Chapter 1

I didn't dare waste even a second and immediately rushed to the hospital.

As I hurried there, I repeatedly called Ethan Alvarez, trying to tell him that the injured man was his father, but he kept hanging up on me.

It was obvious that he was preparing to board the plane with Mia Reed.

The doctor walked out of the emergency room with a worried expression.

"The patient's lower limbs were crushed, and he's suffered massive blood loss. Surgery is required immediately. As you're not a legal family member, please contact his relatives and have them come here as soon as possible."

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I dialed Ethan's number again. This time, he finally answered.

"Ethan, get to the hospital right now! The person Mia hit is—"

He interrupted me before I could finish, his voice filled with impatience.

"Wasn't five hundred thousand dollars enough? Mia already explained it was an accident. Besides, your father wasn't seriously injured. On the contrary, she was badly frightened, and I need to stay with her."

"At the end of the day, this was your father's fault. The Alvarez family is well-known in Enotria, and my mother never invites strangers to our events. He didn't have an invitation but insisted on attending our engagement party. That's why this accident happened!"

I was furious.

"Ethan, the person lying in the hospital is your—"

"Celeste, you need to watch yourself. We're not married yet, so I have no obligation to take care of your father.

"If this accident hadn't happened, I never would've known that you and your father are exactly the same, with no sense of etiquette or boundaries. Your family should be thanking Mia for teaching you some manners!"

There was not only anger in his raised voice, but arrogance as well.

I was trembling with rage, yet at that moment, a sharp series of beeping sounds came from the emergency room. It was the monitor's critical-condition alarm.

Suppressing both my anger and the tremor in my voice, I said, "Ethan, I'll say this one more time. The person being resuscitated is your father! Get to the hospital now, or you'll regret it!"

There was silence on the other end of the line for several seconds before Ethan let out a cold laugh.

"I finally understand your little game. You're jealous and resentful, so now you're cursing my father and trying to trick me into canceling my trip with Mia. That's not going to happen!

"I'm boarding now. Stop calling me. Otherwise, I'll cancel our engagement!"

Before I could say anything else, he hung up.

Dad was furious.

"He suddenly canceled the ceremony. Now his father is in critical condition, yet he still refuses to show up. Ethan is a complete b*st*rd! If you hadn't wanted to expand our family's influence in Enotria, I would've never agreed to this marriage alliance."

That was true.

The reason I had agreed to the alliance was because Ethan was the only marriageable heir in the Alvarez family, and he wasn't bad-looking either.

As someone born into a secondary line of the family, he had no idea how much influence the McKenna family held in Lanford. He genuinely believed we were nothing more than ordinary nouveau riche.

That was why, when he thought the elderly man Mia had hit was my dad, he didn't even hesitate and simply tried to settle the matter with money.

Even after learning that the victim's condition was critical, all he cared about was Mia. He wasn't willing to spare even a little time to come to the hospital.

To him, this marriage was nothing more than a task assigned by his family.

He had never considered my dad and me to be his family.

"Cancel the engagement! As the don of the McKenna family, there's no way I'll allow my precious daughter to marry a man like that. Cancel it immediately!"

"I agree."

I nodded and supported my dad's decision.

Just then, a piercing alarm sounded from inside the operating room, followed by the doctor's shout.

"Sh*t! His blood pressure is dropping! He's gone into cardiac arrest! Prepare for resuscitation!"

The doctors and nurses immediately fell into chaos, and less than a minute later, a nurse pushed open the door and sighed at us.

"The patient's heart has stopped beating and has been pronounced dead."

It was already too late.