Chapter 1

When I was eighteen, I broke something that belonged to my stepsister Lily Johnson's late father, and my dad and brother threw me out of the house.

They exiled me to some backwater village in the middle of nowhere and told me I needed to atone for what I'd done to Lily.

Later, I got sick—so sick I was dying.

I desperately needed to get back to Calkins for emergency surgery, but they still wouldn't let me come home.

Because Lily was about to marry my ex-fiancé, Edward Foster.

"As long as you're not dead yet, just tough it out. There's no reason for you to come back to Calkins for treatment," my brother said.

"Lily's getting married to Edward any day now, and if you come back, you're obviously just trying to ruin things for her," my father added.

"Stay in that village where you belong. If you actually die, we'll come collect your body then."

They were convinced that Edward had always been in love with me, not Lily.

They believed that if I came back, he'd abandon Lily and choose me instead.

So, for the sake of Lily's happiness, they decided I should just stay there and die.

But I wanted to live, so I had no choice; I called Edward.

"Everyone says you're actually in love with me, so can you come to Willowdale and save me?"

I later heard that when he received my call, he was in the middle of his wedding ceremony.

Edward walked out on everyone at that wedding because of my phone call.

He chartered a private plane that same night and flew straight to me.

*****

This was my third year exiled to the countryside, alone, atoning for Lily's sins.

I thought I'd grown strong enough by now that my father, Wesley, and my brother, Charles, playing favorites with Lily wouldn't hurt anymore.

But when I lay dying in that rundown rural clinic, desperately needing surgery back in Calkins, and Charles flat-out refused to help me, the tears came anyway.

His mocking voice kept going on the other end of the line.

"Rachel, you're not even sick," Charles said. "You've been trying to hurt Lily since we were kids. This is just another one of your acts because you can't stand seeing her happy."

He wasn't done. "Why now, huh? You're fine all this time, but the second Edward's about to marry Lily, suddenly you're sick?

"Lily's loved Edward for years," he continued. "She's finally getting to marry him, and here you are trying to ruin it.

"Don't think I'll go soft just because you say you're dying," Charles said coldly. "Even if you actually drop dead, I'll wait until after Lily and Edward's wedding to come deal with your body."

I lay there on that cold clinic bed, weak and shaking, my whole body numb with despair. But I couldn't stop myself from begging him one more time.

"Charles, I'm not lying to you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

I continued, "I'm really sick. Please, just let them give me my ID so I can buy a ticket back to Calkins for the surgery. They said only Dr. Nelson Leonard in Calkins has enough experience to do this operation."

My voice broke as I kept going. "I can't wait anymore. If you don't believe me, I'll have my doctor talk to you."

I handed my phone to Oliver Carter, the clinic doctor, and begged him to back me up.

Oliver confirmed I wasn't lying and explained that my condition was severe and dangerous, and I needed surgery immediately.

But Charles remained unmoved. "It's just a surgery. What's a few more days? You can wait until they're officially married, then they'll give you your ID back and you can come home."

Oliver's anger flared when he heard that. "I told you this is an emergency! She needs surgery now. Do you not understand that? Are you even Rachel's brother? Wait a few more days? In a few days, your sister will be in an urn, and you're telling her to wait."

Charles let out a cold laugh on the other end. "You're just some small-time doctor with a big mouth. Do you know who I am?"

He continued, "How much did my sister pay you to go along with this little performance? You should know that crossing me means you won't have a medical career left. Tell Rachel that if she keeps pulling these suicide stunts, she can forget about ever coming home."

A chill swept through my body, and tears streamed down my face.

Charles still didn't believe me—even now.

My voice came out hoarse and broken. "Charles, what will it take for you to believe me? Do I actually have to die and be buried six feet under before you'll believe me?"

Maybe my voice sounded too desperate, too broken, because Charles went quiet for a long moment, like my words had finally gotten through to him.

Hope flickered in my chest. Was Charles finally going to believe me?

But then I heard Wesley's voice in the background, along with my stepmother Celine's.

Wesley asked, "Who's calling?"

Charles answered, "It's Rachel. She's saying she's dying and needs to come back to Calkins for emergency surgery."

Celine gasped and said, "What kind of illness is so serious that you need to rush back to Calkins for surgery right away? Wesley, you need to send a car to bring Rachel home immediately so she can get the operation."

Celine sounded so concerned, but Wesley hesitated.

He said, "You're just as soft-hearted as Lily, and you fell for whatever lie Rachel made up. That girl has been healthy as a horse since she was little. She barely even catches colds, let alone gets sick enough to need surgery."

He continued, "I think she just heard that Lily's getting married and wants to cause trouble. Edward's so crazy about Rachel, and if he finds out she's back, what chance does Lily have?"

His voice turned hard and serious. "Charles, I'm telling you this right now in front of Celine—even though Lily isn't your biological sister, she's still a daughter of the Johnson family, and that makes her your sister too.

"Don't you dare play favorites, and if I find out you went behind my back and brought Rachel back to Calkins, I'll break your legs."

When Charles heard that, the last bit of hesitation in his heart vanished completely. "Fine, I get it. I absolutely won't let Rachel come back and ruin Lily and Edward's wedding."

The call ended with a cold, merciless click.

I stared at the darkened phone screen, and I couldn't hold it back anymore—I coughed up blood.

My dad and my brother didn't want me anymore.

They used to spoil me and love me so much.

But now all that love and affection went to another woman instead.

Was this really how it was going to end for me? Was I really going to die here because I couldn't get surgery in time?

No. Absolutely not.