Chapter 2

Jase shook out the crumpled paper in his hand and looked at the title. His eyes widened immediately.

"A heart-swap transplant agreement?"

The words seemed to stir something in his memory.

I staggered to my feet, trying to snatch it back. He couldn't find out the truth.

But he gave a scornful laugh and shoved me away. My back slammed hard against the wall, and I slid to the floor.

"A heart-swap agreement?" He pinched the edge of the paper as though it were something filthy. "So, Audrey, you're broke now, but your appetite has only grown.

"You can't even come up with a hundred thousand dollars, yet you're still trying to squeeze money out of someone who's even poorer than you?"

He folded the agreement slowly, then tore it to pieces. "You're absolutely disgusting."

It felt as though a blade had plunged straight into my heart, but all I could do was remain silent.

I was the one who had pushed him into the abyss of hatred. Every ounce of pain I felt now was my own fault.

The private room door swung open, and a knife-sharp gust of cold air swept inside. Dressed too lightly for the weather, I couldn't stop shivering.

"Jase, I'm here."

When Jase saw Brielle, a smile appeared on his face.

"Brielle, are you cold?" The tenderness in his voice was a warmth I no longer recognized.

He opened his coat and wrapped her in his arms.

The sight made my eyes burn. Once, that same careful tenderness had belonged to me.

Back then, Jase had been a poor college student I'd sponsored. He'd been young and awkward, reserved and stubborn.

The first time he came to my mansion, he seemed so afraid of owing anyone anything that he spent the entire day cleaning with his head down.

When my stomach hurt, he stayed up all night tending a pot of soup, then clumsily filled a hot-water flask for me.

When I worked late at my desk, he had sat quietly beside me until I finally looked up and met his astonishingly bright eyes.

Under the flickering lamplight, his ears had turned red, but his voice was firm. "Once I'm capable of taking care of you, I'll handle all the hard work, Audrey."

"Who is that, Jase?" Brielle glanced at me, who was huddled on the floor and shivering in the cold.

Jase didn't even look in my direction. "Just some bar girl. If you don't like having her around, we can have her thrown out."

Brielle suddenly smiled at me. "So you're Audrey. Back then, Jase was still young and naive. You took care of him, and we're grateful for that. Even though you were a gold digger who cheated on him and had no morals, you did help us once.

"And if you hadn't been so blind, I might never have met Jase."

I dug my fingernails into my palm, using the pain to suppress the bitterness rising inside me as I listened to the mockery in her voice.

How did she know so much about our past? Who had spent countless nights tearing those memories open for her, over and over again?

Had he told her the truth without a second thought, or had he spoken out of resentment he could never let go of?

All these years, I'd been like moss growing in the dark, silently watching him from afar.

I'd watched him make a name for himself. I'd watched him grow more mature. I'd watched someone else take her place at his side.

Now, at last, I was approaching the end of my life. Only then had I dared to gather the courage to come back into his world.

Seeing me sit there in silence, Jase suddenly grew irritated. "Enough. Why bring up things that happened years ago? Let's go."

He took Brielle's hand and walked past me without a trace of expression.

His leather shoe rolled over my hand, but my body could no longer even register the pain.

I watched him walk away. My heart pounded harder and harder, and it felt as though my insides were twisting into knots.

A sweet, metallic taste rose in my throat.

Behind him, I coughed up a mouthful of blood.