Chapter 1

My family owed the Vances.

It was a debt etched deep, not in ledgers, but in the way my parents could still sleep at night.

Years ago, my father's small construction business crumbled.

A local recession hit, an investor pulled out, and suddenly, we were facing ruin.

Richard Vance, Julian's father, stepped in.

He was a prominent developer, a man of quiet power.

His financial aid was discreet, his mentorship invaluable. He saved us.

This kindness fostered a profound gratitude in me, almost familial.

And for Julian, Richard's son, I developed a hero-worshipping crush.

I was young, naive. I mistook gratitude for love.

When I was nineteen, Julian was diagnosed with aplastic anemia.

He needed a bone marrow transplant. I was a match.

The decision was instant. There was no hesitation.

Saving his life felt like a small repayment for what his family had done for mine.

It pulled me deeper into their orbit, tied me closer to Julian, a boy I barely knew but felt I owed everything.

He recovered. I watched him, my affection a quiet, hopeful thing.

He was always polite, sometimes even warm, but distant.

I don't think he ever truly saw me, not the real me.

Just the girl whose family his father had helped, the girl who gave him her marrow.

Now, years later, Julian stood before me, his handsome face etched with worry.

"Mia," he began, his voice urgent. "It's Cassandra."

Cassandra Thorne, his fiancée. Beautiful, perfect, the woman he adored.

"Her kidneys are failing, Mia. It's critical. The doctors say she needs a transplant immediately."

He paused, his gaze intense. "You're a perfect match."

The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

He was asking for another piece of me.

My breath hitched.

Suddenly, the room tilted.

A vision, sharp and brutal, slammed into me.

*In it, I saw myself, older, worn. Cassandra was ill, dying. Julian begged me for a kidney. I refused. I couldn't. Not again.*

*Cassandra died.*

*Julian's grief twisted into something monstrous. He turned on me, his eyes cold with a hatred I'd never imagined.*

*He destroyed me. Systematically. He leaked fabricated stories, painting me as an obsessed stalker.*

*My job, gone. My reputation, shattered. Friends turned away, influenced by his power.*

*The vision ended with a flash of headlights, a sickening crunch of metal. My car, wrecked. My death, suspicious. His doing.*

The horror of it was absolute, a chilling premonition of a life I hadn't lived but felt in every cell of my body.

It was a warning.

I blinked, the room swimming back into focus.

Julian was still there, waiting for my answer.

The vision, the "first life" trauma, clung to me, cold and terrifying.

It stripped away every shred of naivety, every lingering trace of that girlish crush.

Survival. That was the only thought.

I looked at Julian, truly looked at him, and saw not a hero, but a potential destroyer.

"Alright, Julian," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "I'll do it."

He sagged with relief. "Mia, thank you. I knew I could count on-"

"But," I interrupted, the word sharp. "I have conditions."

He frowned, a flicker of irritation crossing his face.

This was new. I never made demands.

"This will be the final act of service, the final repayment of any debt, real or imagined, my family owes yours," I stated, the words precise.

"I want a legally binding contract. Complete severance of all ties with you and the Vance family. No contact, ever again, from any of you."

His eyes narrowed.

"A strict non-disclosure agreement, mutual. And a substantial sum. Call it medical compensation, a future security fund. Enough for me to disappear and start over, completely independent."

Julian stared, momentarily speechless.

The desperation for Cassandra, however, was a powerful motivator.

"You're serious?" he asked, a touch of disbelief in his tone.

"Deadly serious, Julian."

He was annoyed by my sudden assertiveness, this cold, transactional approach.

But Cassandra's life was on the line.

"Fine," he bit out. "Whatever you want. Just save her."

He thought I was being manipulative, perhaps trying to leverage the situation for some hidden agenda, maybe even to win him.

He couldn't be more wrong.

Later, after the initial agreements were drafted by his lawyers, he found me alone.

"Mia," he said, his voice softer now, but still carrying an edge. "I appreciate this. More than you know. But I need to be clear."

He stepped closer. "This changes nothing between us. Cassandra is my life. She's the only woman I will ever love, the only woman I will marry. This... arrangement, it's purely for her survival. Don't mistake it for anything else."

His words were meant to be a firm rejection, a boundary.

To him, I was still the girl with the crush, trying to play a game.

I met his gaze, my own unreadable. "Understood, Julian. My only aim is a clean break."

Cassandra, when she heard I'd agreed, put on a show of tearful gratitude in front of Julian.

But when he left the room for a moment, her demeanor shifted.

She glided over to me, her smile thin, her eyes like chips of ice.

"So generous of you, Mia," she purred, her voice dripping with a sweetness that didn't reach her eyes.

"Almost too generous. One might think you still harbor... feelings."

She let the insinuation hang in the air.

Then, as if by accident, her hand brushed against my arm, her nails digging in sharply.

"Don't get any ideas," she hissed, her voice low and venomous. "He's mine. And after this, you'll be nothing but a bad memory he's paid to forget."

She then raised her voice slightly, a tremor in it. "Oh, Mia, you're so pale. Are you alright?"

Julian re-entered, his brow furrowed with concern for Cassandra.

"What happened?" he asked, rushing to Cassandra's side.

"Nothing, darling," Cassandra said, leaning into him. "Mia just startled me a little. I think she's a bit overwhelmed."

She shot me a triumphant smirk over Julian's shoulder.

Julian looked at me, then back at Cassandra, his priority clear.

He fussed over Cassandra, completely ignoring the red marks her nails had left on my arm.

He led her away, murmuring reassurances.

Later that evening, I overheard Julian on the phone, presumably with his father.

His voice was low, dismissive.

"Yes, she agreed... No, it's not like that... She's just being... Mia. A bit dramatic, wants to make it a transaction. Probably thinks it gives her some sort of leverage... Don't worry, I've made it perfectly clear Cassandra is my only priority. Once this is done, she'll get her money, and she'll be out of our lives for good. It's for the best, honestly. She's always been a bit... much."

A bit much.

The girl who saved his life. The girl about to give up an organ for his fiancée.

A bit much.

The last vestiges of any warmth I might have felt for him, any lingering echo of that youthful admiration, died right there.

My path was clear. I would go through with the surgery. I would take the money.

And then, I would disappear so completely they would wonder if I'd ever existed at all.

The vision had shown me the cost of staying.

This was my only way out.

My commitment to a new life, a distant life, solidified into unshakeable resolve.

This sacrifice wouldn't be for him, or for her.

It would be for me. My ticket to freedom.