Chapter 2

When my mother, Diana, died, she left me nearly sixty percent of the Johnson family, but I couldn't inherit it until I turned twenty-two.

During these years of exile in the countryside, forced to fend for myself, I never let my guard down for a single moment.

Due to Lily's sabotage, I missed the SAT, so I had to take the adult education route and earned my associate's degree online.

Wesley and Charles gave strict orders to the people watching me—they confiscated my ID. They made it crystal clear that I wasn't allowed to leave the countryside, not even for a day.

But that didn't stop me.

If I couldn't go to classes in person, I'd take them online. I taught myself finance and business management by working through both programs independently.

When I defended my thesis online, every professor told me I was the best student they'd seen in years. They even recommended me for a bachelor's program at a top university.

Everything was finally moving in the right direction.

And in just one month, I'd turn twenty-two.

Soon, I'd have the power to protect myself and everything my mother left behind.

I couldn't let myself die like this—not when I was this close.

o. I had to save myself.

*****

Over the next few days, I called every hospital I could think of and begged them to take my case.

But as soon as they heard my diagnosis, they all said the same thing—there was nothing they could do.

"Ms. Johnson, your condition is extremely complicated," one doctor told me over the phone. "If you want to survive, you need to go to Calkins and see Dr. Leonard."

Another doctor was even more direct. "The only successful surgery for this condition in the entire country was performed by Dr. Leonard. You need to get to Calkins as soon as possible, or even he won't be able to save you."

I tried calling Nelson directly. If Charles and Wesley were to block me from going to Calkins, then I could convince Nelson to come here and perform the surgery instead.

But he shut that idea down immediately.

"Ms. Johnson, this surgery can only be performed at Calkins National Medical Center," he explained. "We have the only precision surgical cutting instrument in the country. It's your only chance at survival."

He paused, and I could hear the urgency in his voice. "You need to get here as soon as possible. The moment you arrive, I'll schedule your surgery."

However, I couldn't reach Calkins.

Charles had confiscated my every document. And to ensure I stayed put, they had hired a driver and his wife to watch me around the clock.

The worst part? Lily and Celine had already gotten to them.

The day I collapsed after coughing up blood, I drifted in and out of consciousness and overheard Charles on the phone with the driver, Bill.

"Is my sister really sick?" Charles asked.

Bill was munching on sunflower seeds, completely casual. "Nah, she is perfectly fine. She went out yesterday and sang karaoke with a bunch of kids until midnight."

The only person who cared about me was Oliver. "You can't keep putting this off. Look at your oxygen levels. They're barely hanging on. Can't you try asking your dad and brother one more time?"

I shook my head with a bitter smile. "I already did. They don't believe me, and they blocked me."

Oliver glanced down at my phone. All my messages showed a single gray tick, the telltale sign of being blocked.

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "How can anyone choose a stepdaughter over their own daughter and sister? What kind of people are they?"

Tears spilled down my cheeks as despair washed over me.

That was precisely what I wanted to know—how could my own father and brother do this to me? They were supposed to protect me, but instead, they were letting me die for someone else.

I stared at the IV tube in my hand and felt my life slipping away, slow and inevitable.

Then Oliver spoke up again. "Wait, what about Edward? Why don't you ask him for help? Everyone says you're the one he actually loves, right? You're dying and he can't even help you out?"

He was right. I could ask Edward.

But Edward didn't love me. He never had.

Our engagement was arranged by our mothers when we were kids—a promise made before my mother passed away.

From the moment I found out he was my fiancé, I fell for him hard and fast.

But he never felt the same way. No matter how desperately I chased after him, no matter how many times I threw myself at him, he never cared.

And when my family exiled me, and I went to him begging for help, I heard him say he'd been in love with someone else all along.

The idea that he'd leave Lily for me now? I'd have to be dead before I believed that.

My face went pale, and I shook my head. "It won't work. The truth is, he doesn't even like me."

Oliver sounded exasperated. "Then make him explain it to Charles! Does he even know that because of him, your idiot brother is basically killing you?"

He was right.

If Edward would just explain things clearly, Charles would let me go back to Calkins for treatment.

Clinging to that last shred of hope, I grabbed my phone and dialed the number I hadn't called in three years.