Chapter 1
Save Serena first!”
My fiancé, Cole, shouted over the burning car.
Cole, please!” I begged, grabbing his sleeve. “I’m trapped!”
My adopted sister Serena let out a fragile gasp. “Cole… my heart…”
He stared at my bleeding hand.
Then, one by one, he peeled my fingers off his shirt.
Serena’s heart is weak, Nadia,” he said coldly. “You’re strong. You can wait.”
watched my husband carry her away, leaving me to the roaring flames.
Then, everything went black.
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woke up to a circle of doctors standing over me.
Nobody was smiling.
Ms. Calloway.” The one closest to me didn’t sugarcoat it. “Your lungs sustained severe burn damage. You have a month. Maybe
ess.”
let that land.
Then I looked around the room.
Empty. Not a single familiar face.
Does my family know I’m awake?” I asked.
The doctor hesitated just long enough to tell me everything. “They’re… in another patient’s room.”
ilence swallowed the space between us.
nodded once. “Keep this between us.”
After they filed out, I pulled out my phone and called the final arrangements service. Scheduled everything for thirty days out. My
oice didn’t shake. My hands didn’t either.
I’d barely set the phone down when the door swung open.
Cole Hartwell walked in.
jame perfect jaw. Same careful eyes scanning me like he was checking off a box.
You’re up,” he said. “Good. How are you feeling?”
didn’t answer that.
Madison.” He exhaled. “The wedding date is close. You know the Hartwell Group succession is tied to the heir being married.”
He clasped his hands in front of him. Like he was about to deliver a business proposal.
But given your current condition… you’re not fit to be my wife.”
My chest tightened. Not from shock. Just from hearing him say it out loud, so cleanly, like it cost him nothing.
‘For the sake of both families,” he continued, “we’ve decided Serena will marry me instead.”
We?” My voice came out flat.
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Your parents agreed. Derek too.”
I turned my head toward the doorway.
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Mony
They were already there. Mom, Dad, my brother Derek. Standing just past the threshold, watching through the gap like they were afraid to come in all the way.
I turned back to Cole.
The only reason I’m in this bed,” I started, ‘is because of-
His hand closed over mine. Firm. Practiced.
‘Don’t do this, Nadia.” His voice dropped. “Serena has a heart condition. You know that. Last time she rode a roller coaster she
nded up in the ER.” He paused. “It was a car accident. If I hadn’t pulled her out, she would’ve died. You got burned, but you
¡urvived.”
survived.
Right.
Thirty days, give or take.
pulled my hand back and stared at the ceiling.
Fine,” I said. “Do whatever you want.”
Cole let out a slow breath, relief loosening his shoulders. He turned and waved the others in.
Mom crossed the room toward Dad, wearing a little smile I hadn’t seen her aim at me in years. “See? I told you she’d come around. She’s not as difficult as she used to be.”
Derek laughed from the doorway. “Relax. Serena’s easygoing. She won’t even mind if Nadia ends up as Cole’s mistress on the side.”
Cole’s jaw went tight. “Enough. Once Nadia recovers, things go back to how they were.”
Their voices kept going.
stopped listening.
pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and closed my eyes.
When you have thirty days left, a lot of things stop mattering.
A fiance. A family. A future that was never really yours to begin with.
f Serena Calloway wanted them, she could have all of it.
couldn’t take any of it with me anyway.
Over the next few days, I organized everything. Every account. Every asset. I put Serena’s name on all of it.
Ten million dollars. The money I’d made selling my paintings in secret, one canvas at a time, over years.
Dead weight now. Paper with numbers on it.
When Cole came to pick me up from Crestview Medical Center, Serena was already in the passenger seat.
I handed her the transfer documents through the window before I even got in the car.
She unfolded them. Went still.
Ten million dollars?” Her eyes went huge. “Nadia, how did you even-” She looked up. “And you’re just… giving it to me?”
‘Consider it a wedding gift,’ I said.
Cole’s grip went white-knuckle on the steering wheel. That’s not-”
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That’s amazing!” Serena clutched the papers to her chest and beamed. Thank you, Nadia, seriously.” She held those documents the entire drive, smoothing them against her lap like they might disappear.
Cole didn’t say another word.
The car stopped.
I looked out the window.
Not the estate. A bridal boutique.
Of course.
Today was the day they were picking out Serena’s custom bridal gown.
Serena hopped out, then turned back with a bright smile. It won’t take long, I promise.”
Take all the time you need,’ I said.
I wheeled myself through the front door ahead of them.
Inside, while Serena was behind the fitting room curtain, Cole appeared at my side.
‘Are you doing this on purpose?” he asked, voice low. To make me feel guilty? I’ve told you, Nadia. Once you’re better, the title of Mrs. Hartwell-
You’re reading into it. I cut him off. Tm just tired.”
He opened his mouth.
‘Leo.” Serena’s voice floated out from behind the curtain, carrying just enough of a pout. “I’ve tried on so many and none of them are right.”
I waved the manager over and told him quietly to bring out the gown from storage.
My gown.
The one I’d spent a month designing. Every bead placed by hand. Every seam chosen like it mattered, because back then, it had.
The manager carried it out.
Serena went completely still when she saw it. Then her whole face opened up.
I want that one,” she breathed.
It’s yours,’ I said.
Cole stepped forward. “No.” His voice came out harder than I expected. “You spent a month on that. Every detail-
She likes it, I said simply.
Serena pressed a hand to her heart and arranged her face into something soft and pained. “I couldn’t. It’s your dress, Nadia. I’m only marrying Cole because you can’t right now. It wouldn’t feel right.”
I reached out and patted her hand.
‘It fits you better than it ever would’ve fit me,” I said. “Wear it.”
She kept the performance going for another few seconds. Then she smiled.
I’ll have it dry-cleaned and back to you the day after the wedding,’ she promised. “Next Friday.”
I glanced at the calendar on the wall.
Next Friday.
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The last day of my life..
I almost laughed.
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What a perfect coincidence. I just had to hold on until then. Long enough to watch everything I’d set in motion play out. Long
nough to see the curtain drop.
I used to call Serena out every time she pulled something like this. Used to fight for people to see what she really was.
Nobody ever believed me. They’d look at her soft eyes and her careful words, and then they’d look at me, and decide I was jealous. Bitter. Difficult.
So I stopped fighting.
Because soon, I wouldn’t have to.
Soon, they would all see it for themselves. And in the quiet hours, when the truth finally settled in, they would replay every noment. Every choice they made. Every time they picked her over me.
And I would already be gone.
That was the plan.
