Chapter 1

"Where did you get that death certificate? Under some shady overpass?"

My mother, Agatha Carper, pointed a finger right in the head nurse's face and started berating her. The reporters practically shoved their cameras into the nurse's face.

But the nurse didn't back down an inch. She looked coldly at the impeccably dressed woman standing before her. "Mrs. Lowe, this is an official certificate issued by the city. It bears the official government seal.

"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to call them right now and verify the certificate number."

Agatha's red-polished finger froze in midair. Then she let out a deeply contemptuous laugh.

"That brat sure has some nerve. She'd go as far as playing dead just to get out of donating blood to her sister. How much did she pay you to help her put on this little act?"

The reporters instantly caught the story's explosive angle and clicked their shutters even more frantically.

"Mrs. Lowe, does your biological daughter often resort to such extreme measures to avoid responsibility?"

"You've devoted everything to your adopted daughter, Bonnie, yet your own daughter, Julia, is so cold-blooded. How do you feel about that?"

Agatha turned to the cameras, her eyes instantly filling with tears. She lifted a handkerchief and dabbed delicately at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry you all have to witness our family drama play out like this. Julia grew up in the countryside, so she can be a little extreme. She's always thought I favor Bonnie, but how could I? They're both my daughters.

"Bonnie has a rare blood disorder, and Julia's blood type is the only one that matches hers. I only asked her to donate a little blood. It's not like I was going to take her life.

"How could she make up such a cruel lie and curse herself with her death?"

I floated near the ceiling of the hospital corridor, my translucent body passing through the harsh fluorescent lights. I watched my mother sob in front of the cameras as she accused me of things I had never done.

A month ago, it had happened right here, too. Agatha had people pin me down in a blood-draw chair while a thick needle was shoved into my vein.

I cried and begged her to stop, telling her I felt like the world was spinning around me and that my heart ached badly.

At that time, she covered her nose with the same handkerchief. She looked at my pale face with nothing but disgust. "Quit the act. The doctor said taking 800 cc won't kill you. Bonnie is in the ER, waiting for your blood!"

Steady footsteps came from the end of the corridor. The crowd automatically parted to make way. My fiance, Jonah Samson, walked over alongside my biological brother, Zack Lowe.

Jonah wore a perfectly tailored designer suit. His eyes, seen through his gold-rimmed glasses, held their usual cool, rational detachment.

"Is Julia done messing around?" he asked calmly, utterly devoid of emotion, though a note of condescension peeked through.

Zack strode forward and snatched the death certificate from the nurse. He barely even read it before he tore it cleanly in half. "I know you're hiding somewhere nearby, Julia!"

He buzzed around, his voice frigid. "You think you can scare us with a fake certificate? Bonnie is in the ICU right now, fighting for her life because she lost too much blood. If you're still human, get out here and face us!"

The nurse was shaking with anger. She bent down to pick up the torn certificate from the floor.

"You people are unbelievable! Julia Lowe was forcibly drained of blood here on the 25th of last month, which caused severe complications. She collapsed alone in the alley behind the hospital.

"By the time she was brought to the emergency room, she was already suffering from multiple organ failure.

"The community authorities had to step in and arrange for her body to be picked up because you, so-called family members, couldn't even be bothered to answer the damn phone!"

Jonah frowned slightly. He lowered his head and adjusted his cufflinks. "Nurse, you can be held legally responsible for spreading misinformation. Do you know that?

"Julia has a 150-thousand-dollar allowance deposited into her account every month. There's no way she could've died alone in an alley."

He turned to his assistant, Elijah Thorne. "Check her recent spending records and freeze all of her bank cards. If she wants to play this disappearing act, she'll have to suffer a little out there.

"I'm certain she'll come crawling back to apologize within three days."

I hovered silently in the air, watching the absolute confidence on Jonah's face.

He had always been so full of himself. He thought I couldn't live without him and that every act of defiance of mine was just my way of getting his attention.

Little did he know, I hadn't touched a single penny of that allowance. Bonnie had taken my supplementary card long ago to buy limited-edition designer handbags.