Chapter 1
A man rushed at my fiancé, Jonathan Reed, with a blade at our engagement party.
I bolted forward without a second thought and took the stab for Jonathan.
No one expected the knife to carry HIV-positive blood on it.
Rumors that I might have caught HIV spread everywhere not long after.
Jonathan wasted no time calling off our engagement to the public.
He went public with his new girlfriend, Sophie Lane, a few days later.
It turned out she was the underprivileged student he'd funded for seven years.
While everyone was calling him heartless, Sophie, the girl he'd been sponsoring, came to see me.
She smiled shyly, but her words cut deep. "Emily, he never planned to marry you," she said. "He pulled me out of that remote town years ago. He paid for my schooling, found me a job, and let me live in his apartment.
"You thought he was sponsoring me, but he was simply keeping me by his side.
"I was the one who begged him through tears to arrange that attack.
"I told him he could finally be with me openly once you were out of the picture.
"I knew how gentle you were and how deeply you loved him. I knew you would shield him no matter what.
"Emily, please don't hate me. It's just HIV, and the condition won't end your life immediately. But going back to that backward town will ruin me for good."
Seeing the smug look in her eyes, I suddenly laughed.
She didn't know that I got treated in time and never caught the virus at all.
She also had no idea that multiple news cameras stood behind the half-open door behind me, streaming every single word she said live across every online platform.
*****
I moved before my mind could react when the knife darted straight for Jonathan. One single thought filled my mind in that moment. I couldn't let him get hurt.
He was Jonathan Reed, the leader of Reed Group, the man I had set my heart on marrying since I turned eighteen.
My family was one of the wealthiest around, having built our fortune in the jewelry business. As the only heiress, I grew up getting everything I ever wanted. Yet I set aside all my pride and humbled myself completely for Jonathan.
He was always calm and composed, dressed in perfectly tailored suits, with every strand of hair neatly groomed. In our social circle, he was the most sought-after bachelor in town.
Our engagement was a marriage arranged between our families, but I'd truly fallen for him, and I thought he felt the same way.
When the tip of the knife stabbed into my left shoulder, I heard myself let out a muffled groan.
Intense pain surged through my body like an electric current, spreading from my shoulder to every limb. My vision blurred and darkened, yet my mind stayed perfectly clear. I had blocked the attack, and he was unharmed.
But when I staggered and turned to look at him, what I saw wasn't concern or panic. It was a shock.
It was an unfamiliar look, full of judgment and cold hesitation.
"Jonathan..." I tried to speak, but my voice was so weak that I could barely hear myself.
The attacker was quickly pinned to the ground by the bodyguards. He was a man in a shabby suit, his face covered in stubble, his eyes wild with madness.
He struggled and laughed maniacally. "Jonathan, you messed with my woman. You're gonna pay for this. You had it coming."
I froze in confusion at his words.
Before I could gather my thoughts, the man roared another threat. "I have HIV. There's blood on that knife. You're finished. Every last one of you is finished."
My mind spun the second I processed the word "HIV."
The harsh truth crashed over me like a heavy hammer and left me completely stiff. Raw terror washed away every trace of pain from my wound.
My mind was a storm of thoughts, but the pain and dizziness from the blood loss left me unable to think straight.
I was rushed to the hospital, the sharp smell of disinfectant stinging my nose as cold instruments probed inside me.
The operating lights flickered on and off, and through the haze, I could hear the doctors talking in grave tones.
"The situation is complicated."
"The knife was contaminated with HIV-positive blood."
"We have to start post-exposure treatment immediately."
I wondered frantically if the man's threats had been true. The realization cut deep and sent a cold sting straight through my chest.
My eyes flew wide open. I reached out and grabbed the doctor's white coat tightly. "What did you say?"
The doctor sighed, avoiding my gaze. "Ms. Hart, we are still waiting for the final lab results. You need to prepare yourself mentally and start the blocking medication immediately. It's the most effective treatment we have right now."
The entire world felt like it was spinning out from under me in that moment.
Two days later, I had recovered a little. My parents finally let me check my phone. The whole internet was exploding with news about me contracting HIV.
Posts featured a pale photo of me lying in a hospital bed alongside a blurry, censored security footage still. The clip captured the exact moment I threw myself in front of Jonathan to take the stab.
Every headline grew more sensational and dramatic than the last.
The public narratives included [Wealthy Heiress Risks Everything for Love, Contracts HIV After Shielding Fiancé From Knife Attack at Engagement Party], [Misplaced Devotion? Reed Group CEO's Fiancée Risks Her Life for Relationship], and [Unknown Attacker Leaves Public Divided: Is Emily Hart a Hero or a Fool?].
The comment section was totally blown up.
[Oh, my, this is terrifying. This disease is no joke.]
[She really risked her life for a man? Is Emily out of her mind?]
[I bet she's only trying to get attention. She put on an enormous engagement party and now this incident comes out right after?]
[You always get what you ask for in the end. Mr. Reed has gotten incredibly unlucky to get tangled up in this.]
I scrolled through the comments with icy, numb fingertips.
The same people who once called me "brave" and "devoted" had transformed into cruel internet trolls. They used vicious words to shame me and drag my reputation through the mud.
They didn't care about the truth or any explanation. All they wanted was a target to attack and a fresh high society scandal to fuel their frustration and gossip.