CHAPTER ONE

LYRA POV

I should have been walking into a honeymoon suite, not being dragged through hospital doors.

My wedding dress brushed against the white floor; the hem was already becoming very dirty, as the smell of antiseptic filled my nose.

I tried holding the dress up a bit, and while doing that, my veil slipped off my shoulders. This night could not be more frustrating. And the more forward we moved, the faster my heart beat, so it felt like it wanted to escape my chest.

Darius held my hand in a tight grip, but I did not pull away. His voice was filled with desperation as he spoke to the doctor in the hallway.

“Doctor, please, hurry. Do not let her die. Please do not let my sister die.” He begged.

Sister.

The word felt surreal in my head. His sister. On our wedding night, my husband was begging for another woman’s life.

I swallowed slowly. “Darius—uhm, what exactly is wrong with her?”

He turned around and moved closer to me; from this view, his eyes were red, and his face was soaked with tears.

“Lyra, just stay calm. The doctor will explain.”

The doctor slowed down and looked at me. He looked tired. “Mrs. Venn, your husband’s sister is in critical condition. Her kidneys are failing. We have been searching for a compatible donor for months—you.” He glanced at the file, then at me.

“You are a perfect match.”

The words began to dance around my head.

Perfect match.

Donor.

Surgery.

Tonight.

Nothing made sense to me anymore. How? I shook my head slowly. “Me? But I just got married—we were supposed to—how is this even?”

Darius squeezed my hand harder. “Lyra, listen to me. She will not survive the night without this. Please. She is my sister.”

He knelt down in front of me. Crying! “I cannot lose her. Not after everything.”

I looked at him for what seemed like a few minutes. The man I married today. The man who promised me forever. He now looked like he was about to fall apart.

I thought about my vows. I thought about standing beside him in sickness and in health. Better or for worse.

“What kind of wife would I be if I turned away now?” I whispered more to myself than to him.

“But Darius,” I said aloud in a rather shaky voice, “A kidney transplant is not small.”

“I know,” he said, standing up to his feet and pressing his forehead against mine.

“But I swear, I will make this up to you for the rest of my life. You are saving her. You are saving me. Please, Lyra.”

I looked at him again, looking for a reason to back out of this. But I could not find any; I would just be betraying him if I did not. But this was insane. I was scared. How did I go from wedding bells to hospital bed?

My heart began to race again as I thought of all the possibilities of what could go wrong and how this was all too much for me to bear. But instead of protesting, I nodded in agreement. A decision I would later come to regret.

“I will do it.”

He let out a sound that was somewhere between half sob and half relief. He kissed my forehead again and again. And I wondered if that was what cleared me of all my sense of reasoning.

“Thank you. Thank you. God bless you.”

Two nurses came by quickly with a wheelchair, and I looked at Darius again before sitting on it.

“I guess this is it,” I whispered to myself as the nurse wheeled me away. My dress got caught on the metal frame slightly, but the second nurse lifted it gently.

“You are very brave,” she said.

But her eyes did not agree with her words. They took me to a new room, which I perceived to be the changing room. In there, I got out of my wedding dress and wore my surgery clothes.

Inside the operating room, the lights were really bright, blinding almost. I squinted my eyes quickly, and at the same time, goosebumps began to form on my skin; the air in here was cold.

A nurse leaned close. “Are you sure you want to do this? You do not have to. There are risks.”

“I want to,” I said quickly. “She is my family now. I will do it.”

She studied my face, then nodded. But I noticed the hesitation in her movement.

The surgeon looked at the machines. “We are ready.”

The church bells were still echoing in my ears when I looked down at my hands, as my fingers wrapped around Darius’s. The ring was heavy, but it was proof of my beautiful reality.

“You are mine now, Lyra,” he whispered as we walked down the aisle.

“Forever,” I said.

“Forever,” he repeated.

People clapped. Cameras flashed. My mother cried. His family smiled widely. Everything felt unreal, like I was inside a dream that refused to end.

At the reception, Darius stayed close. He fed me cake. He raised his glass for toasts. His arm stayed around my waist. He never let me go.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he whispered.

I laughed. “And you—you are stuck with me now.”

He kissed me slowly while everyone cheered. And I was loving every second of it.

Then his phone vibrated.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

His smile faded quickly. “Excuse me,” he said and walked away.

I watched him from across the room. His face changed. And when he came back, his skin looked pale.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It is my sister,” he said quietly.

“She is dying. The doctors say she might not last the night.”

The room fell silent.

“Then let us go,” I said.

Minutes later, I was in the back of a car, still in my wedding dress as the city lights passed by. Darius shouted into his phone, while I held his hand and said nothing.

I blinked, and the memory faded.

I looked through the glass wall separating me from the hallway. Darius stood there with his hands pressed against the glass. His eyes found mine, and for a moment, I felt calm.

At least he was here with me.

Then someone stepped beside him.

A woman.

And suddenly I couldn't breathe.

It was his sister!

She was nothing close to a dying woman. In fact, she was the total opposite of dying. Her skin glowed. Her hair was neat. Her clothes looked expensive. And she was smiling.

She was alive! And healthy.

Confusion flooded me. Why was she here? Why was she standing? Why was she smiling?

Darius wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and kissed him. His sister kissed him!

The mask lowered toward my face before I could even put myself together and get out there.

“She is fine?” I mumbled in shock.

I searched Darius’s face. But he wasn't looking back.

The truth hit me all at once. My marriage. My sacrifice. All of it was a lie.

Darkness pulled me under.

The last thing I saw was Darius pulling her closer to himself.

And then there was nothing.