Chapter 1

Linnie's POV

My mother gave me her kidney. The price was my husband.

As the orderlies wheeled me toward surgery, Mom gripped my hand and begged through her tears: “Promise me you'll divorce Ansel. Your sister needs him.”

My husband had already signed the papers. “Give me one year,” he said. “Once Tam's back on her feet, we'll get remarried.”

I survived the operation. I signed away my marriage. Then I vanished to London without a word.

Four years later, I walk into my old tailor's shop in Chicago and run straight into the happy family: my ex, my parents, and my very pregnant little sister. They're sure I've come crawling back. They're sure I'm still bitter, still alone, still desperate for the man they handed to her.

So when I tell them I'm married now, they laugh. When I tell them my husband and daughter just landed at O'Hare, they call me a liar.

And when they decide to lock me away “for my own good,” they're about to find out exactly whose family they just declared war on.

——

End-stage renal disease. That was the official name for it. My kidneys had quit, and dialysis was only buying me time.

The night before the transplant, Mom sat on the edge of my hospital bed, already wearing a hospital bracelet of her own, and smoothed my hair back from my forehead.

“Linnie, I'm giving you my kidney,” she said softly. “All I want is for you to be well.”

I cried. I truly believed it was the most selfless thing anyone had ever done for me.

The next morning, as the orderlies wheeled me toward the operating room, she caught my hand. Her eyes were wet.

“Linnie, promise me something. Promise me you'll divorce Ansel. Your sister needs him.”

Dad stood behind her, his face turned toward the wall so he wouldn't have to look at me. “Sweetheart, Tam's divorce wrecked her. She's in a very dark place, and right now Ansel is the only one who can pull her out of it.”

Dazed, I looked up at my husband. Ansel Kerrigan was still gripping my hand as tightly as he had all night.

But his voice was ice.

“I've already signed the papers. As soon as you're discharged, my lawyer will file.”

Then, almost gently: “Give me one year, Linnie. Once Tam's back on her feet, we'll get remarried.”

Something inside me burned down to ash right there in that hallway. I held on just long enough to survive the operating table.

The divorce was final three months later. I blocked every one of their numbers, packed two suitcases, and moved to London.

Four years later, I ran into the whole happy family at Calloway's, the little tailor shop tucked inside a mall on the Magnificent Mile.

Ansel saw me first. He stepped in front of my sister like a human shield. “Linnie, don't start anything with Tam. She's pregnant.”

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud.

“I'm married now, Ansel. Why on earth would I start something with her?”

He went completely still.

My darling little sister, Tamsin Whitlow, chose that moment to step forward, one hand resting on the gentle swell of her stomach. Heaven forbid anyone miss it.

“Linnie, please stop saying things like that just to hurt us,” she said, soft and wounded. “You know how much it upsets Ansel.”

For a second, I was genuinely speechless.

“Why would it upset him? He got exactly what he wanted. He has you. Shouldn't he be thrilled?”

Something flickered across Ansel's face. “Linnea. When did you get so sharp-tongued?”

Before I could answer, Mom and Dad came hurrying over. The moment they spotted me, their faces filled with the same two things: disappointment and dread. They thought I'd come back to break up Ansel and Tamsin.

Mom's voice was as gentle as ever, and somehow that made my skin crawl.

“Linnie, honey, just be patient a little longer, okay? Once your sister has the baby, you and Ansel can work things out.”

“Your mother's right,” Dad added. “Pregnancy is hard enough, and you know how anxious Tam gets. What's a few more months to you?”

Looking at them, I was suddenly back in that hospital corridor, every second of it playing on a loop. My mother had used her own kidney as a bargaining chip to make me hand my husband over to my sister.

I took two steps back and laughed, cold and sharp.

“You swore it would be one year. It’s been four. And you’re seriously telling me to keep waiting? Until when, exactly? Am I supposed to wait around to help them celebrate their silver anniversary?”

That shut them up.

Ansel stepped closer. “Linnie, it's only a few months. You don't have to make it sound so ugly. I know you blame me. But you still can't let me go, can you? You used to come here all the time. Every suit I own came from this shop. And here you are again. You're having something made for me, aren't you?”

That caught me off guard, mostly because he wasn't completely wrong. Back when I loved Ansel more than anything, I'd wanted to take care of every corner of his life. He hated shopping, in stores or online, so I used to measure him at home and bring the numbers here to have everything made to order.

Seeing me at Calloway's, he'd simply assumed nothing had changed.

Right on cue, Mrs. Calloway came out from the back, smiling, a garment bag draped over her arm. “Linnea, your navy suit is ready.”

Ansel reached for it before I could. He unzipped the bag, held up the jacket, and frowned.

“Linnea, I don't wear blue. Have her make you another one.”

My eyes went cold. “Ansel, this suit isn't for you.”

He sighed like I was being difficult. “You never just say what you mean.”

My phone rang.

The caller ID said Husband. I smiled and picked up.

“Hi, honey. I'm at the mall, waiting for you two.”