Chapter 1
"Ms. Arlette, you've successfully arranged the fake death service. We'll be crafting a new identity for you, alongside an authentic-looking replica."
"Please make sure to settle the remaining payment within the next week."
After finishing the paperwork, Arlette Myers awkwardly maneuvered on her injured leg and hurried as best as she could towards the pharmacy. Inside, she instinctively dodged the curious glances of the staff, quickly heading to the shelf to pick up the medication Maximo had specifically instructed her to buy. She couldn't afford to let the Myers family suspect anything was awry. The fake death plan was her only chance of escape; if it were exposed, she’d be trapped.
"I think that's Arlette Myers," one of the staff members recognized her.
"Arlette? The art department's shining star? What happened to her?"
"Darn, recently out of prison. Maximo had her expelled from college and blacklisted throughout the industry. Who knows, she might be scraping by now."
"How could that be? Didn't Maximo propose to her in front of the whole world three years ago?"
Arlette, dragging her injured right leg, kept her head down as she approached the cashier. The medication box in her hand was crumpled from her grip.
"Hi, I'd like to pay," she said softly.
The cashier smirked, scanning the barcode on the box while exchanging gossip with a colleague, "She was nearly the CEO’s wife. Who’d have thought she'd be envious enough of the kid sister to order an assault on Maximo’s sister?"
"In the end, his sister attempted suicide and miscarried."
"Maximo personally terminated their pregnancy and sent her to jail."
The cashier handed over the medication with a disdainful look. "The mother brought so much trouble, killed her own child, and ended up disgraced with nothing."
"You get what you deserve!"
Arlette’s hand shook violently as she accepted the paper bag. The word "child" pierced her already shattered heart like a poisoned dart. Three years ago, just before the wedding, she'd found out she was pregnant and thought she had a double blessing. Yet, before she could even feel the baby move, Maximo had forced her into an abortion, all because of a suicide note left by his adopted sister, Winnie Hughes.
Falsely charged, she endured abuse in prison that left her with a broken leg and a missing kidney. Upon release, she faced the devastating news of her parents' deaths and was then forced by Maximo to stay with Winnie as a penance for her supposed sins.
Once the most talented student in the art department, Arlette's legs were meant to grace a stage but had now forever lost the ability to dance. She lost her child, her parents, her education, and her career due to a doomed relationship.
But she wouldn’t give up. She was determined to survive! She would live courageously and brightly for her parents' wishes.
Outside, a relentless rain poured down, the cold gnawing at her bones. Holding onto hope from the fake death contract, Arlette clutched the bag of medication close to her chest and dashed into the rain, heading towards the old Myers estate.
Upon arrival, she sensed something was wrong. Garrett Patterson, the family butler, appeared apprehensive but turned furious upon seeing her. Arlette, drenched to the skin, clung to the bag of allergy medication.
She knew Winnie Hughes must have stirred up trouble yet again.
"It seems three years in prison didn’t teach you anything," Maximo descended the stairs.
"I once let you into our lives, and you destroyed Winnie’s. She can never be a mother now! Yet she doesn’t blame my neglect and even donated a kidney to me."
"She's become so fragile."
"An allergy attack could be fatal."
He glared at her, his voice filled with anger and disappointment. "I truly regret ever loving a woman with such a malicious heart!"
Arlette’s body trembled uncontrollably, her heart frozen as if plunged into icy water. After her imprisonment, Winnie had forcibly taken her kidney but told Maximo that it was a gift from her.
The one who could never be a mother again was her. She was the one who had donated a kidney to him.