Chapter 3

I'm lying in a hospital bed.

Thirty minutes ago, I had 400cc of blood drawn and sent to Mandy's room next door. Word was, after getting my blood, her color came right back. James was right there at her bedside, spoon-feeding her like some lovesick puppy.

How ironic.

I lift my hand and pull out the IV needle from the back of my hand.

Blood wells up, but I feel no pain.

"Nurse," I call out.

The nurse on duty rushes over. "Mrs. Anderson, you can't move around! Your husband especially..."

"Get me a phone," I interrupt her. "I need to make a call."

"Here... here you go." The nurse hands me a phone.

I take it and dial a number I know by heart.

James will never know that I'm actually the heir to Smith Corporation.

Ten years ago, I fell for him at first sight. For him, I hid my identity and married down, becoming an ordinary wife.

When he was caught in that fire, I literally used my own back as a human shield when that beam came crashing down. Nearly bought it in those flames.

But when he woke up, he mistook Mandy for his savior.

Ten years of devotion—what a joke.

The call connects.

"Andrew," I say calmly, "arrange a fake death for me. I'm coming back."

After hanging up, I tell the nurse, "Tell James to come in."

A few minutes later, James pushes the door open, looking impatient.

"What are you making a fuss about now?"

I look at this man I've loved for ten years and ask my final question.

"James, what if I told you that the person who saved you from the fire was actually me? Would you believe it?"

James looks like he's heard the biggest joke ever, his eyes full of disgust. "Elizabeth, Mandy already told me that you're so jealous of her you've gone crazy, even trying to steal her identity as my 'savior.' I didn't want to believe you could be this low, but here you are, actually saying it out loud."

He leans down, his fingers cold as they grip my chin, his voice dripping with mockery. "There were only two people in that fire—Mandy and me. When I woke up, I was holding Mandy's necklace, and Mandy, covered in soot, was watching over me. And you? I heard you were at some school dance that day."

That was fake news the Smith family fed the press to cover up that I was dying in the ICU. Couldn't have word getting out that their precious heir almost bit the dust.

"Also," James continues, his tone sharpening, "Mandy has burn scars on her arm for life from saving me. What about you? Elizabeth, do you have even a single scar on your body that you got for me?"

I open my mouth, wanting to say, "Look at my back."

The nasty scars from where that beam crushed down, burning and ripping my skin to shreds.

But looking at his eyes, blinded by prejudice, I suddenly feel there's no point.

Since he's convinced those are Mandy's badges of honor, let him spend his life with his "savior."

"You're right, James." I nod, no longer arguing, the light in my eyes slowly dying out. "I'm not worthy. Mandy is indeed... 'remarkable.'"

"Good that you know." James lets go, wiping his fingers with a tissue in disgust. "Since you're awake, stop playing dead. Mandy needs follow-up treatment, and the doctor says your blood type is the best match. Be on standby."

With that, he turns and slams the door behind him.

Watching his retreating figure, I pick up the phone and say softly to Andrew, who's been silently listening on the other end:

"Andrew, let's begin. And... withdraw all of our investments in Anderson Corporation."

"It's time to show him that the waves in the business world are big enough to easily destroy him."

As for me, I can't say whether living or dying hurts worse, but I can damn sure decide who gets to find out.

Take that useless piece of shit James, for example.