Betrayed for First Love's Life

Synopsis

The moment I heard the front door slam, I knew something was wrong. Nathan never came home before eight, and the clock on my nightstand read 5:43 PM. My fingers froze over my laptop keyboard, where I'd been drafting an email to my grandmother—another carefully constructed lie about how wonderful my life was in New York. His footsteps were heavy, urgent. Not the measured pace of my husband returning from a successful day, but the thunderous approach of a storm. "Victoria!" His voice echoed through our Manhattan penthouse, cold and demanding. I closed my laptop and took a deep breath, pressing my palm against my side where the dull ache had become my constant companion. The pain medication was wearing off, but I forced myself to stand, smoothing down my silk blouse to hide how much weight I'd lost in the past months. "In the bedroom," I called back, my voice steadier than I felt. Nathan burst through the door, his tailored suit impeccable as always, but his face flushed with an intensity that made my stomach clench. I'd seen that look before—the single-minded determination that had built his tech empire and crushed his competitors. Never had it been directed at me with such force. "Isabella's back," he announced without preamble, his eyes bright with an emotion I'd never been able to inspire. "She's at Mount Sinai. Her liver is failing." Isabella Hayes. The name that had haunted our marriage from the beginning—his childhood sweetheart, his first love, the woman who had left him for London years ago. The woman whose ghost lived between us in our king-sized bed. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said carefully, watching his face. "Is there anything they can do?" "She needs a transplant. Immediately." He was pacing now, running his fingers through