Chapter 1

I spent five years trying to "fix" Lucas Sterling. In the original story, he was the devoted second male lead who died a tragic death for the heroine, Nina Hughes.

But when Nina was in danger again, Lucas threw himself in harm's way without a second thought.

He stopped fighting back, letting his enemies stab him over and over, just to protect her.

By the time I got there, he was kneeling in a pool of blood, his hands shaking as he wiped away Nina's tears.

He soothed the frightened Nina gently, saying, "Don't cry. It's okay. It doesn't hurt at all."

Watching them, one'd never guess that just yesterday, this same man was whining to me about a tiny scratch on his finger. "Sweetheart, it hurts."

I was naive enough to think that meant I was special to him.

But now, I finally got it; the devoted supporting character was always meant for the heroine.

Dying a tragic death for her was the ending he willingly chose.

Five years of my life wasted, this time, I was really done.

*****

Across the trashed warehouse, the man snickered and spoke up again.

"Three more stabs. Do it yourself, and we'll let her go," he said.

Lucas glanced down at Nina, trembling in his arms. He swallowed hard, his voice hoarse as he replied, "Okay."

I stood behind them, watching the scene unfold, my nails digging into my palms, but my feet felt glued to the floor. I just couldn't make myself move.

Lucas picked up the blood-stained knife from the ground and gently shielded Nina's eyes with his hand. He said, "Nina, close your eyes. Don't look."

He lifted the knife, ready to stab himself, not hesitating for a second.

Seeing that, it felt like something was squeezing my heart so tight I could barely breathe.

Finally, just as the blade was about to come down, I forced myself to call out, my voice trembling, "Wait."

Everyone's attention instantly shifted to me.

Lucas turned at the sound of my voice, his pupils contracting sharply when he saw me.

His lips parted, as if he wanted to say something, but a harsh cough wracked his body instead.

I ignored his look on purpose, walked straight past him, and handed the suitcase to the kidnapper. I said, "The money's here. I'm taking him with me."

The leader of the kidnappers grinned as he took the suitcase, then leaned in, his breath hot against my ear. He said, "We'll take the money, but with a pretty face like yours, how about you stick around and keep us company?"

His hand reached for me, and I instinctively stepped back.

But I stumbled into a pole behind me, and the massive thing, about 20 feet tall, came crashing down with a thunderous noise.

The pole slammed down, landing right between Nina and me.

Lucas didn't even think; he threw himself over Nina, his back to the falling pole. He said, "Nina, look out."

The pole crashed down just an inch from my feet, kicking up dust that got my dress all dirty.

My heart nearly stopped.

Watching them cling to each other, all I could hear was a ringing in my ears; everything else faded away.

"Drop your weapons," someone called out. My people finally burst in, swarming the place and taking down the kidnappers.

Only then did I manage to claw back what little sanity I had left.

I took a deep breath, lifted the fallen pole off the ground, and walked over to the two of them, still wrapped up in each other.

Nina looked up from Lucas's arms, her eyes brimming with tears. She said, "Thank you for saving Lucas and me."

I didn't answer her. I just looked at Lucas in silence.

He quickly pulled away from Nina, glancing at me in a panic.

"I," he said, but nothing more came out.

"The ambulance is here," I said calmly, cutting him off.

Lucas only agreed to head to the hospital after Nina's private driver arrived to pick her up.

On the ambulance, he carefully tugged at my dress, his voice soft and whiny. He said, "Baby, my arm hurts so much."

As soon as Nina was gone, Lucas instantly switched back to his usual clingy, needy self with me.

Normally, my heart would ache so much I could barely breathe, but now, I just found it almost funny.

It hurt? Funny, he sure didn't say that when he was busy comforting Nina.

I glanced down at my dress, noticing the red smears of blood where his hand had brushed against it.

After a long silence, I brushed his hand off and said quietly, "You're getting blood all over me."

He froze for a moment, then got a little flustered. He said, "Baby, I bled so much today."

I answered coolly, "Yeah, I noticed."

He held his breath, staring at me for ages. When he saw I wasn't going to budge, he finally turned away and went quiet.

He was sulking again, obviously.

But this time, I didn't baby him like I always did.

I was more awake than I'd ever been.

He had been guarding Nina ever since he was just eight years old.

Covered in scars from knives and bullets, there was no way a guy like that could ever be called fragile.

But this same guy was always playing the helpless card with me, had me fooled into thinking I actually meant something to him.

But now? I dropped my eyes, hiding the look in them.

I felt something wet on my fingertips.

Looking down, I saw blood seeping from a cut; it must have happened when the pole fell.

Lucas still hadn't noticed, even now.

We didn't say another word the whole ride.