LOGINIt was the very spot where she'd thrown a picnic to celebrate eighteen years of knowing Daniel and Amy.She'd joked back then that eighteen years was long enough for a person to come of age, and that it meant Daniel and Amy had given her a grown-up kind of love, and a life.Like the orange Amy handed her the first time she walked nervously into Daniel's house. It was the sweetest thing she'd ever tasted, so she secretly slipped a few pieces of peel into her ragged pocket and carefully dried them at home. Whenever she was bullied at school, one sniff of that peel calmed her.Like in middle school, when a kid with connections stole Daniel's scholarship. During an official inspection, she stormed into the principal's office and got justice for him, only to be targeted afterward and slapped with a disciplinary record herself.Like in high school, when she finally realized how she felt but didn't dare distract Daniel, the star student, from his studies. All she could do was secretly fil
Daniel's POVWith my last breath, I carried Mom out and took her to the little river near the hospital that we both loved.Once our heart disease got worse, we sometimes spent more time at the hospital than at home, so the two of us often walked along this river. It was out in the suburbs, with hardly anyone around, peaceful and quiet.Two weeks ago, she was right here, smiling, though her eyes were full of worry."Daniel, I heard there's news about another heart. Really talk to Vivian this time. Don't let this one slip away."Back then, I'd confidently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and promised."Don't worry. She had her reasons the last two times. It isn't easy to climb as high as she has. This time, she promised it's mine. Once your surgery's done too, we'll take our healthy hearts back home to Cedar Falls for a few days. Maybe the old house still smells like the pot roast you used to make us!"Mom nodded gravely, her smile tinged with sorrow."You still remember. Vivi
But there was no sign of Daniel at home.When she'd left that morning, she hadn't even noticed that twenty years of their love story, every keepsake they'd saved, had gone up in flames the night before.She stood there stunned, then ran into the bathroom, only to find that not even a speck of ash was left. It was as if Daniel had never been part of these twenty years.She searched the whole house like a madwoman, and only then did she realize how empty it was, so empty it chilled her to the bone.The two people she'd most wanted to protect and repay had both died at her hands. She could barely breathe.Then she saw Daniel's test report on the nightstand, and she broke down completely.She'd been so close to the truth last night, and still she hadn't seen it. She'd even made that showy breakfast this morning, as if it could atone for everything she'd done.She curled up on the floor and sobbed uncontrollably. All she wanted now was to find the boy she'd loved for twenty years and
On the screen was the steamy scene from the day Dr. Hayes had gone with Daniel to see Vivian about the latest donor heart.Noah, wiping tears from his eyes, knelt pitifully in front of Vivian."Dr. Foster, you know I've always looked up to you more than anyone. For four years, you're the only reason I made it from a small rural town to the city and found my footing. Now I want to live more than ever. After all, the longer I live, the happier I can make you..."His eyes smoldering, he deftly slipped off Vivian's clothes. On the on-call bed, Vivian soon closed her eyes, lost in it, nodding with a soft moan."You're so good to me. The new heart is definitely yours..."Afterward, Noah put on another show, pulling her into his lap and nuzzling the crook of her neck."But this one was meant for Mr. Carter. Won't he make a scene when he finds out?"With a satisfied smile, Vivian pulled his head to her chest."Everyone knows me as a saint. Avoiding favoritism is completely justified. B
Dr. Hayes froze. She'd never expected to be suspected. Seething, she ripped off her surgical cap and threw it on the floor."Are you out of your mind? He's not related to me. Why would I cover for him? Weren't you the one always telling us to treat patients with real compassion? Just because he's your husband and you need to avoid favoritism, he doesn't even get treated like a human being?"The cutting words pierced Vivian's sorest spot.Faintly, the lines she'd written about Daniel in her high school crush diary twenty years ago surfaced in her mind."If he says yes to me after graduation, I'm going to give him the best of everything in the world!""My future mother-in-law made my favorite chicken pot pie for me again today. It smelled so good I almost passed out. She's basically my second mom!""All I need in this life is Daniel, and I get a mom's love as a bonus. Jackpot!""I'm going to become a doctor and use the best resources to cure Daniel's and his mom's heart disease, s
But all that met her eyes was an empty operating table and blood smeared everywhere.Only then did she remember. When she'd called Rachel out, Amy's abdomen had just been opened. And she'd left that elderly woman waiting on a cold operating table for more than an hour!But where was she now?Vivian hurriedly pulled up the operating room's security footage. Only then did she see that after Daniel crawled in, Daniel had forced himself to his feet and frantically pressed at the most expensive machines around Amy, muttering helplessly to himself."Mom, don't go. I'll get someone to save you right now... No, I'll save you myself!"But how could an outsider like him understand that sophisticated equipment? After Daniel had pressed buttons at random, the room still echoed with that cold tone, and the screen still showed that monotonous flat line.Daniel wailed. He knelt and begged the heavens. He charged out and pounded on the door to Noah's operating room. None of it could turn things







