Introduction

I woke up in a sterile hospital room, groggy from what my fiancé, Ethan, insisted was a routine appendectomy. He sat by my bed, holding my hand, his expression a careful mask of concern. For ten years, I'd poured my life into him, believing we were everything to each other.

Then, hushed voices drifted from the hallway. "You drugged her and took her kidney for Olivia?" I heard Ethan's best friend whisper, furious. "Are you insane?" Ethan's ice-cold reply shattered my world: "Olivia needed it. Amy's strong, she'll be fine. She wants to marry me, right? This will be my gift." My breath caught. My kidney? A physical blow. The appendectomy was a lie, a cover for the unthinkable: my organ stolen for his obsession, Olivia Vance. And the baby? Olivia had orchestrated my miscarriage with "supplements"-Ethan knew.

Ten years of my life-my career, my inheritance, even nursing him back from paralysis after Olivia pushed him-all sacrificed for this calculated betrayal. He saw me as a malleable possession, his "safety net," believing I'd simply "understand." Even the nurses confirmed it: he'd been lavishing attention on Olivia in the VIP wing while I was just "poor Ms. Hayes." My heart splintered into a million pieces.

I meant nothing. Less than nothing. The organ ripped from me wasn't just flesh; it was the last piece of my foolish love, discarded. How could the man I loved, the man I sacrificed everything for, be so casually cruel? Could love be so utterly devalued? The agony in my soul was far worse than any physical pain.

Enough. My trembling hand reached for my phone, scrolling past old contacts, past pity. My finger stopped on one name: Marcus Thorne. He'd always offered quiet respect, a lifeline I never knew I needed. My voice, gaining a sliver of steel, cut through the tears. "Marcus, I need your help. Will you marry me? Today, if possible. Not Ethan. You."