I paid Curtis Robinett 200 thousand dollars a month to be a standby blood donor.

My fiancée, Eden May, thought it was a waste of money. So she reassigned him to work part-time as her personal assistant instead.

When Curtis accidentally submitted my marriage license appointment as a divorce filing for the 99th time, I kicked open Eden's office door.

She didn't even look up.

"We're in no rush to get married anyway," she said calmly. "Curtis is just careless. That's how he's always been."

Later, in the emergency room, I called Eden while doctors rushed around me, my throat shredded from yelling.

"Where's my emergency medical kit?" I rasped. "What did you do with it?"

Curtis answered instead, his voice warm and smug.

"You mean the expensive leather bag you kept in the cabinet? I swapped it out for a large party snack box. It holds everything just fine, and honestly, it looks a lot more cheerful.

"Ms. May's brother and sister-in-law are both career soldiers. Your bag didn't really match that image, so I thought this would be more appropriate."

My vision dimmed. My hands shook as I told Curtis to come donate blood.

Eden laughed softly and cut in, "Stop pretending you're anemic just to get attention. If you're actually sick, deal with it. You're at the hospital; I think the doctors are fully capable of keeping you alive. Curtis is afraid of needles. He's not coming."

Then, she hung up.

She didn't appear until the surgical lights finally went dark.

"Curtis had me bring you chocolate milk," she said. "It's good for recovery. It's not that he didn't want to help. He just faints at the sight of blood."

She placed a settlement waiver on my bed.

"I was the one who told him not to come. That 200-thousand-dollar monthly salary is his pay as my assistant. It has nothing to do with you. You didn't have to call the police for that. Sign this, and I'll go get the marriage license with you."

I thought of what I had just seen in the operating room.

Eden's brother, Harvey May, was bleeding out on the operating table, waiting for a lifesaving drug that never came. In the final moments of surgery, he could do nothing but lie there and die.

I looked at her and said evenly, "You're the immediate family. It's not my place to sign that."

"Matthew, that's enough. You're obviously fine. Who are you putting on this show for? So you suffered a little. Did you really have to drag Curtis into this, like you wanted him dead?"

Seeing how pale I was, Eden May sighed. She casually opened a bottle of chocolate milk and handed it to me.

"Be good and sign it. We're family. There's no need to make this ugly. Harvey and Laurel care a lot about their image. Don't make this hard on me."

"Ms. May, please don't argue because of me. Mr. Stone just couldn't wait anymore, so he pretended to be sick to force the marriage."

Curtis Robinett peeked out from behind her and turned to me.

"That bag… It was at the very bottom of the closet in your room. I never saw you use it, so I thought you didn't want it anymore. I was trying to protect the Mays' reputation, so I donated it. Where I come from, men tough things out even if they're not feeling great. I had no idea you would prepare an emergency kit over something this minor. If I had known you'd fight with Ms. May over it, I wouldn't have touched it, I swear…"

I didn't even have time to ask why he had the keys to the house I shared with Eden.

I wasn't the one who needed blood.

It was Eden's brother, Harvey May, who spent years overseas on classified missions. That emergency kit held the drug that kept him alive, along with his medical records and contingency plan.

I let out a sigh and handed Eden Harvey's death notice.

The moment I raised my hand, Curtis suddenly screamed and fell backward. His phone broke with a loud crack.

He burst into tears.

"Mr. Stone, if you don't want to sign, then don't! You can hit me if you want to…"

He pointed at the shattered phone on the floor, his voice trembling.

"But that phone…had my mom's last voice message before she passed. That was the only thing I had left of her in this world…"

Eden shoved me aside and rushed to help him up.

When she looked back at me, her eyes were cold as ice.

"Heh. No wonder you grew up without parents. Guess it's karma. Now, you want to copy my brother and pretend you're anemic, too? And you keep insisting Curtis should be your personal blood bank! Do you really think you deserve that? You should be on your knees thanking Curtis. If he weren't so softhearted, you would've ruined yourself a long time ago."

She held my gaze, every word measured and cutting.

"Matthew, losing your parents wasn't some accident. It was your fault."

My blood turned ice-cold. She ripped open every scar I had, right there in front of everyone.

If only she knew that the one lying on that operating table was her brother, Harvey.

If Eden had known her brother had died because of her, I bet she wouldn't have said such cruel things to me.

I looked at the waiver she held out. When I spoke, my throat felt dry.

"I don't have the right to sign that. You should at least look first. See who the patient actually was."

Harvey's name was on the paper, in black and white.

However, Eden's attention was fixed entirely on Curtis. She didn't even bother to lower her gaze.

Her temper flared.

"You're just trying to threaten me into marrying you! Why should I look at it? If my signature mattered, would I be here begging you?"

"It matters," I said.

Something seemed to click for her. She stood up and gave a short, mocking laugh before taking the pen.

"You're impressive. Using Curtis's waiver to force me into marrying you. Fine. I'll sign."

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to let her. I reached out and stopped her hand.

"Eden, you'll regret this."

She stared at me with pure disgust.

"The thing I regret most is saving you eight years ago."

That look was painfully familiar.

Back then, my mother was driven to jump from a building by my father's mistress. My father later kicked me out of the house.

Fifteen-year-old Eden had lunged at him like a feral cub, scratching at his face without a second thought.

She spat blood onto the ground as she hissed at him, "You ruined your own family for your mistress! You don't deserve to be a dad. You don't even deserve to be human!"

Under the sunset, she reached out to me.

"Don't be scared. From now on, I'll be your family."

And now, the one she shielded with her body had become another man.

Her figure slowly overlapped with the image of my violent father. The last bit of warmth in my chest went out.

I knew it was over.

I slowly released the pen, my voice so calm that it was frightening.

"Before you sign, go take a look in the operating room. See if I really made a big deal out of nothing."

Eden gave me a puzzled look. She was about to step forward when Curtis let out a muffled groan behind her.

She spun around and saw how pale he was.

"Ms. May… You should go inside," he said softly. "Mr. Stone just wants to spend more time with you. I'm fine."

He forced a weak smile.

"Back when I was helping out on ranch land, I got bitten by wild dogs, too. I just rinsed it with water and kept going."

He suddenly waved his hands in a panic.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't equating Mr. Stone to a dog…"

Eden's eyes instantly filled with sympathy.

She turned on me, her voice sharp.

"So this is your plan? Stage a scene in the ER, make it look tragic, and hope I'll feel guilty? Guilt isn't love. I don't care what you went through in there. I care about the outcome. Look at you! You're standing here just fine. You're even in the mood to drag Curtis through the mud."

She pulled Curtis into her arms and signed the waiver in one clean motion.

"Don't be scared."

She shoved the document into Curtis's hands, her favoritism completely undisguised.

"Whatever you do, I'll support you."

She took Curtis by the hand. As they passed me, her gaze flicked over my phone screen, still lit.

It showed my final chat with Harvey.

She paused, then sneered, "I just agreed to marry you, and you already ran to my brother to back you up?"

Before I could answer, she spoke again, her tone almost charitable, "Fine. Since Harvey's so fond of you, I'll go through with it. I'll marry you. You've been trailing after me for years. I'll give you the title and ceremony you so desperately want."

I looked straight at her and said evenly, "No, Eden. We're done."

She raised a brow, as if she had heard a joke. "Whatever."

Then she walked away, holding Curtis's hand, without a second glance.

I was left alone in the hospital to handle Harvey's aftermath. The mortician I had scheduled still hadn't arrived.

Then, my phone rang.

It was Eden.

"Didn't you say you wanted to break up? It's barely been a minute, and you're already scheduling a makeup artist for engagement photos? A grown man getting his face done just for a wedding? You must really care about me."

I hadn't even processed her words yet when she continued to speak.

"Don't bother waiting. The makeup artist you booked? Curtis borrowed them. You were just playing the frail patient, and now you're worrying about how you look. That's pathetic! Curtis isn't like you. You destroyed the last thing he cherished in this world, and he's still worried about you."

On the other end of the line, Curtis's gentle voice came in right on cue.

"Ms. May arranged a private jet to bring over the sheepdog I'd raised since childhood. The timing's perfect, really. Back home, it's tradition for a sheepdog to help drive bad luck away from the sick."

My heart clenched as I asked, trembling, "How does it drive it away?"

"Simple," Curtis answered calmly. "The sacred dog eats the part where you're sick. That way, your body can grow fresh blood and flesh."

I froze as my throat felt crushed shut. I couldn't force out a single word.

Eden paused, then added with a sneer, "What? Too touched to speak? The makeup artist is prepping the dog right now. Curtis never bothers with things like that, but he's taken steps to make the ritual feel extra special."

"I won't let you do this!" I shouted. "I'm not sick! It's actually your…"

"I knew you'd hesitate," Eden cut me off, cold and impatient. "That's why I made sure you wouldn't have time to stop it. The ritual is starting soon."

I bolted for the door, panic ripping through me, but the guards outside raised their arms and blocked me without expression.

The next second, a massive black dog, nearly as tall as a man, lunged straight at me.

Blood sprayed. Pain tore through my body, making me shake uncontrollably.

"Eden… You'll regret this…"

When she heard the desperation in my voice, her tone softened a little.

"Stop resisting. I'll give you 10% of the company, okay?"

I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted blood. I would rather be torn apart than spend even one more second with people like this.

I took a slow breath. When I spoke again, my voice was frighteningly calm.

"Fine."

This was the second time Eden transferred shares to me.

The first time was after Curtis messed up the marriage appointment for the 98th time and booked a divorce instead.

I lost it and kicked the door open.

"Ms. May, are you so desperate to keep your personal assistant around?" Curtis had stood off to the side, eyes wet. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stone. Where I come from, love is blessed by the gods. We don't need cold paperwork. Marriage isn't meant to be a cage."

That was the first time Eden slapped me in public.

"When your heart's rotten, you think the worst of everyone. Curtis is pure and kind. He's nothing like you, someone who plots behind people's backs!"

She had forgotten something.

Without me, her company would never have been what it was today. Because she said she loved freedom, I gave up my dream of art and buried myself in dull finance work.

I quietly tapped "Accept" on the stock transfer email.

My phone rang. It was HR.

"Mr. Stone, your resignation has been fully processed."

"Alright," I replied.

Everything I gave up before, it was time to take it back myself.

The next second, Curtis's social post popped up on my screen.

In the photo, Eden was curled against his chest, smiling as she hugged a sheepdog with blood still smeared at the corner of its mouth.

The caption read:

[Mr. Stone probably stashed plenty of food in his hospital room. After the dog did the cleansing ritual, it stayed there for quite a while. This time, whatever was wrong with him should be completely taken care of. I wonder how he'll thank me later?]

Pain stabbed straight through my chest.

I staggered toward the hospital room.

Harvey's body…was gone.

I clenched my fists until my hands shook. I only hoped that when she finally learned the truth, she wouldn't regret it.

That night, I prepared the farewell venue to say a proper goodbye.

The next morning, I pushed the door open and froze.

The floor was soaked in red. Every white flower had been splashed with glaring crimson.

"Perfect timing, Mr. Stone," Curtis said, gently stroking the belly of the sheepdog. "The sacred dog finished cleansing the bad spirit yesterday, and today, we found out she's pregnant."

Smiling, he pulled me toward the main seat.

"Come sit. I’m so excited. Maybe the puppy inside her belly is the reincarnation of half the dark spirit that was in you."

I clenched my fists so tightly that they trembled.

Harvey was a decorated soldier. He didn't deserve this kind of desecration.

I looked at Eden, whose gaze never left Curtis.

I finally snapped. I grabbed her collar and forced her to face the memorial stand.

"Open your eyes and look. I wasn't throwing a tantrum. Your brother was the one who suffered a relapse! He's dead now because of your assistant!"