Chapter 1

The glare from the operating room lights stung Audrey Norton's eyes.

She lay on the cold operating table, the sharp smell of disinfectant burning her nose. The surgeon, a top specialist the Norton family had paid a fortune to hire, was going through the pre-op checklist at a leisurely pace.

"Ms. Norton, relax. It's just a partial liver resection. Mr. Norton said he'll make sure you get the best post-op care," the doctor said, his tone flat, as if he were talking about a slab of meat.

Audrey had a bitter smile. Her own father, Gerald Norton, would rather force her to sign away her liver to save his favorite stepdaughter, Andrea Norton.

"Where's my dad?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Mr. Norton is with Ms. Andrea Norton. Mr. Lester is there too," the doctor replied.

Liam Lester was there too.

It felt like someone had carved a hole right through her chest. Liam was her fiancé in name only, the one she'd chased after since she was a kid. But half an hour ago, he'd been in the hallway, arm around a young model, laughing with reckless abandon.

When Audrey was wheeled into the operating room, Liam didn't even bother to look up. He kept flirting with the woman in his arms. He said, "She's tough. Losing a bit of flesh is nothing. Don't spoil my fun tonight."

Audrey closed her eyes, tears streaming down her temples.

The surgery began.

The anesthesia was kicking in, but whether it was too weak or her body wouldn't cooperate, Audrey could feel the cold scalpel cutting right into her flesh.

Pain flooded her body, so intense she wanted to scream, but her throat was blocked, like someone had shoved cotton down it.

"Oh no! The patient is hemorrhaging! Her blood pressure is crashing!" The nurse's terrified voice blared in Audrey's ears.

"Hemostat! Hurry!" the doctor barked.

Audrey felt her life slipping away, her mind growing fuzzy. Through the fog, she thought she heard the operating room doors slam open.

"Audrey Norton! Don't you dare die on me!" Liam shouted. His voice was violent and trembling, unlike anything she had ever heard from him.

Wasn't he with that model? Didn't he want her dead?

*****

Audrey wanted to laugh, but she didn't even have the strength to twitch a muscle. The piercing, continuous beep of the heart monitor became her final requiem as her consciousness slipped away.

That flat green line on the screen signaled the end of the Norton family's forgotten eldest daughter.

Audrey's world faded to black.

Audrey's funeral was over in a flash. Barely anyone seemed to care.

Her father, Gerald, desperate to hide the ugly truth that he'd forced his own daughter to donate her liver and died because of it, told everyone she passed away from complications after surgery.

On the day Audrey was buried, the sky was almost black, and rain came down in torrents.

Liam shoved aside all the bodyguards holding umbrellas and stood alone before the tombstone. His tailored black suit was drenched in mud and rain, and his eyes were bloodshot with a frightening intensity.

"Mr. Lester, the Norton family said that since Audrey is gone, about the engagement—" Gerald's secretary began nervously, his voice shaking as he spoke.

"Get out," Liam growled, his voice rough and low, like a beast's snarl.

He suddenly crouched down, his long fingers gripping the dirt in front of the tombstone. His nails split, blood mixed with mud dripping down, but he didn't seem to feel a thing as he frantically dug at the fresh grave.

"Mr. Lester! Are you out of your mind?" The bodyguards rushed forward to stop him.

"Get out of my way! She's not dead. Audrey's always been a liar. She wouldn't die like that." Liam shoved everyone aside with a strength that stunned them.

He tore open the coffin like a lunatic.

The instant he pried off the lid, Liam went rigid.

Inside, it was empty. Not a body in sight, only some old clothes Audrey used to wear.

Liam froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into wild, haunting laughter, tears streaming down his face. He knelt in the mud, clutching Audrey's old clothes, his laughter echoing through the empty graveyard, sounding utterly unhinged.

"Good. Perfect," he growled, staring at the empty coffin, his gaze dark and menacing. "Audrey, you'd better never show your face again."

He stood up, wiped the rain from his face, and the defeated look vanished in an instant. It was replaced by a ruthless and coldness.

That night, Liam struck like lightning, snatching up 30% of the Norton Group's shares and crippling Gerald's proud empire in one fell swoop.

He drowned himself in booze in a private lounge, a different woman draped over him, but his eyes were as empty.

His date giggled and asked, "Mr. Lester, what are you looking at?"

Liam glanced at the old scar on his wrist, the one he got protecting Audrey, and shoved her aside with a cold look. "Just thinking about a dead woman."