Chapter 2

After I finished packing, I received a message.

It was from a nurse at the hospital, saying that Miss Blake had woken up and was calling my name, asking if I could come see her.

As if she actually wanted me there.

She just needed to steal Julian, and she couldn't keep pretending to be asleep anymore.

I went anyway. Even though every feeling I had was in tatters, I still wanted a final reckoning with her.

The hospital room was silent. On her nightstand sat her phone and two pills.

The phone screen suddenly lit up.

It was a text from an unsaved number:

[When are you sending the rest of my $150,000? Stop playing dead. If you don't pay up, that recording of you hiring me to run you both over three years ago goes straight to Julian Ashford tomorrow! Money or your high-society fantasy. Your choice.]

Those few short lines struck me like a bolt of lightning.

Blood rushed to my head and my fingers wouldn't stop trembling.

Could it be that the savior I had prayed for day and night, the one I had wished I could suffer in place of, was actually the person who paid someone to kill me three years ago?

"Enjoying the show?"

A cold, eerie voice cut through the silence of the room.

I looked up sharply and met Serena's eyes, already wide open.

She sat up slowly, unhurried. There was no panic at being caught. Instead, her eyes gleamed with the vindictive pleasure of something long suppressed finally being set free.

"Since you've seen it all, there's no point in pretending anymore."

Serena settled back against her pillow. "Mia, you've had everything handed to you since we were kids. Did you really think I was destined to be nothing more than your shadow my whole life?"

"That car accident was supposed to kill you. But now I think... using a life debt to steal Julian, watching you wait on me hand and foot like some pathetic servant, that's so much more satisfying than just watching you die."

Looking at that face, I felt nothing. "Three years lying in the dark, just to prove to me that you could steal a man?"

"Serena, you're pathetic."

She flushed with fury. "Don't you dare look down on me, Mia!"

But Julian's hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the door.

Serena instantly softened her expression.

In the instant before the door was pushed open, she grabbed the two pills from the nightstand, shoved them into my hand, flopped back onto the bed, and wailed, "Mia! I know I shouldn't have pretended to be in a coma, but I did save your life. How could you... try to poison me!"

The door flew open and Julian burst in.

Seeing Serena trembling, he fixed his eyes on me. "Mia, what's going on?"

Before I could speak, a nurse rushed in from the hallway in a panic. "Mr. Ashford! Miss Harper just switched Miss Blake's vitamins with... with some unknown pills!"

I looked at the nurse. I had never seen her face before.

It hit me instantly.

Serena had set this whole thing up.

But before I could defend myself, Serena was already sobbing hysterically.

"Julian, Mia's right. I shouldn't have fallen in love with you. I shouldn't have faked the coma to deceive her... I should have just died in that accident."

"Mia, give me that poison. I'll take it right now so I won't be an eyesore to you anymore."

I stared at this woman who had just turned reality inside out, unable to believe she was the girl I had grown up with.

Julian's face darkened and he immediately moved to shield her.

I stared at him. "Your elaborate scheme to fake a wedding and fake her death to fool me was bad enough. Now you're pinning this pathetic setup on me too? The car accident three years ago was actually her..."

"You eavesdropped on my call?!" Julian's eyes flared with anger. "If you have a problem, take it up with me. Serena's been lying here for three years and just woke up. How could she possibly be scheming against you? You're the one who tried to poison her in a hospital to keep us apart!"

"You really think I'm the kind of person who'd poison someone out of jealousy?" I stared him down. "After all these years together, do you believe me or not?"

He glanced at the mess on the floor, and a flicker of guilty hesitation crossed his eyes.

But at that moment, Serena suddenly went into violent convulsions.

That sight swallowed every trace of hesitation in Julian's eyes, replacing it with sheer panic and rage.

"Serena!" His eyes went red. He whipped around and glared at me as though I were his worst enemy, knocking the pills from my hand. "Hold her down!" he barked.

Bodyguards rushed in from outside and wrenched my arms behind my back.

"Since you refuse to repent, swallow these yourself!" He pried my jaw open with terrifying force, shoved the pills into my mouth, and clamped his hand over my lips until I swallowed.

The rough pills scraped down my throat, leaving the taste of blood as they hit my stomach.

His voice was ice-cold. "Relax, it's just a little punishment. The Ashford family has the best medical team. You won't die."

The pills burned their way down.

A minute later, searing cramps erupted in my stomach.

The pain was so intense I couldn't even gasp.

As my vision blurred, the last thing I saw was Julian's resolute expression.

Five minutes later, I lost consciousness completely.