Chapter 1

When I woke up again, a sharp pain shot through my empty right leg.

The terror of losing my leg made me break out in a cold sweat, and I gasped for breath.

A nurse walked in and slowed the IV drip.

“Your family has already signed the consent forms. The wound on your right leg was severely contaminated, so we had no choice but to perform a high-level amputation.

“Dr. Adrian Cole instructed us to keep you from getting too emotional. Don’t move around too much, or you might tear your stitches.”

I bit my lip so hard that it turned white.

“I want to see my medical records. Bring them to me!”

The nurse didn’t even look up.

“Dr. Cole said no documents can be given to you without a family member’s signature.

“He’s only doing it for your own good. He’s worried you’ll become too distressed if you see them.”

Unable to accept her explanation, I abruptly pulled the IV needle from the back of my hand. Blood immediately welled from the puncture.

I tried to get out of bed, but I still hadn’t adjusted to having only one leg. My wound slammed hard against the floor.

The nurse cried out and tried to hold me down.

I shoved her away, gripped the edge of the bed, and slowly dragged myself into the wheelchair.

I had clearly been the most seriously injured.

I needed to ask them to their faces why they hadn’t saved me first.

I pushed the wheelchair forward with all my strength. The skin on my hands was rubbed raw, but I didn’t care.

As I passed a VIP hospital room with its door slightly ajar, I saw a shocking scene.

My own brother, Caleb Whitaker, was holding a bowl of soup, gently blowing on it while looking at Isla with concern.

My husband, Adrian, was kneeling beside the bed, gently massaging Isla’s right shoulder.

And Isla had only suffered a minor scrape.

I clenched my fists, suppressed the emotions surging inside me, and pushed the door open.

The moment she saw me, her eyes reddened.

“Natalie, your leg... I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.

“If you hadn’t protected me, you wouldn’t have been hurt this badly...”

At her words, Adrian’s expression turned cold. He stepped in front of Isla and snapped at me.

“Natalie! What the hell are you doing?

“You just had your leg amputated and came running over here. Don’t you realize how frightening you look? You scared Isla!”

I looked at the two men who had once been the closest people in my life and suddenly laughed.

“Adrian, I’m the one who almost died!

“If you hadn’t prioritized treating her little scrape, my leg wouldn’t have been crushed!”

The moment Isla heard that, she immediately clutched her chest, swaying as if she were about to collapse.

“Natalie, I know you hate me because you lost your leg.

“But you’re still alive, aren’t you...?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Caleb slammed the bowl onto the table, his eyes filled with accusation.

“Natalie, there has to be a limit to how selfish you can be!

“Isla was already in the late stages of terminal cancer when she was brought to the hospital. Do you really have to take away even the last bit of peace she has? Don’t you have any conscience?”

His words sounded utterly absurd to me.

Then I noticed the medical report on the table. It was the one I had picked up from the hospital before leaving for my trip.

I stared at Caleb.

“Caleb, what part of her looks like she has terminal cancer? Look at the diagnosis. It clearly says...”

“Enough! The diagnosis is written clearly. You don’t need to explain it to me.”

Caleb cut me off without even listening to what I had to say.

Beside him, Adrian seemed to have made up his mind. He pulled two sheets of paper from his pocket and slapped them onto the armrest of my wheelchair.

“Sign them. Stop using this as an excuse to cause a scene. Isla needs to rest for a while. Don’t show your face in front of her again. You might aggravate her condition.”

I stared at the divorce papers that had clearly been prepared in advance, and my stomach churned.

I grabbed the papers, tore them in half right in front of them, and threw them in Adrian’s face.

Then I pulled out my phone and called the hospital’s complaint hotline.

Adrian’s expression changed. He immediately pressed the emergency call button on the wall.

“Nurses’ station! Patient in Room 27 is experiencing severe postoperative agitation! Bring two doses of sedatives!”

The needle pierced my arm.

I completely lost consciousness.