Chapter 1

At our ten-year class reunion, I had just returned from working overseas when I saw my childhood sweethearts again, Ethan Jenkins and Julian Lynch.

One was cool and composed, the other warm and charming.

The moment they walked in, a wave of gasps swept through the crowd, yet both of their eyes found me and stayed there.

A nosy classmate couldn't resist teasing, "Zoe, which one are you going to marry?"

I gave a faint smile, lifted my hand to show the diamond ring on my finger, and said, "Neither. I'm already married."

With that, I turned and stepped into the waiting luxury car, unaware of the two men behind me, their eyes burning red as they watched me leave.

*****

When Zoe had a heart attack after the car accident, her childhood friends Ethan and Julian were tending to Emily Scott, who had only suffered a minor scrape.

"Help me..." Zoe gasped, her voice barely audible.

She collapsed by the roadside, her lips turning blue, her breathing shallow and rapid, as if she could pass out at any moment.

Ethan said, "Emily, look at your hand. It's all scraped up. I can't stand seeing you hurt like this.

"You can't get this wound wet for three days. Maybe I should get you a caretaker, so someone can look after you when Julian and I aren't around."

Zoe watched as Ethan and Julian bandaged Emily's wound. She reached out to them, her hand trembling, but they didn't notice.

"Medicine, h-help me," Zoe whispered.

But they didn't hear her at all, as if they'd forgotten she was there.

"Emily, did you get hurt anywhere else?" Julian asked.

"Yeah, let's make sure we didn't miss anything," Ethan chimed in.

Zoe was hit by a wave of panic that she had never felt before, a suffocating sense of doom. Her hands shook as she fumbled for her pocket, and after several desperate attempts, her fingers finally found a small bottle.

She pulled it out, hands trembling so badly that half the pills spilled onto the ground. Somehow, she managed to gather six in her palm and forced herself to swallow them dry, bitter and all.

With the last of her strength gone, Zoe slumped to the ground. She watched the three of them joking around like nothing had happened, and the pain in her heart stabbed deeper.

She'd clawed her way back from the brink, but Ethan and Julian didn't bother to look her way.

Zoe couldn't help but wonder when everything started to change.

Maybe it was when a fourth wheel crashed into their little world.

Zoe had a heart condition ever since she was little, so her parents sent her off to live with her aunt in the comfortable city of Yanam when she was four, hoping she'd get better there.

That's when she met her neighbors, Ethan and Julian.

From the moment they laid eyes on her, they were hooked. They swore up and down they'd be her knights, and stuck to her like glue, fussing over her every little thing.

Besides showering her with gifts and walking her to school every day, they were so overprotective that they wouldn't let any other boys get near her, acting all bossy.

As they grew up, Ethan started working at his family's hospital, and Julian landed a job as a pilot. Even though their careers kept them busy, it never changed how close the three of them were.

Ethan and Julian even bought a villa so Zoe could live with them, and they did everything for her and banned her from the kitchen.

Back then, they didn't understand love, but now they wore their feelings for Zoe on their sleeves.

To win her over, the two of them would turn every day into a battle for her attention, always trying to outdo each other and forcing her to choose between them.

Thanks to those two, even when Zoe's health was stable, she never moved back in with her parents.

But about a month ago, everything turned upside down.

Emily was Zoe's assistant.

When Emily first started at the company, she was so timid and out of place that she couldn't connect with anyone. Even at lunch, she'd shrink into a corner, munching on her bread.

Zoe noticed her and looked up her resume, only to learn that Emily had grown up poor, working her fingers to the bone to make it to college and finally making it out of there.

Zoe had always lived a life of privilege. Aside from her health, she'd never known hardship. Hearing Emily's story, she couldn't help but want to lend a hand, so she started buying her an extra meal every day, shared her good stuff with her.

She even helped her fit in with the upper-crust crowd, and introduced her to Ethan and Julian, the two guys who'd always been by Zoe's side.

After that, whenever Ethan, Julian, and Emily did stuff, they stopped including Zoe.

Ethan was the chill type, but whenever something involved Emily, he'd get all flustered.

Julian was all about chasing thrills, but if Emily said a couple of words, he'd give up what he loved in a snap.

Today, the four of them were supposed to go on a trip together, but the car skidded and crashed. Right after the accident, the first thing out of their mouths was asking if Emily was okay.

Even now, they still hadn't given Zoe a single thought.

Stuff like this had happened over and over again in the past month.

Zoe used to be the center of their world, but now she wasn't even close.

Silent tears slid down her face as she looked away, wiped her eyes, and pushed herself up off the ground.

"Ethan, Julian, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me," Emily said.

Emily glanced past them at the battered Zoe, her big eyes blinking. "But looks like Zoe is hurt as well. Maybe you should check on her," she added.

"Zoe's always been so fragile. If she were hurt, she would've cried out already," Ethan said.

His expression stayed serious, all his concern focused on Emily. "You should pay more attention to yourself for once," he continued.

"Exactly, Emily. Stop worrying about everyone else. What could happen to Zoe? You're the one bleeding here," Julian added.

Their words landed on Zoe's heart like a sledgehammer.

Her whole body shook with pain, and though rage burned in her chest, all she could manage was a dry, bitter laugh.

They used to call her a broken-winged angel. Now, all she was to them was the fragile girl.

Sure, she was delicate. If she hadn't happened to have her meds on her, she'd probably be dead before they bothered to look her way.

Emily shook her head seriously and said, "Ethan, Julian, that's not right. Zoe's going to be hurt."