Chapter 2

Two security guards marched me out of the banquet hall.

Behind me, Lucas and Vivian were soaking up all the praise and congratulations, wrapped up in a world of glory that couldn't have been further from my own humiliation.

I clutched the keys tightly and headed straight for that shabby apartment on the south side.

The second I stepped inside, a thick, suffocating smell of mold hit me square in the face, and large sections of paint were peeling right off the walls.

Lucas did this on purpose, I thought, a bitter, hollow smile tugging at my lips. He always was this petty.

A dull, throbbing ache flared in my chest again. I leaned against the wall for support and slowly slid down to the floor.

I pulled a pill bottle from my pocket, shook two pills into my palm, and swallowed them dry.

The drugs took effect slowly—far too slowly. The pain didn't ease for even a second.

My mind began to wander, and memories came flooding back before I could fight them off.

I thought back to the first time I met Lucas.

He'd been on campus, wearing a crisp white shirt, as pure and bright as the first snow of winter.

He'd stood on the steps, grinning at me with that warm, sunny smile. "Evelyn, if anyone ever gives you trouble, just let me know. I've got your back."

He'd been so bright, so radiant—he'd lit up my entire high school and college years. Gradually, we'd fallen deeply in love.

But he'd also been sick.

Back then, Lucas had found out he carried the same genetic illness that had taken his mother.

Doctors said he wouldn't live to see thirty.

From that day forward, the proud, bright Lucas I knew was gone. He became a stranger to himself.

He gave up on life entirely, drinking himself into a stupor night after night, street racing like he had nothing to lose, determined to burn through whatever time he had left as fast as possible.

Lucas' father Richard had worried himself sick, his hair turning gray with stress. He begged me, "Evelyn, please... I need your help. You're the only one who can save Lucas."

"Marry me. Please, just marry me," he pleaded.

I shook my head, flustered and heartbroken. "I love Lucas, not you. I can't do this."

Richard looked utterly torn. After a long, heavy silence, he finally spoke. "If you truly love him, then make him hate you.

"Make him fight tooth and nail to take Ford Corporation from you.

"Only that kind of burning hatred can reignite his will to live—especially when it comes from losing the woman he once loved more than anything."

I stared at Richard, his eyes red and bloodshot from grief, and thought of the same fatal diagnosis hidden in my own desk drawer.

We were both living on borrowed time.

If my destruction could let Lucas truly live... then it would all be worth it.

I nodded.

Knock, knock.

A sudden, sharp knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts.

I forced myself to stand, every muscle in my body screaming in pain, and opened the door. Vivian stood outside, looking down at me with a cold, superior stare.

She was dressed in an elegant tailor-made suit, polished and perfect, completely out of place in this shabby, run-down apartment.

She glanced around the room, pressing a handkerchief to her nose in obvious disgust. "Evelyn, you actually live in a dump like this? It smells like a sewer in here."

She stepped inside haughtily, her posture stiff with disdain.

"I just stopped by to see if you need anything. Lucas might act all cold and tough, but he's still a softie deep down. He's actually worried about you," she purred.

As she spoke, she tossed a bag carelessly onto the floor.

"Here. These are just some old clothes I don't wear anymore. They'll have to do for now," she said, her tone dripping with contempt.

Her eyes flicked to the pill bottle on the table—the one I'd just taken medicine from.

She sauntered over and picked it up.

"What's this?" she asked.

My heart dropped. I lunged forward to snatch it back. "Give that back!"

Vivian dodged me effortlessly, holding the bottle up to the light to read the label.

"Herceptin? What's that even for?"

She turned back to me, her smile sweet on the surface but venomous underneath.

"Evelyn... is this for your heart? Are you dying or something?" she sneered.

She let go of the bottle, and it crashed straight down onto the concrete floor.

A sharp, piercing crack echoed through the room as it shattered into pieces.

White pills scattered across the ground, mixed in with jagged shards of glass.

My life-saving medication—gone, just like that.

Vivian feigned a look of exaggerated shock, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oopsie. Sorry, my hand just slipped."