Chapter 2

Seven years passed.

Seven years of being Mrs. Ava Vance.

Seven years of a slow, creeping decline.

The artificial heart was not what they promised.

Chronic pain became my shadow. A deep, persistent ache in my chest.

Sometimes, I coughed up blood. Little specks at first, then more.

Children were impossible. The doctors said my body couldn't handle a pregnancy with this heart.

Julian was always solicitous, always concerned.

He arranged the best doctors, the newest medications.

But nothing really helped.

I was a bird in a gilded cage. The Vance mansion was beautiful, opulent.

But I was fading.

Julian was often busy. His work, his family. His stepsister, Chloe.

Chloe Vance. Much younger than Julian. Beautiful, vivacious.

Julian adored her. His father had married Chloe's mother when Chloe was very young. After Chloe's mother died, Julian became her fierce protector.

She also had a heart condition, a mild one, they said.

One afternoon, I was looking for Julian. I heard voices from his study.

Julian and Marcus Thorne, his colleague, his friend.

I paused outside the door, not wanting to interrupt.

"You can't keep this up, Julian," Marcus was saying, his voice low. "It's been seven years."

"Chloe is thriving," Julian replied, his tone sharp. "That's all that matters."

My blood ran cold. Chloe?

"But Ava..." Marcus started.

"Ava is my wife. I take care of her," Julian cut him off.

"You know what I mean. Her heart. In Chloe."

I leaned against the wall, my breath catching in my throat.

No. It couldn't be.

"A suitable heart for Chloe was hours away that day, Julian," Marcus pressed. "A legitimate one. You told me yourself."

"Hours?" Julian scoffed. "I couldn't bear to see Chloe suffer another minute. Ava's heart was there. It was a perfect match for Chloe too. A miracle."

My heart. My mother's heart. In Chloe.

"And Eleanor?" Marcus asked, his voice barely a whisper. "She was supposed to get that heart."

"Eleanor was a means to an end," Julian said, his voice chillingly calm. "A necessary step to get the heart for Chloe without raising suspicion. Ava would never have consented to give her heart directly to Chloe, not then."

I felt sick.

"The backup hearts, Julian," Marcus continued. "You're still maintaining them? Paying off those families?"

"Of course," Julian said. "Chloe needs security. If anything happens to Ava's heart, she needs options. Rare compatibilities are hard to find. It's just money, Marcus. Chloe's life is priceless."

He admitted it. He had essentially bought potential organs, keeping them on standby, exclusively for Chloe.

He hadn't saved my mother. He had used her. He had used me.

He had stolen my heart for his stepsister, the woman he was obsessed with.

My sacrifice, my mother's hope, all a lie.

Julian continued, "Ava suspects nothing. She thinks her mother died of rejection. She thinks I'm her savior."

A dry, humorless laugh escaped him.

"The irony is, if anyone found out, it would be my ruin. But Chloe is worth any risk."

He sounded unrepentant.

He prioritized Chloe above everything. Above the law, above ethics, above me.