Introduction

The poison in my veins had two years left, just like me.

Two years I' d spent trapped in a gilded cage by Ethan Lester, the man I once loved.

He believed I betrayed him, orchestrated his family' s slaughter, a lie I carried to protect him from a truth that would have led him to self-destruction.

I endured his hatred, the scars, the daily degradations, all while my life slowly ebbed away.

Then came the night Sabrina, his new woman, a viper wearing a sweetheart's smile, orchestrated the unspeakable.

She lured my little brother, Andrew, the only innocent left in my world, to the compound.

She planned to drain his blood for a twisted art project.

I found him, strapped down, and I screamed for her to take me instead.

But Ethan, blind with rage and manipulated by Sabrina' s lies, saw my reaction as defiance.

He threatened Andrew, trying to extract a "confession" from me.

My truth would kill him; my silence guaranteed my brother's fate.

He offered me everything I' d ever wanted – a future, marriage – if I just confessed.

I couldn't.

Sabrina, with a subtle push, guided his hand, and the blade sliced across Andrew' s throat right before my eyes.

My world shattered as I watched him die, Ethan' s hand, bloodied, still on the knife.

As I lay dying beside my brother's cooling body, my last words shattered Ethan' s delusions, revealing the true traitors.

Now that it' s all over, all I want to know is: Can a man who destroyed everything he claimed to love ever atone for the irreparable damage he caused?