Chapter 2

Brooks didn't come home that night.

My text messages went ignored. Eventually, I just stopped trying.

Early the next morning, I went to the private hospital to visit my sister. We had finally found a bone marrow match. Her transplant was scheduled in exactly two days.

Clara had battled leukemia since she was a little kid. After our parents died, she became my entire world. She was the only family I had left.

I walked into her room. She was lying in bed, surrounded by beeping monitors. But the second she saw me, her face lit up.

"Avery!"

Then, her eyes darted to the white gauze taped to my forehead. Her smile dropped. "What happened to your head?"

I set a basket of fruit on her nightstand and forced a casual smile. "It's nothing. Just took a bad fall."

She hesitated, but bought it anyway. Excitement quickly took over.

"Avery, the doctor said my surgery is in two days. Am I finally getting better?" She grabbed my hand, her eyes shining. "Once I'm cured, can we go to California? I want to see the ocean."

I gently rubbed her head. A bitter ache spread through my chest.

She was seventeen. She had spent the last seven years staring at hospital walls. Let alone California, she had almost forgotten what the outside of this city looked like.

If this surgery worked, I would take her anywhere.

"Brooks hasn't visited in a while," Clara rambled on, hugging my arm. "Is he just crazy busy at work? Tell him I finished the book he bought me."

She adored Brooks. She was constantly waiting for the day we finally got married.

Looking at her bright smile, my mind drifted.

If Maddie didn't exist, Brooks and I would have been perfectly happy.

In the beginning, he treated Clara like his own sister. He covered her medical bills. He got her this VIP room. He even pulled strings to find her a marrow match.

I was endlessly grateful. I swore I would devote my entire life to him.

But then, things changed.

He started bringing Maddie everywhere. Suddenly, our relationship had a permanent third wheel. And Brooks always used the same excuse.

"Maddie is autistic, Avery. Stop being petty with a sick girl."

I swallowed my pride for Clara's sake. I lowered my boundaries over and over. But my compromises only bought me worse humiliation.

I thought a wedding ring would fix things. But every time we made an appointment to get our marriage license, Maddie would miraculously have a meltdown. Brooks would bolt.

Over time, I lost the courage to keep asking.

I wanted to walk away a thousand times. But Brooks knew exactly what he was doing. He knew I would never abandon my sister. He held her life in his wallet.

But after ten years, I was done.

I took a deep breath. I was just about to tell Clara that Brooks and I were over.

Then, my phone buzzed.

It was Brooks.

I paused, gave Clara a reassuring squeeze, and stepped out into the hallway to answer.

"Where are you?" he demanded. His voice was rushed.

"The hospital."

"What the hell are you doing there?!" Brooks snapped. His voice echoed sharply through the speaker. "Maddie is having an episode. She's throwing things. I can't calm her down."

He didn't need to finish that sentence. I knew exactly what he wanted.

He wanted me to rush over. He wanted me to play the clown so she could laugh at my bloody forehead.

I closed my eyes.

"Clara's surgery is in two days. I don't have time for this."

Dead silence fell over the line.

When Brooks spoke again, his voice dropped to ice. "Excuse me? You better think real hard about what you're doing right now."

It was the first time in ten years I had ever told him no.

I didn't answer. I just hung up.

When I walked back into the room, Clara was chatting happily with a nurse. Her laughter made my tense shoulders drop a little.

But then, her attending doctor caught my eye from the door. He signaled me to his office.

Once the door closed, the doctor slid a medical chart across his desk.

"Ms. Quinn, I don't know how to tell you this." He took a heavy breath. "The matched donor just backed out."

My blood ran cold. My mind went completely blank.

"What do you mean they backed out?" I choked out, gripping the edge of his desk. "The surgery is already scheduled! My sister doesn't have much time left. It took us years to find this match..."

My throat closed up. I couldn't finish the sentence.

The doctor looked at me with deep pity.

"I'm so sorry. They simply changed their minds." He shook his head. "Our hands are tied."