive Care Unit.

Katrina's eyes flew open.

The last thing in her mind was the moment before death-the cold scalpel, the tearing pain in her chest. But the next second, the tubes connected to her body dragged her back to reality.

The oxygen mask. The IV lines. The steady beep of machines.

All of it proved one thing-

She was still alive.

She had been saved.

She had escaped the clutches of that cheating couple.

Her eyes instantly reddened. Overwhelming relief crashed over her, washing away the suffocating terror of death.

But in the very next moment, a tall, broad figure suddenly entered her line of sight like a bolt of lightning-

Owen Blake.

That devil.

Why was he here?

Did he save her?

No. Impossible. He and Rachel and Felix were clearly on the same side-birds of a feather.