His Cruelest Betrayal, Her Sweetest Revenge

For ten years, my billionaire husband Jaydan paid for my brother's life-saving medical treatments. I was a paramedic, and he called me his angel for saving his life long ago.

But when I rescued a dying child from a fire instead of his socialite best friend, Ariana, the angel fell. He cut off my brother's funding, threatening to let him die.

He forced me to hold a press conference and publicly shame myself for doing my job, all to soothe Ariana's ego.

Chapter 1

The sterile beep of the heart monitor echoed through the phone. It was a sound I knew too well, a rhythm I' d spent my life working to stabilize in others. But this time, it was for my brother, Cody.

"Ms. Craig," Dr. Evans's voice was grim, "Cody' s enzyme levels are dangerously low. We need to authorize the next round of his gene therapy treatment immediately. The invoice is being sent to Mr. Anderson' s office now."

"Thank you, Doctor. Authorize it," I said, my voice tight. I leaned my head against the cool glass of the penthouse window, looking down at the city lights that glittered like a thousand tiny, indifferent stars.

I hung up and turned. Jaydan Anderson, my husband of ten years, stood by the fireplace. The flames danced in his dark eyes, but his face was cold, impassive.

"I just spoke with the hospital," I began. "They're starting Cody's next treatment-"

"No, they're not," he cut me off. His voice was quiet, but it sliced through the room. "I've instructed my office to halt all payments to that hospital."

The words didn't register at first. They felt like a language I didn't understand. "What? Jaydan, what are you talking about? He'll die. You know he'll die without it."

He didn' t flinch. He just took a sip of his whiskey, the amber liquid glowing in the firelight. "That's a shame."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "This isn't a joke. Stop it. Call them back right now."

"I will," he said, setting the glass down with a soft click. "After you do something for me."

He walked over to the tablet on the coffee table and tapped the screen. It lit up with a news article. The headline was sensational: "Hero Paramedic Saves Child, Leaves Socialite Ariana Shepherd in Blaze."

The catastrophic apartment fire from last week. A gas line had exploded. I' d been on the first response team. The scene was chaos-smoke, screams, the groan of collapsing structure.

Jaydan' s voice was like ice. "You were there. You found Ariana. And you found some random child."

"The child was in cardiac arrest, Jaydan. He had third-degree burns. Ariana had minor smoke inhalation. She was conscious and walking. My training, my duty-"

"Your duty?" he sneered. "Your duty is to me. Ariana is my oldest friend. She could have been seriously hurt."

"But she wasn't! A little boy was dying!" My voice cracked with disbelief. This was the man I loved, the man I' d built a life with. I didn't recognize the monster standing in front of me.

"That child means nothing. Ariana means something," he stated, as if it were a simple fact of the universe. "She is humiliated. The press is painting her as unimportant. You did that to her."

He slid the tablet across the table. It now showed a draft of a public statement. "You will call a press conference tomorrow. You will apologize to Ariana. You will say you made a grave error in judgment during a moment of panic."

"Panic?" I choked out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "I was doing my job."

"You will say you were overwhelmed and you abandoned her. You will beg for her forgiveness."

My phone buzzed. It was the hospital. Cody' s nurse. Her text was frantic. Ainsley, the funding was just pulled. They're stopping the infusion. What's happening?

A cold dread washed over me, so potent it left me breathless. I looked at Cody's picture on the mantelpiece-his weak but hopeful smile. He was my only family, the reason I fought so hard for everything. And Jaydan was using him like a weapon.

He saw the look on my face. "Your brother's life is in your hands, Ainsley. One public apology, and the funding is restored. Simple."

He grabbed my arm, his grip like steel. I was a paramedic, trained to be strong, but his power was absolute. He was a billionaire. He owned this city, and right now, he owned me.

"Say it," he commanded, his face inches from mine. "Say you'll do it."

I thought of Cody, of the beeping monitor that could fall silent at any moment. The fight went out of me, replaced by a hollow, crushing defeat.

"I'll do it," I whispered. The words tasted like ash.

"Good girl," he said, releasing me. He smiled, that charming, charismatic smile that had once made my heart leap. Now, it just made me feel sick.

As he walked away to make the call, my mind spiraled back ten years. A rookie EMT, my hands slick with blood-his blood. A brutal car crash on a rain-swept highway. I was the one who pulled him from the twisted metal. The one who kept him alive until the chopper arrived.

He' d called me his angel. He' d pursued me relentlessly, with helicopter dates and private islands and a world of luxury I' d never imagined. He' d showered me with affection, making me the envy of everyone we knew.

"I' ll love you forever, Ainsley," he' d vowed on our wedding day, his eyes full of what I thought was sincerity. "I' ll protect you from everything."

It was all a lie.

Ariana Shepherd had always been there, a shadow in our perfect life. Jaydan' s "best friend," his high-school sweetheart. She'd always played the part of the supportive friend to me, her smile never quite reaching her eyes. She manufactured little dramas, made herself the victim of imaginary slights, and slowly, subtly, poisoned Jaydan' s mind against me.

He always defended her. "She's just sensitive, Ainsley. Be nicer to her."

And I always gave in. For him. For Cody, whose expensive treatments Jaydan had generously funded from the very beginning.

Now I saw it all with horrifying clarity. Cody was never a recipient of his charity. He was leverage.

Jaydan came back into the room, his phone in his hand. "It's done. The hospital is being paid." He looked at me, his expression softening into a mask of concern. "I know this is hard, Ainsley. But it's for the best. We need to protect our family's reputation."

He reached for me, but I flinched away.

He sighed, undeterred. He called out to Ariana, who had been waiting in another room. She entered, her eyes red-rimmed, a perfect portrait of a fragile victim.

"Jaydan, maybe this is too much to ask of Ainsley," she said, her voice a soft murmur.

"Nonsense," Jaydan said, putting an arm around her. "Ainsley knows she made a mistake. She' s happy to make it right. Aren't you, darling?"

He looked at me, his eyes daring me to defy him.

My brother's face flashed in my mind.

I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.

Jaydan and Ariana left together, his arm still securely around her shoulders. I was left alone in the vast, silent penthouse, the city lights below blurring through my tears. The love story was a sham. The man I married was a stranger.

I sank onto the floor, the plush carpet offering no comfort. I had to get Cody away from him. I had to get myself away from him. A plan began to form in the ruins of my heart. It was a desperate, dangerous idea, but it was the only one I had. I would play his game, for now. But it would be the last time.