Chapter 1

Natalie Bennett clutched the damaged marriage certificate, the clerk's words still ringing in her ears. "Ma'am, your marital status shows as unmarried."

All of Northbridge City knew James Carter was supposed to marry Natalie. The wedding was just weeks away, and now they were telling her the marriage certificate was fake.

She made her way to Carter Holdings, where the office door stood slightly ajar. She was about to step inside when she heard her brother Andrew Bennett's voice.

"You faked a marriage certificate just to get the cord blood from Natalie's baby? To save Sophie? You're not worried she'll lose it when she finds out the truth?" Andrew said.

James' face remained expressionless, his tone flat. "I'd do anything to save Sophie. Anything. As for Natalie? Throw her a nice wedding and she'll never question it."

Andrew flicked his lighter open and shut, laughing bitterly. "You're even more ruthless than I thought."

Natalie's fingers trembled. Her legs nearly gave out. She turned away, dragging her heavy, pregnant body down the hallway.

The tears came whether she wanted them to or not. Her chest felt like someone had driven a blade straight through her heart, the pain so sharp she couldn't catch her breath.

So that was it. All the affection they'd shown her, every tender moment—it was all just theater. A performance to save Sophie Bennett, their adopted daughter who was dying of leukemia.

She'd thought heaven had finally smiled on her. Turned out it was nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Natalie didn't know how long she cried. When her vision finally cleared, it settled on the slight curve of her belly.

The bedroom door exploded inward, slamming against the wall.

"Sophie's in critical condition. You're coming to the hospital with me. Now." Andrew's face was tight with urgency as he crossed the room and seized Natalie's wrist, fingers digging into her skin hard enough to leave marks.

She wrenched her arm free. "Whatever's wrong with her has nothing to do with me. I'm not going." Her whole body trembled as she backed away.

"The baby you're carrying exists for one reason—to save Sophie." Andrew's eyes went cold and hard. "You heard what the doctor said on the phone. Sophie's running out of time. We need that cord blood, and we need it now."

Natalie's eyes filled with tears as she turned to James. "Please, no. The baby's due in four months. Even if Sophie needs the cord blood, we can wait until—"

But James was already wrapping the rope around her wrists without hesitation, loop after loop, pulling tighter and tighter until the coarse fibers bit into her skin and drew blood. "This isn't the time for your manipulation games. One baby for one wedding ceremony. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

The blood in Natalie's veins turned to ice. Her heart felt like it was being devoured by a thousand tiny teeth, each bite a fresh agony.

What they didn't know was that she'd already been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

*****

Natalie clutched the torn marriage certificate, the clerk's words echoing endlessly in her mind. "Ma'am, our records show you and your husband as unmarried."

Warm air blasted from the car vents, but she couldn't stop shaking from the cold that had settled deep in her bones.

Everyone in Northbridge City knew James was marrying Natalie. The wedding was days away. And now, she was holding a fake marriage certificate in her hands.

Her phone buzzed. A message from James lit up the screen.

[I canceled the international conference. I'll go with you to tomorrow's appointment.]

She stared at those words until tears blurred them into nothing.

Right now, all she wanted—needed—to know was why her new husband had deceived her with a counterfeit marriage certificate.

Natalie made her way to Carter Holdings. The office door stood slightly ajar. She reached for the handle, then froze at the sound of her brother's voice.

"You actually used a fake marriage certificate to trick her? All so you could harvest cord blood from her baby to save Sophie? Aren't you worried about what she'll do when she finds out the truth?"

James' response came flat and emotionless. "I'd give anything to save Sophie. Anything. As for Natalie? Throw her a nice wedding ceremony and she'll never suspect a thing."

Andrew flicked his lighter open and closed, a harsh laugh escaping his throat. "You're even more despicable than I thought."

Natalie's fingers trembled. Her legs nearly gave out beneath her.

A phone rang inside the office, jarring her back to reality. She turned and walked away, her pregnant body heavy and unwieldy.

Tears streamed down her face. An invisible blade twisted in her chest, stealing the breath from her lungs.

All of it—every gesture of care, every moment of supposed affection—had been a calculated lie to save their adopted daughter Sophie, who was dying of leukemia.

Years ago, her foster parents had valued sons above all else. When they decided Natalie should drop out of school, they'd locked her in the woodshed and left her there for seven days without food.

She'd finally escaped and stumbled into a grocery store, barely conscious from hunger. She'd stared at the bread on the shelf, and her hand had reached out on its own. What did it matter anymore? She'd already spent 10 years being called a thief for something her foster brother Henry had done.

Her fingers were inches from the bread when someone else picked it up first. It was James. He was visiting the countryside on some kind of charity trip.

He'd paid for the bread and then turned to hand it to her. "Here," he'd said. "Take it."

That single moment had been like a ray of light breaking through the darkness of her world.

Years later, when Natalie had turned 18, her foster parents had tied her up and tried to force her to marry a widower for 15 thousand dollars.

She'd thought her life was over, but then her biological parents had found her. They'd paid 150 thousand dollars to bring her home.

When she'd first walked into the Bennett Estate and seen James again, her heart had skipped a beat. She'd hidden the joy she felt deep in her eyes and tried not to show it.

But James had only ever loved Sophie, his childhood sweetheart. The way he'd looked at her back then—like she was the most precious thing in the entire world. He'd protected her and cherished her completely.

He'd even gone blind in a car accident because he'd been shielding Sophie from the impact.

But after the accident, Sophie had left to study abroad, and within months, she'd gotten herself a boyfriend.

When James found out, he'd locked himself inside Carter Manor and given up on everything.

Natalie couldn't stand watching the boy who'd once shone so brightly fall apart like that. She'd stayed by his side and quietly taken care of him—cooking his meals, helping him dress, managing every detail of his life.

He'd thrown things at her and screamed at her more times than she could count, but she'd never left.

Sophie was gone for four years, and Natalie spent all four of those years caring for James and helping him slowly recover his sight.

Eventually, he'd allowed her to stay.

Then came the night of Sophie's welcome home party. Someone had slipped drugs into Natalie's drink, and she'd nearly been assaulted. James had found her just in time and saved her by sleeping with her.

Afterward, she'd discovered she was pregnant and went to talk to him. "I'm pregnant, but I'm not going to make you take responsibility for it. I'll go to the hospital and get rid of it."

But James had pulled her into his arms. "Natalie, let me give you and the baby a home."

He'd suggested they go to the City Hall to get their marriage certificate, and he'd wanted to make her feel safe and secure. Even her family members—the ones who'd never given her the time of day before—had suddenly started treating her with warmth and care.

Natalie had thought heaven had finally smiled down on her, but it had all been nothing but soap bubbles waiting to pop.

She didn't know how long she'd been crying, but eventually, her vision focused on her slightly rounded belly.

The bedroom door exploded inward, slamming against the wall.

"Sophie's in critical condition. You're coming to the hospital with me. Now." Andrew's face was tight with urgency as he crossed the room and seized Natalie's wrist, his fingers digging into her skin hard enough to leave marks.

Natalie wrenched her arm free. "Whatever's wrong with her has nothing to do with me. I'm not going." Her whole body trembled as she spoke.

"The baby you're carrying exists for one reason, to save Sophie." Andrew's eyes went cold and hard. "You heard what the doctor said on the phone. Sophie's running out of time, and we need to get that cord blood out of you right now."

Natalie's eyes filled with tears as she turned to James. "Please, no. The baby's due in four months. Even if Sophie needs the cord blood, we can wait until—"

She knew that if they forced the baby out now, it wouldn't survive. She had to save her child.

James' brow furrowed, and his expression turned dark and unreadable.

When Andrew saw that James wasn't moving, he let out a mocking laugh. "Don't tell me you actually caught feelings for her? You better not forget. You owe Sophie your life."

At those words, James shot Andrew a vicious glare, but then he grabbed Natalie's other arm and started dragging her toward the door.

Natalie clutched at James' sleeve, and she slammed her forehead against the doorframe hard enough to draw blood. "James, I traded my life for this baby. You can't do this to us."

Andrew looked like he'd just heard the world's funniest joke, and he grabbed a fistful of her hair. "Stop putting on a show. How could being pregnant possibly kill you?"

He pulled out a rope and tossed it to James.

James didn't hesitate. He wrapped the rope around Natalie's wrists, loop after loop, until the coarse fibers cut into her skin and left bloody marks. "This isn't the time for your manipulation games. One baby for one wedding ceremony—sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

The blood in Natalie's veins turned to ice, and her heart felt like thousands of ants were eating away at it. The pain was so intense she could barely breathe.

What they didn't know was that she'd already been diagnosed with stomach cancer.