Several hours later, my mother was wheeled into the ICU.

"Ma'am, the surgery was a success, but your mother hasn't regained consciousness yet. She'll need to stay in the ICU for observation for a week."

The doctor's words nearly buckled my knees. I stood on the other side of the glass, staring at my mother's body threaded with tubes, my palm pressed flat against the cold surface. Only then did I let myself breathe.

She was all I had left. And thank God, luck hadn't abandoned her entirely. She was still here.

I was about to go into the ICU to see her when Mabel's syrupy voice slithered into my ears.

"Oh, Amber, we saw Auntie collapse at the funeral, so we came to check on her."

She stood in front of me, eyes glittering with provocation, every syllable dripping contempt.

Behind her stood my brother, Max Fox, and Guy.

"Mainly here to check on her condition. After all, Mabel is my most cherished little sister." Max's gaze swept over me with undisguised disgust. "Unlike a certain piece of trash."

I stood rooted to the spot. Every ounce of grief inside me curdled into a single bitter smile.

Max and I were the products of our father's drunken indiscretions.

Our mother had fought tooth and nail to keep us alive. It was only years later that the Fox family finally took us in.

The first year after we returned to the family, Max and I were kidnapped on the way home from school by people with a grudge against the Foxes. They locked us in a pitch-black shack in the mountains.

The kidnappers pressed guns to our foreheads and told the family to pay the ransom and pick one child to take home.

The family chose Max.

I was shaking so hard I couldn't stand. Max pulled me into his arms and held on like his life depended on it.

"I'll stay. Let my sister go."

His voice trembled, but he said every word with absolute certainty.

He defied the family's decision without a second's hesitation. He chose me.

I believed that kind of bond, forged in the shadow of death, was unbreakable.

Then Mabel and her mother walked through our door, and everything changed.

On Max's birthday, I baked him a cake with my own hands.

We blew out the candles together. I cut the first slice, and we shared it.

Then a searing pain ripped through my stomach. Max collapsed right in front of me.

We were both rushed to the hospital. Poison.

My dose had been smaller. After a day unconscious, I regained enough strength to rip out my IV and go find him.

Outside the emergency room, I saw his eyes flutter open. Relief hit me so hard my legs gave out and I crumpled to the floor.

But the very next moment, Mabel appeared with a group of people carrying several half-used packets of poison and sedatives, along with a recording.

"These were all found in Amber's bedroom and her mother's room. Their fingerprints are on the packages, and this recording proves Amber is the one who poisoned him."

My voice came through the recording, clear as day: "How come he didn't die in that kidnapping? Mom told the kidnappers to kill him. This time, I'll make sure he's dead for good!"

Max lay on the gurney, his face whiter than the sheets beneath him.

He looked at me, and something behind his eyes shattered completely.

"Amber Fox..." His voice was raw, scraped hollow. "I traded my life for yours. And you wanted me dead this whole time?"

"So during that kidnapping, your mother already wanted me gone." A cold, broken laugh left his lips.

"Max, it wasn't me! The recording is fake!"

"Get out."

He closed his eyes and refused to look at me again.

"From now on, you and your mother are nothing to me."

From that day forward, I went from being the sister he'd risked his life to protect to the person he despised most in the world.

The shards of that memory were still lodged in my throat when Max's voice cut through, cold as a slab of ice.

"Amber, Mabel's health still hasn't recovered. And since your mother doesn't have long to live anyway, we might as well use her heart to continue Mabel's treatment."

"What?!"

I looked up at Max, stunned. "You've lost your mind!"

"This is my final gift to you. Did you like it? All I had to do was tell him I wasn't feeling well, and your dear brother immediately suggested sacrificing your daughter for the treatment. That's the wonderful brother you've got."

Mabel leaned in close to my ear, her voice soft and dripping with satisfaction.

"Just think about it. Your child, your mother, all gone. Would that break you?"

I stared at her, my voice shaking. "What do you want from me?"

"Don't test me. I could arrange for your mother to have a little accident right here in this hospital."

The word accident hit me like a spark landing in hot oil.

"Mabel!"

My hand flew before I could think, connecting hard with her face.

Crack.

Mabel stumbled back two steps, clutching her cheek as she crumpled into Guy's arms, eyes glistening with perfectly manufactured tears.

"I was only asking about your mother's health, and you hit me! How could you, Amber?"

"Amber! You're insane!" Guy's head snapped up, fury blazing in his eyes. "Mabel was kind enough to bring us here to visit your mother, and you slap her out of jealousy? Apologize. Now."

He turned back to Mabel, cradling her with a tenderness I had never once seen directed at me. Every gentle murmur, every careful touch, all reserved for her.

Tears slipped down my face before I could stop them, slowly hardening into a bitter smile.

This was the man I'd loved for ten years.

He hadn't asked me for a single explanation. One sentence from Mabel, and he'd turned on me like I was the enemy.

"She threatened my mother! She's the one who killed my daughter!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Guy rose to his feet. His hand came down across my face with full force.

The blow snapped my head to the side. My ears rang. Pain exploded through my cheekbone, and I crumpled to the floor.

Tears streamed down my face. I would never forget how heavy that slap was. The humiliation spread through me like poison, seeping into every corner of my chest.

Mabel clapped a hand over her mouth in feigned shock. But I saw it clearly: the smile curling at the corners of her lips. Victory.

I pressed my trembling fingers to my burning cheek.

Guy stood frozen for a moment after striking me, his arm hanging stiff at his side. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something.

Then Mabel whimpered in his arms, crying out in pain, and whatever flicker of hesitation he'd had vanished. He scooped her up and rushed toward the emergency room without a backward glance.

I sat on the cold hospital floor, every ounce of hatred and agony collapsing into one hollow, bitter smile.

I didn't know how long I stayed there before I finally dragged myself to my feet and walked home on numb legs, mechanical as a wind-up toy winding down.

At the front door, I picked up the divorce papers and placed them on the nightstand.

Seven days. Seven more days, and I'd be free. I didn't hesitate.

I pulled open the dresser drawers and started tossing clothes into a suitcase.

I had just folded the last piece when the door opened behind me.

"Amber? What are you doing?" Guy's voice cut through the room.

I didn't turn around. My voice came out dry and flat. "Just reorganizing the closet."

His gaze swept across the mess of the room. He was about to speak when another voice interrupted, thin and fragile.

"Guy, I'm scared of the dark. Could I stay in this room?"

Mabel.

I went rigid. I turned and saw two suitcases standing behind Guy in the doorway.

He wheeled them inside without a trace of shame. "Mabel is pregnant and she's been through a terrible scare. She needs someone looking after her. You hit her today, so you'll serve as her caretaker for the next month. You'll attend to her every need."

He met my eyes as if what he was saying were the most reasonable thing in the world.

"Give up the master bedroom. Move to the maid's quarters."

"The servants' quarters?"

I stared at Guy in disbelief.

His jaw was clenched tight. "Once Mabel's baby is born, you can move back."

I looked up at the man I'd loved for so long, my eyes flooding with tears.

I had given him everything.

And he wanted me to wait on the woman who'd killed my daughter. To serve the bastard child growing in her belly.

My nails dug into my palms. Blood rushed to my head, a deafening buzz filling my ears.

I stared at the murderer standing in front of me, rage swelling inside me like a living thing.

I raised my hand, but Guy's voice cut through, dripping with menace. "Don't forget your mother is still in the hospital."

My hand froze midair. The words struck like lightning.

My mother was all I had left. Nothing could happen to her.

My nails bit deeper into my palms, holding back the fury by sheer will. My voice trembled. "Fine. But I have some documents that need your signature."

I grabbed the papers from the nightstand and slipped the divorce agreement in among them.

Guy snatched them impatiently. He was about to read through them when Mabel interrupted.

"Guy, I don't like these decorations. I want them replaced with something else..."

So he scrawled his signature in a rush and tossed the papers into my arms.

I looked down at the documents pressed against my chest, bitterness rising in my throat.

Tears blurred my vision as I watched Mabel sweep the ornaments into the trash. My heart felt crushed in a giant fist, squeezing until I couldn't breathe.

Every single piece in that bedroom was something Guy and I had spent hours choosing together. When he'd placed them on the shelves, he'd pulled me close and taken a photo with each one. In those pictures, his eyes had been soft, brimming with love.

Now all that love belonged to Mabel.

The bitterness slowly settled into something cold and still. I wiped my tears, turned, and walked out.

I dialed the first number in my contacts.

"I need you to finalize the divorce proceedings. And start acquiring shares in James Group."

Everything Guy cared about most, I was going to take it all.

That night, I lay on the narrow bed in the servants' quarters, my heart frozen solid, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

When the sky outside the window began to lighten, I forced myself up and pulled on the maid's uniform. I stood before the mirror.

The woman staring back had swollen red eyes and tangled hair, looking no better than a stray dog.

Was this really me?

The door burst open. Bodyguards flooded in and dragged me to Mabel.

Something cruel and amused flickered behind her eyes. She seized my arm, her grip bruising. "Oh, sister. Still here, clinging on with that shameless face of yours? Why bother occupying a place that was never yours?" She let out a little laugh. "Silly me, I forgot. You're so in love with Guy, you just can't bear to leave."

Before I could get a single word out, she raised her voice. "Someone, grab her!"

The guards swarmed in, locking my arms on both sides.

Their grip was crushing, enough to splinter bone. A vicious kick buckled my knees, and white-hot pain shot straight through my skull as I crashed to the floor.

I clenched my teeth so hard they ached, forcing words through the gap. "What the hell do you want, Mabel?"

"Let's make a little wager, sister. Let's see who Guy really cares about most."

Mabel pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. She grabbed my chin and forced the wine into my mouth.

I was severely allergic to alcohol.

I clamped my jaw shut with everything I had, but the liquid still poured down my throat and into my stomach.

A searing burn blazed from my throat to my gut, then spread through my entire body.

Within seconds, my skin flushed red and began to swell. Clusters of blisters crawled up my arms and crept along my neck.

Then she ordered the guards to drag me to the edge of the swimming pool. From behind her back, she produced my daughter's keepsake locket, the one she'd worn since birth.

"Don't you touch that!"

My vision was already blurring, my throat swelling shut. I thrashed against the guards despite the agony tearing through me, my voice raw with desperation.

Mabel leaned in close to my ear, her whisper dripping with venom. "Amber Fox, why should you get a brother who adores you? A good husband? Everything you have, I'm going to take it all."

Then came the splash. She flung the locket into the pool.

"No!"

The fury that erupted gave me a strength I didn't know I had. I tore free of the guards, grabbed Mabel by the collar, and hauled her into the water. "Who gave you permission to throw that? Since you did, you're going to find it for me!"

Water exploded around us. I fought through the pain and shoved Mabel beneath the surface, searching frantically for the locket at the same time.

My arms swept blindly through the water. My fingertips scraped the tile at the bottom, but there was no cold metal.

Where... where was it...

The allergic reaction was tearing through me. My whole body shook. Each breath came harder than the last.

The water's surface warped and blurred before my eyes. My throat had swollen so tight I could barely draw air.

Mabel's thrashing and sputtering filled my ears, broken fragments of a scream. "Help... help me... Guy..."

Then a large hand clamped around my wrist and wrenched me off her.