Everything went to hell when a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit. My husband stopped the rescue team from saving my brother, who was severely injured, insisting they prioritize my sister-in-law—but she had nothing more than some scrapes!

In the end, my brother died because they didn't give a shit about rescuing him in time. When I confronted my husband about it, he slapped me across the face.

"Your brother's hurt so bad that saving him wouldn't help! Why waste medical resources?" he sneered.

It wasn't until I discovered his affair with my brother's wife that the brutal truth hit me—those devils wanted me and my brother dead!

To silence me, they knocked me out and locked me in a freezer after the quake, leaving me there to freeze to death.

Then, they convinced everyone Ronan and I died in the disaster—all so they could take over my family's company!

It didn't take them long to get hitched and live their lives happily together.

And yet, somehow, I found myself back there again—the day the earthquake struck, the rescue just beginning.

——

"Your brother's trapped! His leg was crushed under a beam! He's not gonna make it! Let's pull Cindy out from under the desk first!"

I couldn't believe my ears. My very own husband of five long years actually said that?!

Ronan had taken him in and raised him! Without my brother, my husband would've starved to death on the streets a long time ago!

And now, there my traitor husband was—colder than a corpse, worse than any beast!

As I saw that twisted, dark look on his face, my consciousness gradually returned.

Right then, I immediately blocked the rescue team.

"No! No! You can't just leave my brother behind!"

Damon—that son of a bitch!—shoved me out of the way.

"Amara, don't you get it? You're making things harder! Saving a hopeless case in an earthquake is just a waste of medical resources!"

"Your brother's beyond saving. Stop holding up the rescue!"

"'You know what you're doing here? You're practically doing murder, 'you understand?"

Damon talked like he was a god, and it made me wanna throw up just looking at him.

In my last life, I fell for his bullshit. And because of that, my brother had lost so much blood that he died.

Afterward, Damon and my Cindy teamed up to kill me too and take over our company, enjoying a luxurious, guilt-free life!

But not in this lifetime! Never again!

Desperate, I shoved past Damon and stood in front of the rescue team, shouting at the top of my lungs.

"I'm begging you! Save my brother first! He's hurt so bad! If you delay rescuing him, it'll be too late!"

"My sister-in-law's just hiding under the desk! She's not even hurt! You just need to move some junk for her! She can wait!"

Seeing me keep the team from helping Cindy, Damon kicked me down.

"Amara! Now's not the time to be stubborn!"

"You keep this up, you're not just risking your brother; you're gonna get your sister-in-law killed, too!"

"You're disrupting the rescue! You could be charged for this, 'you know that?"

His sharp voice drilled into my head, gradually clearing my mind.

And so I clenched my teeth and grabbed a bottle nearby. I smashed it, and then, I held the jagged edge to my neck.

"If you don't save my brother, I'll die right here in front of you! You'll all be murderers!"

Seeing I meant it, the rescue team had no choice but to rush to Ronan first.

Damon shot me a furious look. He could only drag one of the rescuers to go help Cindy instead.

I watched him rush off to her, and it was killing me.

Thank heavens, after a struggle, the rescue team finally got my brother out!

My brother... God, he was pale as a ghost, his lips were deathly blue, and he was unconscious!

They started bandaging his severely injured leg.

But with the roads blocked, getting to a hospital was impossible. All we could do was hope the field medics get there soon.

I was panicking, dialing 911 nonstop 'til the operator finally responded.

I begged relentlessly, and they agreed to send a medical team.

Each second of waiting stretched on forever.

After some time, finally, I heard a voice calling outside!

"Who called for a medical team?"

I rushed forward and shouted right away. "Here! Over here! Please hurry up!"

But Damon shoved me aside again!

"Our sister-in-law's hurt too! We need to have her treated first!"

He's got our "injured" sister-in-law in his arms, blocking me from reaching the medics.

He gazed at her, full of concern, and she looked right back like a lovestruck idiot.

Honestly, it felt less like a real-life rescue mission and more like a melodramatic plot of the film San Andreas!

That bitch even glanced at me, and I bet she felt triumphant!

I gritted my teeth so hard I could feel them creaking.

In my last life, my husband wasted time coddling his mistress over a scratched-up leg, and my poor brother paid for it.

Thank god the medic saw that Cindy only had minor injuries! He walked past those two liars and asked me, "Where's the injured?"

Just as I was about to lead the medic to my brother, Damon grabbed my arm. "Amara, let the doctor check on your brother's wife first! Look, she's almost bleeding out!"

He even lifted her pant leg to show the scratch, trying to guilt the medic into treating her first.

"Your brother's legs are bandaged already! He'll be fine when he wakes up!"

"If his wife's leg doesn't get treated soon, it'll get infected and scar!"

"Get the hell out of my way, Damon!"

I used every bit of strength to shove both of them aside.

He lost his balance, and Cindy fell to the ground.

She put on this pitiful face, her eyes even welling up.

"Amara, sweetie, how could you do this to me? I'm your brother's wife!"

"Look, I'm worried about him, too, okay? Just let me get treated first, so I can take care of him!"

Seeing his other woman feel wronged, Damon panicked and broke into a cold sweat. Of course, he shot me another furious glare.

There they were—two cheaters shamelessly parading their affair in front of me!

With Ronan still in a critical condition, my heart broke into pieces a thousand times.

"Cindy? Is that you?"

Suddenly, the chief medic asked my sister-in-law with his mouth curved slightly and his face a look of surprise.

Oh, fuck, I'm doomed.

That medic—he's Cindy's ex-boyfriend!

"Galen! Can you please take a look on my foot? It hurts so bad... Do you think it's broken?"

Cindy batted her lashes at the chief medic, whining in that overly sweet voice.

Her ex glanced down at the foot she lifted and barely smiled.

"It's a scrape, that's all. It can wait."

Hearing that, I let out a breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding.

Finally, he walked over to where Ronan was lying and started treating his injuries.

While the doctor was attending my brother, I caught Damon secretly pulling a nurse aside. He whispered something to her.

A moment later, that nurse came storming back, her face twisted with anger.

"How could you not tell us the patient has a contagious disease?! You let the doctor treat your brother without any protection—are you trying to put us all at risk? Do you realize how reckless you are?!"

As soon as the doctor heard that, he paused in the middle of treating my brother's injuries.

"This patient is in critical condition, but this isn't a safe way to handle it. You should get him to a hospital instead. It's safer for all of us."

It was obvious he was swayed by the nurse's outburst.

I quickly stepped forward to block his path, desperate to stop him from leaving.

"Doc, my brother doesn't have any contagious disease! Don't listen to that nurse!"

But he only shook his head.

"They're clearing the road soon. You should find a way to get him to the hospital. And if he does have something contagious, you really shouldn't hide that."

With that, he headed off to attend to other victims, ignoring my pleas for him to continue treating Ronan.

My heart sank at that moment. I finally got it—my husband, that devil, had whispered to the nurse to say that lie!

Meanwhile, Cindy crouched next to Ronan. She stroked his forehead, putting on her sweet act.

"Darling, you have to pull through for me, okay?"

"What would I do without you?"

Just like that, she turned to leave and trailed after her ex.

My traitor husband? He glanced my way, a smug smile creeping on his face.

"Hey, just stay here. I'll go with her to find a doctor—and maybe an ambulance for your brother."

A smack echoed right after that.

I slapped him hard across the face!

"Son of a bitch! You think I don't know about you and that maneater?! Well, I won't let you get away with putting my brother through this!"

He was about to lay a finger on me when a paramedic stepped in and held him back.

The son of a bitch flared his nostrils and yelled in rage.

"Are you nuts?! What the hell are you talking about? Nothing's going on between me and your brother's wife!"

"She's injured! Shouldn't she get treated, too? Is Ronan's life the only one that matters here?"

"Listen, it's not like we're not going to help him, Amara. He'll get help—just a little later, got it?"

As I stared at this liar with a human face but a beast's heart, regret gradually consumed me.

Years back, Ronan was against me being with Damon. My brother warned me this guy was too wild for me to tame.

But I was so blinded by whatever spark I thought I saw in him that I ran off with him.

Ronan was so furious that he nearly collapsed. Eventually, he agreed to our marriage.

And even then, to keep me from hardship, Ronan set Damon up with a high-paying job as the manager at Beaumont Holdings, our family company.

But now, here he was, plotting against the very man who took him in!

My brother was 10 years older, practically a father to me since our parents passed.

And yet, because of this son of a bitch, I broke my brother's heart, and now, it was he who was paying the price!

Looking back, I should have seen the signs that Damon only wanted our family's wealth. Damn, I was too naive to see it then!

There was one time, he casually joked around about it.

"Darling, you know, if your brother's not around, your family's fortune will all be ours."

I watched those two traitors—my husband and my brother's wife—walk off together, and I swore to myself I'd make them pay!

Seeing my brother's face go even paler had me losing my mind.

Dammit—I got my whole life back, yet I still couldn't save him?

Luckily, just when I was about to lose all hope, I heard the sirens outside.

Relief hit me like a wave, and I rushed to get the paramedics to take my brother to the ambulance.

The moment they got him in and they started the blood transfusion, my heart settled just a little.

But then, of course, Damon helped Cindy climb into the ambulance too.

Finally, my brother managed to wake up for a second, but the two traitors both leaned in, ready to put on their act!

"Oh, darling, you're finally awake! You had me worried sick! I searched everywhere for an ambulance to get you here! God, now, I can rest easy."

"Bro, you've gotta pull through! I was losing it seeing you like this—I'm so glad you're awake now!"

But seeing those two feign their concern in front of me made my skin crawl.

If Ronan weren't in such bad shape, I swear I'd be exposing those liars' secrets right then and there!

But Ronan squeezed my hand, his voice weak.

"Amara, if... if I don't make it… be strong... Keep our company running…"

I could barely hold back my tears. "Ronan, no..., you're gonna make it!"

But damn it, the blood supply in the ambulance was limited, and soon enough, my brother slipped back into unconsciousness.

I caught the two traitors exchanging glances like they were secretly planning something.

But my brother's life being on the line was everything that was on my mind, and I didn't have the energy to confront them right then.

As the ambulance bumped along the rough road, I wished I could jump out and push it myself to make it get us to the city hospital faster.

After some whispers between Cindy and Damon, she leaned forward and told the driver, "Head to Hopewell Medical Center! It's the closest one! I used to work there, so I know it well!"

My brother's situation was getting critical with all the blood he'd lost. If he could get a transfusion at a closer hospital, that would be a miracle!

After 10 minutes, we pulled up to Hopewell Medical Center.

For a moment, just thinking about my brother finally getting treated eased my resentment toward the two traitors just a little.

Maybe, just maybe, Cindy was not entirely heartless after all.

But as soon as we got Ronan into the ER, I found out—the hospital blood bank was nearly empty! To make things more complicated, Ronan had a rare blood type, and no compatible blood was available!

And right then, I finally realized what the two fucking devils were really up to.

Hopewell Medical Center was close to the earthquake zone. It's a small hospital, where, of course, blood banks for rare blood types are sure to be scarce!

Cindy sighed, feigning helplessness. "What are we supposed to do now? If he doesn't get a blood transfusion soon, my husband's not gonna make it!"

Just as I was about to demand they transfer my brother somewhere else, a nurse whispered, "Dr. Rupert, a doctor here, has a rare blood type, too. Not sure if he's on duty, though..."

Her quiet little voice struck me like a bolt of lightning.

Clutching the nurse's arm like it was my lifeline, I pleaded, "Please, tell me, where's his office?"

But before the nurse could respond, Cindy jumped in, "I know where it is! I'll go get him! Amara, stay here and look after your brother."

Without waiting for my response, she disappeared into the night.

But something about her rushing off didn't sit right with me, so I decided to follow her.

Damon was right behind me, nagging in my ear.

"She's already going to find that doctor. What's the point of you tagging along? Who's gonna look after your brother?"

But with nurses attending Ronan, I had nothing to worry about.

I needed to find Dr. Rupert fast—he's my brother's fighting chance!

Following Cindy led me to a building for the medical staff.

From a distance, I spotted her pushing someone toward the hospital exit.

I rushed over and asked the staff. "Excuse me! Are you Dr. Rupert?"