Chapter 1

"He’s losing a pulse! Push two milligrams of epinephrine, now!"

The paramedic’s shout echoed violently off the metal walls as the ambulance screeched around a tight corner, throwing me hard against the interior panel.

Outside, the night was a dark blur of rain and flashing red lights. Inside, it smelled of metallic blood and oxygen. I scrambled back onto my knees, my hands locking around my father’s ice-cold fingers. His face was a waxy, hollow grey, his chest heaving under a clear plastic mask that fogged with every weak, ragged gasp.

"Dad, stay with me!" I screamed over the roar of the siren, my knuckles turning white around his. "Look at me! Keep your eyes on me!"

Beside me, Mum was crouched on the bench, sobbing so hard she could barely draw breath. In the far corner, my younger sister, Whitney, was curled into a tight ball, her arms wrapped over her head to drown out the noise.

The ambulance slammed to a halt outside the emergency room doors, and the back slammed open.

"Move! We need room!" a nurse yelled, shoving me aside as the paramedics yanked the gurney down onto the pavement and sprinted through the automatic doors.

I ran right behind them, but a security guard caught my shoulder at the threshold, holding me back as the doors slid shut.

The smell of hospital disinfectant hit my throat like acid. Whitney collapsed onto the linoleum, burying her face in her knees as her shoulders shook uncontrollably. Mum didn't sit. She paced the length of the hallway—four frantic steps to the vending machine, four back to the double doors—her lips moving in whispered, desperate prayers.

When the doctor finally walked out an hour later, he pulled off his surgical mask. His face was entirely devoid of hope.

"The fluid buildup around his heart is critical," he said quietly. "The cancer metastasized far faster than the previous scans showed. If we don't operate within seventy-two hours, his organs will fail."

Mum’s hand shot to her mouth. "Then do it. Please, just save him."

"The deposit for the emergency surgical team and the ICU unit is one million dollars," the doctor replied flatly. "We need half upfront before we can book the room."

The silence that followed felt heavier than lead.

"We sold our house," I whispered, my voice sounding thin and empty in the long hallway. "We don't have a deposit. We don't have anything left."

Whitney broke completely, her knees giving out as a raw, guttural cry tore from her chest. "I don't want Dad to die!" she screamed into the quiet corridor. "Please!"

Mum didn't make a sound. She stood completely frozen, staring at the doctor's scrubs as if her mind had simply shut off. Then, with trembling arms, she pulled Whitney and me into a grip so tight it bruised.

Later that night, long after the hallway had grown dark and still, two women sat down on the bench across from us. One held a paper cup of coffee; the other was tapping on her phone.

"He went through Voss Properties," the one with the coffee whispered, her voice carrying across the silent room. "Took an emergency medical loan. High risk, but they approved it in two hours."

"Voss?" the other asked. "The real estate company?"

"He does private high-risk financing on the side. If you clear it in six months, he doesn't touch your assets."

I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, barely digesting the words. People in hospital waiting rooms talked about miracles all the time.

Beside me, Mum stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going?" I asked softly.

She didn't look back at me. "I need air," she said, her voice entirely flat.

Twelve Months Later

I unlocked the apartment door, balancing a heavy brown paper bag on my hip. Between taking on emergency freelance graphic designs and managing the grocery budget down to the last penny, my shoulders constantly ached, but seeing a fresh bag of groceries in the kitchen made the strain worth it. Whitney needed fresh fruit for school, and Mum hadn't eaten a proper meal in days. I was going to keep this family afloat no matter how many late-night design gigs I had to take on.

Dad had been gone for nearly a year, but the quiet heavy grief still lingered in every corner. Today, though, the air was cut by voices coming from our small living room. One was Mum’s—pitched high and strained—and the other belonged to a man I didn't know.

I set my sketchbook on the sofa and stepped into the doorway.

A man in a sharp charcoal suit was sitting at our small laminate table, a leather briefcase resting against his knee. Spread out between him and my mother were thick stacks of legal paper.

"Mum?" I asked, my heart taking a sudden, nervous plunge. "What's going on?"

Mum spun around, her back hitting the kitchen counter. She wiped her face with a frantic hand, trying to force a smile, but the thick red tracks of tears were undeniable on her pale cheeks.

The man stood up, unbuttoning his jacket. "Miss Ariana Carter?"

"Who are you?" I looked from his cold brown eyes down to the documents, then back to my mother. "Is something wrong with the rent?"

"My name is Harlow," he said calmly. "I represent Mr. Damien Voss."

I blinked, shifting my weight. The name meant absolutely nothing to me. "Who? I don't know a Damien Voss. Mum, why is his lawyer in our house?"

"Mr. Voss is offering a settlement for an outstanding debt," Harlow said, his tone entirely flat. "In exchange for full liquidation of the one million dollars your mother borrowed for your father's medical care, you will enter into a legal marriage with Mr. Voss."

Harlow adjusted his cuff, his voice smooth and detached. "Mr. Voss is currently undergoing a critical restructuring of Voss Enterprises. The board of directors and international investors require absolute stability and a traditional public image before next month's confirmation vote. In short: he needs a suitable wife, and your family needs a debt wiped clean. It is a mutually beneficial transaction."

My brain stalled. One million dollars?

In an instant, a buried memory from a terrifying night in an ER hallway rushed back—two women whispering on a bench about a real estate mogul who gave out private medical loans.

I turned my head slowly, staring at my mother as the horrifying realization clicked into place.

She had been listening that night, too. And while I had been sitting by Dad's bed, she had gone out to get 'air'—and sold our future to a stranger.

"Mum..." My voice cracked, barely audible across the small room. "Tell me this man is lying."

Mum slowly lifted her head. A fresh tear spilled over her eyelashes, dripping off her chin as her shoulders caved inward.

"It's not a lie, Ariana," she whispered, her voice breaking down the middle. "Damien Voss is the man you're getting married to in two months."

The room didn't spin; it went dead still. My eyes drifted from my mother’s tear-stained face to the worn hallway rack where Dad’s winter coat still hung. He had died anyway, despite the medicine, despite the loan. And now, the ghost of his medical care had returned to claim me. I wasn't just grieving a father anymore—I was standing in the exact spot where my mother had quietly signed away my life while I was sitting by Dad's hospital bed.