Chapter 1

Bianca is dying.

Acute myeloid leukemia, stage three. The family doctor told me on the phone—bone marrow transplant, only option, perfect match. Identical twins share ninety-nine percent compatibility.

I crushed the diagnosis report. My name was at the top: Gemma Blackwell. But the doctor trembled, whispering apologies. A clerical error. The sick twin was Bianca. The cure was me.

I had to get home.

Rain lashed the taxi windows. I rehearsed the scene: Father setting down his cigar, Mother gasping, me explaining the mix-up. The report has my name, but the blood work is Bianca's. I can fix this before it's too late.

My phone lit up. Family group chat. Father's message was short:

[Gemma is terminal. Bianca forbidden from donation. Family decision.]

My blood turned to ice.

They had seen the misdelivered file. They thought I was the one dying—and they had voted to let me rot.

When I pushed open the door and saw Father, I felt it—

the temperature drop, the world freezing around me.

Tears burned my eyes. I couldn't stop them.

"Father," I said, my voice barely steady.

"I have a question for you."

He looked up from his cigar, annoyed.

"If it were Bianca dying," I whispered. "Would you have made me give her my marrow?"

The room went silent.

He set down the cigar. A long pause.

"No," he said finally. "Of course. We have resources. We would find another donor. We would never ask you to take that risk."

I smiled a little. Just a small, sad smile.

"Good," I said softly. "That's exactly what you said. Don't regret this."

...

The ballroom was warm and loud when I pushed through the heavy doors.

Chandeliers blazed overhead. Father's cigar smoke curled toward the ceiling. They were celebrating—Bianca's confirmation as Blackwell heir, her takeover of the East Coast operations starting Monday.

My arrival dropped the temperature in the room.

Mother stood at the head table, champagne flute in hand. Her smile cracked when she saw me.

"Gemma?" She set down the glass. Her hand landed on my drenched shoulder, light as dusting off a coat. "You're soaking. Why didn't you call ahead?"

Her eyes dropped to the folder against my ribs. Her pupils spiked.

"Mother," my voice shook. Rain dripped onto the Persian carpet. "I have the labs. I want..."

Father set down his silver cigar cutter. Slow. Deliberate. Mother's nails dug into my arm, dragging me toward the shadows.

"Not tonight," she hissed. "Read the room, Gemma. This is Bianca's night. Don't you dare ruin it."

I froze.

"Enough." Father's voice cut from the head table.

"We've seen the report, Gemma. The family has decided." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a murmur that felt like a death sentence. "Bianca will not be subjected to a bone marrow extraction."

He moved like a black wall. He didn't glance at the paperwork. His eyes—gray, gunmetal gray—swept over me with exhaustion and disgust.

"You burst in here," he said, voice low, "surrounded by cousins and partners, demanding Bianca be sedated and hollowed out for your survival?" He leaned closer. "Do you understand the surgical toll? Bianca assumes control of thirty million in shipping lanes Monday. She cannot be weak."

Cold seeped through my skin.

They knew. They had read the misfiled chart. They thought the leukemia was mine—and they were celebrating while signing my death warrant.

"Father," I looked up, teeth chattering. "The report—it's wrong. I can explain—"

"I don't read theater," he interrupted. "If you need treatment money, bleed Marco for it. Don't bleed your sister."

Marco.

I turned to the man by the fireplace. My fiancé. Heir to the Corleone syndicate. The man who had knelt at sixteen and sworn to protect me forever.

He approached. He didn't look at me. First, his eyes found Bianca—center table, champagne silk dress, porcelain doll under the lights.

Then he looked down.

"Gemma," his voice was soft, the kind used to calm dogs. "Your father's right. Bianca takes the docks Monday. Thirty billion in assets. She can't miss the ceremony.""She's my twin," my voice tore. "If she donates, she can save me—"

"Three months recovery?" He crouched, gripping my chin. Ice-cold. "Three months of vulnerability while the cousins circle? Don't be selfish."

I stared at him. My stomach churned.

I turned away from them, looking at Bianca.

She sat at the far end of the table, champagne silk dress catching the light. Seventy percent my face, but she had always received a hundred percent of their love.

"Bianca," my voice barely rose above the rain. "You know what they're asking you to do. For me. And you're telling me… no matter what… you won't do it?"

She glanced at Mother first, offering that familiar, comforting look. Then she turned to me, her gaze steady and cold.

"Absolutely not."

"My physical for the heirship is in three days. I must be in perfect condition." Her chin lifted. "I won't ruin my future because of you."

I closed my eyes. Not anger. Just the sensation of falling.

"Of course," I whispered. "Your inheritance."

Father finally snapped.