Chapter 1

My son, Liam, stared at the wall. He didn't blink. He just stared. The doctors said the severe allergic reaction had caused permanent brain damage. He was only five.

My own body was a mess. A car accident had shattered my ribs and, worst of all, injured my heart. I woke up with a new one beating in my chest, a stranger's heart.

Mark, my husband, sat by my bedside every day. He held my hand and told me how much he loved me. He was the perfect, grieving husband and father. He seemed broken by our double tragedy. I believed him. I trusted him completely.

Then, one night, I heard his voice from the hallway. The door was slightly open. He was on the phone, his voice low and urgent.

"Olivia, it's done. Liam is no longer a problem."

A pause.

"The accident went perfectly. They said her heart was a match for you. It was almost too easy."

My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't move.

"No, she doesn't suspect a thing. She thinks I'm the loving husband. She and that little idiot are just pawns, my love. Pawns to get you the heart you need and to make sure our son, Ethan, inherits everything."

The world tilted. The man I loved, the father of my child, had tried to kill us. He had fed our son peanuts, knowing Liam was deathly allergic. He had arranged the car crash that almost took my life, all to give my heart to his mistress.

I wasn't his wife. Liam wasn't his son. We were just tools. Obstacles to be removed.

A cold, hard clarity washed over the pain. I felt nothing but ice in my veins. I had to get Liam out. I had to disappear from Mark Miller's life forever.

He walked back into the room a few minutes later, his face a mask of gentle concern.

"Sarah, honey, how are you feeling?"

I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw his eyes out. But I just looked at him and gave a weak smile.

"Tired."

He sat down, taking my hand. His touch felt like poison.

"I need to ask you for a huge favor, Sarah. It's about Olivia. Dr. Reed."

He said her name so easily.

"Her body is rejecting the new heart. She needs a blood transfusion, a specific type. It's you, Sarah. You're the only match they can find."

He was using my love, my supposed goodness, to save the woman he tried to kill me for. The audacity of it made me dizzy.

My hand trembled as I reached for the glass of water on my bedside table. It slipped through my fingers and shattered on the floor. A shard of glass sliced across the back of my hand. Blood welled up, dark and red.

"Oh, honey, be careful!" Mark said, rushing to my side.

He dabbed at the cut with a tissue, his movements gentle. But his eyes were empty. There was no real concern there. It was all an act. A performance for an audience of one.

Just then, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. The name 'Olivia' flashed for a second before he answered.

His entire demeanor changed.

"Olivia? What's wrong? Are you okay? I'm coming right now."

He hung up and turned to me, his face tight with real anxiety, an emotion he never showed for me or Liam.

"We have to go. Now. Olivia can't wait."

He didn't even look at the bleeding cut on my hand. He grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the bed. I was weak, my legs unsteady from the surgery.

"Mark, I can't... I'm not strong enough," I whispered.

"You have to be," he said, his voice hard and cold. "Her life depends on it."

He practically dragged me out of the room. As he pushed me into the wheelchair he'd grabbed, I looked back at the closed door of Liam's room.

I will get you out, my sweet boy, I promised silently. I will get us both out. And he will never hurt us again.