Chapter 1

I gave my fiancée my kidney to save her father's life.

Two days later, she dumped me in my hospital bed, calling me a "convenient organ donor" before running back to her wealthy ex.

But their cruelty was just beginning.

After her ex hit my sister in a hit-and-run, my fiancée launched a vicious online smear campaign to protect him.

Her lies inspired a stranger to walk into my sister's hospital room and murder her.

The woman I had sacrificed a part of my body for had taken everything from me.

Now, I will take everything from them.

Chapter 1

Donny Bradshaw POV:

"I need your kidney."

That' s how Diane started the conversation, sitting on the edge of our bed, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She said it with the same casual tone she used to ask if I' d picked up milk on the way home.

For a second, I thought I' d misheard. The hum of the garage air conditioner suddenly seemed deafening. I put down the wrench I was cleaning, the cold metal a stark contrast to the sudden heat flushing my skin. "You what?"

She looked at me, her big, green eyes-the ones I' d written bad poetry about in high school-widened with practiced innocence. "My father, Donny. He's in renal failure. The doctors say he only has a few months without a transplant."

My heart squeezed. Mr. Decker was a good man. He' d taught me how to fish, how to tie a Windsor knot for my first real job interview. He was the closest thing I' d ever had to a father.

"Oh my god, Di. I'm so sorry. What can we do? We'll raise money, we'll get him on every list-"

"He's on the lists," she cut me off, her voice smooth and unnervingly calm. "But the wait is too long. They' ve already tested me, my mother... no one in the family is a match." She paused, letting the silence hang in the air like a guillotine. "But you are."

I stared at her. "You had me tested?"

"When you had your physical last month," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "I had them run a few extra panels. Just in case. And you're a perfect match, Donny. It' s like it was meant to be."

I felt a cold dread creep up my spine, a feeling I couldn't quite name. It felt like being led to the edge of a cliff by someone I trusted with my life. "Diane... that's... that' s surgery. A major surgery. It's not like giving blood."

"Of course it is, silly," she said, her voice turning syrupy sweet as she slid off the bed and came to kneel in front of me. She took my greasy hands in hers, ignoring the grime. "It's the ultimate sacrifice. It' s a testament to our love. Think about it. You wouldn't just be saving my father. You' d be saving our future. You' d be a part of my family, truly. Forever."

The word "forever" echoed in the small space between us. It was the word she used when I proposed. It was the word she whispered in the dark. Now, it felt like a cage.

I looked down at our joined hands. My calloused, oil-stained fingers wrapped around her perfectly manicured ones. We were from different worlds. I fixed cars for a living, finding satisfaction in making broken things whole again. She was a Decker, a name synonymous with old money and country club memberships. I always knew I was lucky to have her. I' d spent our entire relationship trying to prove I was worthy.

And now, this. The ultimate test.

"Don't you see, Donny?" she murmured, her thumb stroking the back of my hand. "After this, no one could ever question your place in this family. Not my mother, not our friends, no one." She leaned in, her lips close to my ear. "Imagine walking me down the aisle, knowing you're the hero who saved my dad. You would be everything to me."

The cold dread was warring with the deep, aching love I had for this woman. I loved her enough to do anything. But this felt different. It felt like a transaction, a final, bloody price of admission into her world.

I looked into her eyes, searching for a flicker of doubt, of fear for me. I found none. All I saw was a steely, unwavering determination.

My own logic was screaming at me. This was insane. This was a violation. But the part of me that loved her, the part that had been trying to bridge the gap between our two worlds for years, was already surrendering. I wanted to be her hero. I wanted to secure that "forever."

A long silence stretched out. I could hear the frantic beating of my own heart.

Finally, I heard a voice, distant and hollow, that I barely recognized as my own. "When is the surgery?"

A brilliant, dazzling smile broke across her face. It was the smile that had captivated me from day one, but for the first time, it didn't warm me. It chilled me to the bone.

"I knew you'd do it," she breathed, kissing me hard. "I'll call the hospital right now."

She practically skipped out of the room, phone already to her ear, leaving me sitting there, covered in the day's grease, feeling like I had just willingly handed over a part of my soul.