Chapter 1
When I woke up, everyone said I was incredibly lucky.
Surviving severe hypothermia in the high-altitude wilderness was nothing short of a miracle.
Edward stood off to the side, his eyes red-rimmed, his expression unreadable.
Last night, a single call from the girl he could never forget pulled him away.
He abandoned me on that icy mountain peak, left to freeze in the dead of winter.
The cold got so bad that I started seeing things and praying.
If I could survive this, I'd pay any price.
*****
When I finally woke up, everyone around me let out a breath of relief.
A few people were standing by my bedside.
One of them was Edward's younger sister, Emily Monroe.
Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying, and her gaze carried a mix of grievance and defiance.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you up there. I thought you were in Edward's car," Emily said.
I met her gaze with cold indifference.
She bit her lip.
Then she snapped, "And you're completely blameless?
"Why didn't you call us? Did you really think pulling something like this would make us feel guilty?"
Behind her, Edward's friend, Michael Johnson, reached out and tugged at her sleeve, frowning.
Emily fell silent mid-sentence. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she turned her face away, stubborn to the end.
Michael stepped forward and apologized.
"Grace, I should have realized you were still on the mountain. It was my fault," he said.
The two of them apologized in tandem, so neatly it felt rehearsed.
As if refusing them would somehow make me the unreasonable one.
It was almost laughable.
I forced a faint smile, but pain pulsed through every inch of me.
The oxygen mask pressed tight against my face as I finally looked past them to Edward.
His eyes were bloodshot, a shadow of stubble darkening his jaw.
He looked like he had not slept in days, worn down to the bone.
He lifted a hand, as if to touch my face, then hesitated.
His hand hung there, suspended in midair.
"Grace..." Edward called out.
His voice cracking with emotion.
"Thank God you're safe," he whispered.
His eyes were a mess of it.
Fear that had not quite faded, guilt close behind, and a flicker of panic he could not hide.
Beneath it all was something else, a lost, uncertain look, as if he had no idea how to face what had happened.
I could not find my voice. I turned my head away and closed my eyes, too tired to deal with any of it.
Emily let out a small, impatient huff. "We've already apologized, okay? Can't you just let it go?"
The doctor walked in at that moment.
He adjusted his glasses and ushered them all out of the room.
"It's a miracle she survived. She's still in critical condition, and with the oxygen mask on, she can't speak. Let her rest," he said firmly.
As the nurse changed my IV drip, she let out a soft sigh, something like wonder in her voice.
She said, "Mrs. Monroe, you were incredibly lucky. You spent the whole night up there at that altitude, in the cold.
"When the rescue team found you, you were barely breathing. Your body temperature was so low they couldn't even get a reading. The doctors said it's a miracle you made it.
"Oh, and Mr. Monroe hasn't left your side. He hasn't slept in days."
I closed my eyes, too drained to respond.
Everyone thought it was a miracle.
Only I knew better.
It was a deal.