Chapter 1

#Aveline

“I have half a year left to live.”

The words sat heavily on my tongue, but I couldn't say them out loud.

I just stared at the medical report in my trembling hands, the white paper crinkling under the tight, white-knuckled pressure of my grip.

Six months. One hundred and eighty days. That was all the time the doctor had granted me before my body finally surrendered to the aggressive, silent illness eating away at my vitals from the inside out.

Instead of crying, a hollow, bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Half a year. It was funny, in a twisted sort of way. I had spent nearly a decade dying in slow motion inside this house anyway, so now my body was simply forcing the timeline to catch up.

Eight years. For eight long, excruciating years, I had been married to Rhett Calloway. Eight years of pouring myself into a vessel that was permanently leaking, trying to fill a void that was never meant for me.

He had met me at the very brink of my career. Back then, I was a bright, fiercely ambitious young woman with a passion for marketing and business strategy, ready to take the world by storm. I had talent, drive, and a spark that belonged to me. When Rhett pursued me, he didn't just claim to love me; he looked me in the eyes and promised to help bloom my career. He swore his family’s empire would provide the ultimate launchpad for my dreams, vowing that we would build a powerful corporate legacy side by side..

But it was all a beautiful lie. The very moment I muttered the words "I do," the trap snapped shut.

Under the guise of wanting to "take care of me," Rhett and his mother pressured me to quit my job, convincing me that Calloway's wife had no business working.

“You don't need to stress yourself with a job. Focus on being a stay-at-home wife, and leave the business to me.”

Foolishly, I quit my job, walked away from my blossoming career, and allowed him to systematically erase me from society. Within months, the vibrant, independent woman I used to be was completely varnished over, locked away inside a cage.

I was nothing more than a substitute, brought in to fill a slot left vacant by Celine Ardent, the woman Rhett actually wanted, but whom his family had initially deemed unsuitable for their prestigious lineage. I had spent eight years learning that you cannot force a man to see you if he has already decided you are invisible. His cruelty wasn't loud or violent; it was the chilling indifference in his eyes, the clipped commands, and the absolute silence that filled the spaces between us.But I could have endured a cold

Lyra was eight years old. Rhett and I had adopted her when she was just an infant, or so he told me. I had raised her from the moment she was brought home in a soft pink blanket. I had stayed up through her feverish nights, rocked her to sleep when she cried, learned her favorite meals, and held her hand through every milestone. Yet, as the years passed, the poison of this house seeped into her, too. Influenced by her grandmother and her father's disregard for me, Lyra learned to treat me like an unwanted intruder.

Just yesterday, I had walked past her playroom and seen her drawing a picture. When I leaned in and asked what she was sketching, she quickly covered the paper, looking up at me with an icy detachment that mirrored her father's perfectly

"It’s a secret," she had said, her voice dripping with an icy indifference that mirrored her father's perfectly. "It's for Daddy and Auntie Celine. Not you."

Celine. The first love who had wormed her way back into our lives over the past year, constantly lingering around my family while I dealt with my failing health alone.

Then there was my mother-in-law, Victoria Calloway. Her insults were a permanent soundtrack in my mind. “Eight years, Aveline, and you haven’t given this family a biological heir,” she had sneered during her visit last week, looking at my pale, frail frame with undisguised disgust. “You bring nothing to the table but your pathetic, fragile disposition. I don’t know why Rhett still tolerates you.”

I had swallowed the insults then, just as I always did, keeping my hands clasped tightly behind my back so she wouldn't see them shaking. She didn't know I was sick. None of them did. They just thought I was growing uglier, weaker, and more dispensable by the day.

The heavy click of the front door echoed through the grand foyer. Rhett was home.Taking a deep breath, I slipped the medical report into the pocket of my cardigan. My heart hammered against my ribs. I didn't want his pity, but I needed to tell him. I needed to see if there was any shred of humanity left in the man I had given eight years of my life to.

I walked down the grand staircase and met him in the foyer. He was unbuttoning his suit jacket, his expression sharp and unyielding.

"Rhett," I called out softly.

"What is it, Aveline?" he asked, not looking up. "I have a lot of work to review in my study. Make it brief."

"I need to talk to you about something important," I said, my voice wavering slightly as I stood a few feet away from him. "It’s about my health. I went to the doctor today, and ..."

"Not now," he interrupted, his tone sharp with irritation as he finally glanced at me. "I don't have time to listen to you complain about another minor ailment. You've been looking pale and sluggish for months, Aveline. It's becoming exhausting."

"It's not a minor ailment, Rhett," I pressed, my fingers tightening around the paper in my pocket. "Please, just give me five minutes.

"He let out a heavy, impatient sigh. "Aveline, enough. If you’re feeling unwell, call the family physician. I have actual, pressing matters to deal with." He began to walk past me toward his study, but stopped abruptly, turning back with an expression completely devoid of emotion. "Actually, since you're here, we might as well get this over with. My mother spoke to me today.

"A cold dread pooled in my stomach. "About what?"

"About the future of the Calloway estate," Rhett said calmly, as if discussing a business merger. "She wants us to hire a surrogate to ensure the family lineage continues with my own blood. We've wasted eight years waiting for you, and it's clear a biological child is never going to happen.

"The words stole the air right out of my lungs. "A surrogate? Rhett, we haven't even discussed"

"I’ve already made my decision, Aveline," he cut me off. "I have already chosen the surrogate. It’s Celine.

"The room seemed to spin. Celine. The mistress they were already parading around behind my back.

"Celine," I whispered. "You've chosen her."

"She is healthy, she is intelligent, and she will give this family what you couldn't," Rhett said coldly, shifting his briefcase. "My mother completely approves. I expect you to cooperate and maintain appearances for the sake of the family name. Don't make this difficult, Aveline. It’s purely a practical matter.

"Without waiting for my response, without checking to see why the color had completely drained from my face, he turned on his heel, walked into his study, and shut the door behind him.

I stood alone in the quiet, dim foyer.

I pulled the medical report out of my pocket, unfolding it one last time. Six months.

A sudden, sharp sense of clarity washed over me, replacing the suffocating pain with a hard resolve. They wanted an heir. They wanted Celine. They thought I was a permanent, broken fixture they could ignore while they built a new life right in front of me.