Chapter 4

Nicole 

I froze, for a moment, I wondered if I had heard him correctly. David Lockwood, the untouchable billionaire. The man whose pride was as legendary as his wealth, the man who had never begged anyone for anything in his life was standing there, begging me to save his daughter.

His voice wasn't filled with arrogance anymore. I slowly closed my eyes. Instead of feeling satisfaction, my thoughts drifted to Jayden. My little boy, a child who had suffered since the day he was born. The child who had endured endless hospital visits, painful treatments, and countless nights of discomfort. The child who had no idea that the man standing in front of me was his father.

"You can't promise to do anything she asks," Tamara whispered urgently to David. "What if she asks you to marry her again? You know that woman has always been obsessed with you." 

A quiet scoff escaped my lips. Typical Tamara, even now, with her daughter's life hanging by a thread, her greatest fear wasn't losing Amy. It was losing David. She would rather watch her own child die than risk another woman taking her husband away. And somehow she still believed I was the obsessed one, David sighed heavily. "This isn't the time for that, Tamara," he said firmly. "Right now, we need to focus on saving our daughter."

Tamara shook her head stubbornly. "At the cost of losing you?" she argued. "I know exactly what she will ask for. Haven't you seen the way she looks at you? Remember how she lied to you and took credit for something she never did just so you'd let her into your life? I'm not going to let that happen."

I slowly closed my eyes again and drew in a deep, steady breath. After all these years, she was still shamelessly taking credit for something she had never done.

Some people never changed, no matter how many years passed, Tamara would always rewrite the past to make herself look innocent and paint me as the villain. 

Years ago, when we were still students, everything changed because of one reckless decision. Tamara had suggested that we all have a car race. David agreed without much hesitation, and before long, we were all on the road in our separate cars.

Halfway through the race, the weather suddenly changed. Dark clouds covered the sky, and heavy rain began to pour. Within minutes, visibility became poor.

I immediately thought of Tamara. She had an eye condition that made it difficult for her to see clearly in the dark, and with the rain making everything worse, I knew it was dangerous for her to keep driving. I called her and begged her to pull over. I told her we should stop the race and continue another day when the weather was better. She ignored me. Moments later, the worst happened. Her car slammed into the back of David's car, sending his vehicle crashing straight into a tree. 

The impact was terrifying, the moment Tamara realized she had caused the accident, she didn't stop to help. Instead, she turned her car around and fled the scene, I was left standing there in complete shock. 

As quickly as I could, I called for an ambulance. Then I ran to David's car, the driver's door was badly damaged, but somehow I managed to pull him out on my own.

It took every bit of strength I had, I dragged him away from the wreckage and into my own car. Only a short while later, his car burst into flames.

The ambulance still hadn't arrived, I couldn't afford to wait any longer. I drove David to the hospital myself. When we got there, the doctors discovered he needed an emergency blood transfusion.

None of the available blood matched his type. By sheer luck, I was a universal donor. Without thinking twice, I volunteered to donate my blood. By the time the transfusion was over, I was completely exhausted. Before I lost consciousness, I called both of our parents and told them exactly what had happened. Then everything went black. 

When I woke up the following day, I immediately went to David's hospital room. That was when I realized everything had changed. Somehow, while I had been unconscious, the story had been rewritten.

My parents had already spoken to David's family. But instead of telling them the truth, they blamed me for the accident and protected Tamara. In their version of the story, I became the villain. From that day on, David's parents hated me.

As for David, he couldn't remember much about the accident because of the injuries he had suffered. So he believed whatever everyone told him, their lies became his truth. The hatred they had for me slowly became his own, I tried to tell him the truth once. I told him I was the one who had pulled him from the burning car, driven him to the hospital, and donated my blood to save his life.

He didn't believe a single word. Instead, he accused me of trying to steal the credit for someone else's good deed. That was the day I realized no matter what I said, no one was ever going to believe me.

I turned around and walked back toward them. A small smile tugged at my lips as I looked David straight in the eye. "God forbid I ever want to be tied to an imbecile like you again," I said confidently. The words landed exactly as I intended.

David's eyes widened in disbelief. 

For years, he had believed I would always love him, always chase after him no matter how badly he treated me. He had never imagined there would come a day when I would reject him so openly.

"When I think about the years I spent fawning over you," I continued with a small shake of my head, "I honestly wonder if something was wrong with me back then."

His face stiffened. It looked as though every word had dealt another blow to his pride. The confidence he always carried seemed to crack right in front of me. Then I shifted my attention to Tamara.

"As for you," I said calmly, "since you are so eager to talk about people taking credit for someone else's good deeds, why don't we talk about that right here?"

The color instantly drained from her face, panic flickered across her eyes. She quickly turned to David. "Fine," she said, swallowing nervously. "Give her whatever she wants."

David kept his eyes fixed on me. "What do you want?"

I drew in a slow, steady breath, there was only one thing I truly wanted from him. I needed him to father another child. If I became pregnant, that baby might be the bone marrow match Jayden desperately needed. Once I got what I wanted, I would disappear from David's life again, just as I had five years ago.

But another thought crossed my mind. What if one night wasn't enough? What if I didn't get pregnant the first time? How would I convince him to be with me again? I stayed silent for a moment, carefully thinking through my next move.

Finally, I looked up at him. "For the next two months," I said evenly, "you are going to do whatever I ask, and whenever I call, you will answer. Deal or no deal?"