Since the very beginning, I was nothing more than a disposable tool to him. The love I thought was real, the salvation I believed in—it had all been nothing but lies and betrayal.

Kevin leaned in close, pressing a kiss against my lips. “Sleep now. It’ll all be over soon.”

The familiar scent of pine surrounded me, thick and nauseating. I wanted to push him away, but the anesthesia had taken full effect. My body felt like lead. My mind slipped into darkness.

A cold scalpel traced across my skin. Blood-stained water was carried out, basin after basin. Somewhere deep inside me, the last frozen pieces of my heart began to crack, splintering apart.

When I finally opened my eyes, Kevin’s face was the first thing I saw—too close, his bloodshot eyes filled with what looked like anguish.

“Ria! You’re awake!” His voice shook with emotion, his eyes glistening with tears. “If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself!”

He suddenly slapped himself, hard. “This is all my fault! I made too many enemies in business and you got caught in the crossfire. Someone bribed the doctor to hurt you… You…”

I lowered my eyes, watching his theatrical performance in silence.

Kevin’s face twisted in grief. “They forced you to swallow sulfuric acid… They cut you open… But thank God… thank God you’re still here…”

His sobs were ragged as he buried his face against my neck, his tears seeping into my hospital gown. Every word he spoke was thick with concern—yet every single one was actually laced with love meant for someone else.

I never thought Kevin—the man who never cared to hide his true feelings—could put on such an elaborate act. He did it all for Valentina.

A sudden, searing pain tore through me, making my body shudder uncontrollably.

“Ria! What’s wrong? Don’t do this to me!”

Kevin jerked upright, panic flashed across his face. He didn’t even stop to put on his fallen shoes before bolting out the door to call the doctor.

The phone on the bedside table buzzed incessantly.

With trembling hands, I reached out to it. Turned out, it was Kevin’s phone. The home wallpaper was still a picture of us.

Unlocking it was effortless. The passcode was my birthday... or more likely, Valentina’s.

Unread TalkUs voice messages popped up the screen—one after another, all from her.

[Kev, Damian hit me again. It hurts so much… When are you coming to save me?]

[I wish I were my sister. She always had you and everyone else to protect her. But me? I was kidnapped as a child and when I finally came home, I ended up in another nightmare…]

[If I could trade places with her, I can’t even imagine how happy I’d be.]

[…Oh no! Wrong number!]

Valentina quickly retracted all the messages.

I hesitated before tapping Switch Account.

A TalkUs profile appeared on the screen—[Only Love Tina.]

At the top of the chat list was Valentina, pinned. Right below it, a group chat called [One Big Happy Family.]

There wasn’t a single mention of the word love in their private messages, yet love was woven into every interaction.

Money transfers on Valentine’s Day. Good morning and good night messages. Daily updates, shared like secrets between lovers.

The group chat had 99+ unread messages.

Inside were my parents, Kevin and Valentina.

Our birthday was in ten days and they were busy planning her celebration.

Ever since Valentina came back, my birthday had quietly stopped being mine.

Mom and Dad told me, "Tina went missing on her birthday. If we celebrate too much, it might bring up painful memories for her."

Every year, without fail, Kevin would suddenly have an urgent situation on my birthday, leaving me alone.

So, for the past few years, I celebrated by myself.

A round of small cake. A single candle to lit. That was it.

I told myself the ritual didn’t matter—that love was what truly counted. But now, I saw the truth. All things that they did was never about protecting Valentina’s feelings.

They just wanted me out of the picture—so they could go all out for her birthday, where I wouldn’t see.

Valentina’s message popped up again:

[Kev, I want to take another photoshoot together. when can we do it? This time, let’s do something different—photos my sister hasn’t taken before, okay?]

I switched back to the original account and locked the screen.

The wallpaper stared back at me—a radiant smile, happiness frozen in time. Beneath the sheer fabric of her dress, a glimpse of red nail polish peeked through.

Valentina’s favorite color.

A quiet, bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I picked up my own phone and sent a message to a number I could recite in my sleep—a number that now felt like it belonged to a stranger.

[In ten days, they’ll send me to you. Book me a one-way ticket out of the country, then erase every trace of me here. I don’t want anyone to find me.]

The reply from Kevin came almost instantly. No questions. No hesitation. Just one word:

[Got it.]

Same as always.

Footsteps rushed toward the door. I slipped the phone back into place without missing a beat. Closing my eyes, I let the tears fall, soaking into the pillow.

The doctor came in, ran a brief examination, then administered a painkiller. His voice was calm but firm.

“She’s in a weak condition. She needs rest.”

As soon as the doctor left, Kevin sat beside me, eyes red and filled with anguish, watching me like I was the most fragile thing in the world.

After a long pause, he talked as if he'd taken a difficult decision.

“For your safety, I have no choice but to let Tina take your place. I’ll talk to her with Mom and Dad—we’ll convince her.”

His fingers traced my cheek, gentle and reverent, as if he were touching something fragile and irreplaceable.

“Ria, I just want you to live. Live with Tina’s identity while you recover. It won’t be for long—I promise I’ll bring you back.”

His words were full of concern, yet each one struck my already shattered heart like a blade of ice.

I nodded silently.

What he wanted was now the same path I had chosen for myself. Different intentions. Same outcome. Going along with it was the best choice.

Kevin hesitated, caught off guard—he had expected resistance. After all, Damian was my ex.

Long ago I had blocked all of Damian's contact right in front of Kevin. I wanted to prove my devotion to him.

A flicker of unease crossed his face, but it vanished just as quickly. He let out a breath, then pulled me into his arms, feigning reluctance.

“We haven’t even parted yet and I already miss you. Baby, I don’t want to spend a single second away from you. Promise me… take care of yourself and in six months, be my most beautiful bride. Okay?”

Kevin's eyes brimmed with expectation. Beneath the surface, however, lay something far more telling—certainty.

He was convinced I would be ecstatic, that I’d be so blinded by his proposal I would stop to question anything.

For three years, I had waited for this moment, imagined countless ways he might ask me to marry him. But not once had I pictured it happening in a hospital.

Not once had I imagined I’d be covered in wounds when it happened.

This wasn’t a promise of happiness—it was a burial. A descent straight into hell. But I didn’t bother shattering the illusion.

In ten days, Kevin would no longer exist in my world. A wedding in six months? That was nothing more than a fantasy.

Expressionless, I nodded. "That’s amazing!"

With his goal achieved, he pulled me into his arms again. But his words, meant to be comforting, rang hollow.

"I was worried you’d refuse because of your condition… Ria, don’t worry. No matter what happens, no matter how much you change, I will never abandon you."

I leaned against his shoulder, exhausted, my eyes shutting as I stayed silent.

Let him paint his perfect future—I knew better.

After a while, he must have realized I wasn’t responding. Only then did it seem to occur to him that my body had reached its limit.

He gently laid me down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Don’t worry about a thing. Just rest. I’ll take care of everything." Then, he quietly left.

***

Five days later, at my insistence, I was discharged.

I expect none of this. My parents were supposed to be vacationing abroad, but they returned early to pick me up from the hospital with Kevin.

On the way home, Kevin kept the mood light. "Mom and Dad were so worried when they heard about your injury. They dropped everything and booked the earliest flight back."

He grinned. "Mom even got you some chocolate."

At his words, my mother pulled a box of white chocolate from her bag and placed it in my hands. "Yes, sweetheart. You need to regain your strength. Chocolate will help."

A sharp ache spread through my chest, bitterness welling up inside me.

Valentina was the one who loved chocolate. I had been allergic to it since childhood—I couldn’t have so much as a bite.

Yet my own parents and the man who had shared my bed for years, didn’t know that.

Fingers tightening around the edge of the box, I feigned a stomachache and closed my eyes, pretending to rest.

Just five more days and this charade would finally be over.

As the car rolled into the driveway, an excited voice rang out before it even came to a full stop.

"Mom! Dad! Kev! You’re back!"

The moment the car slowed, my parents rushed out, pulling Valentina into their arms, their voices overflowing with warmth and concern.

Kevin stood nearby, smiling at the heartwarming reunion—so caught up in the moment that he completely forgot to help me out of the car.

"Did you miss me?" Valentina suddenly threw herself into Kevin’s arms, tugging at his sleeve and pouting playfully.

Kevin’s expression stiffened as he instinctively glanced at me.

Seeing no reaction on my face, he gently pushed Valentina away and quickly explained, "Don’t misunderstand. Tina lived abroad with Damian—this is just a common greeting over there."

My throat was too damaged to speak, so I simply curved my lips into a faint smile and shook my head, signaling that I didn’t mind.

Valentina, however, pouted and stomped her foot. "That’s not just a greeting! I don’t act this way with everyone."

Kevin's face paled instantly. His eyes darted toward me in panic. Before he could say anything, I pretended not to notice and walked straight into the house.

Behind me, I caught his low, urgent whisper, "Tina, don’t make trouble. Just five more days. Be good."

I gripped the staircase railing and made my way upstairs. Kevin called after me with a few half-hearted reminders, but he didn’t follow.

***

The past few days in the hospital had drained me—endless tests, IV drips and exhaustion pressing down like a weight. As soon as I lay down, sleep took over.

By the time I woke up, it was dinnertime.

I got out of bed and headed downstairs, only to pause at the staircase when I heard my parents' voices.

"Back then, I really thought Damian was someone Tina could depend on, but he's actually an abusive bastard! If only she had chosen Kevin instead, none of this would have happened—"

"Enough," my mother interjected sharply. "What matters now is fixing this mess. Kevin, you said you’d send Ria in Tina’s place. Are you sure this will work? What if she resists or exposes the plan?"

Kevin placed a portion of vegetables onto Valentina’s plate, his voice steady. "She won’t. She won’t even have the chance to speak."

Their eyes met—soft, lingering, full of unspoken understanding.

Then, Kevin added, his tone turning ice-cold. "I’ll remove any obstacles standing in Tina’s way."

A brief pause. Then, with quiet finality, he said, "No matter the cost."

My father slammed his palm against the table. "Good! That’s exactly why I trust you with Tina. I know she’s in good hands. As for Ria…"

At the mention of my name, he hesitated, as if searching for the right words. But before he could continue, my mother cut in, her voice laced with resentment.

"She owes this to Tina! If she hadn’t been such a coward back then, Tina would never have been kidnapped! Now that Tina is finally back, it’s time for Ria to make things right."

Valentina was taken when we were both just two years old—far too young to understand anything. But instead of blaming themselves for not watching their child, they put the guilt on me.

And now, to protect Valentina, they were willing to cast me aside without hesitation.

Valentina dabbed at her eyes, her voice soft and full of hesitation. "I don’t want to hurt my sister, but…"

Kevin gently ran his fingers through her hair. "This has nothing to do with you, Tina. All you need to do is be happy."

Valentina’s eyes sparkled with delight and the dining room filled with cheerful laughter.

I had been standing too long and my legs gave out slightly. My knee knocked against the railing, making a faint sound.

"Ria, you're awake?" Valentina turned toward me with an expression of pleasant surprise, motioning for me to come downstairs for dinner.

A flicker of awkwardness and guilt crossed my parents' faces.

Kevin, however, reacted the most strongly. He rushed up the stairs in just a few strides, carefully steadying me. "Ria, when did you wake up?"

Swallowing the overwhelming bitterness and anger rising inside me, I simply gestured that I had just woken up.

The tension in his shoulders eased immediately and he quickly explained, "You were sleeping so soundly—I couldn’t bear to wake you for dinner."

"You're not upset, are you?"

A wave of nausea rolled through me. These people are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Devils pretending to be angels. I said nothing, only waving my hand dismissively and turned back into my room.

Kevin followed me to the door, even thoughtfully closing it behind me.

Laughter and conversation resumed downstairs as if nothing had happened. But I no longer cared.

Ignoring the noise, I pulled out my phone and checked the message I had just received.

"Everything is ready. In five days, Valeria will no longer be in this world."