On the seventh year since Winter Lidell's father was diagnosed with a deadly heart disease, he's finally eligible for a suitable heart meant for the transplant procedure.

On the night before the surgery, Winter's husband of seven years, Liam Jager, requests that she give the heart to his mistress, Regina Baile.

Liam still looks tall and handsome as ever, but the cold and aloof expression on his face is something that Winter has never seen before.

"Winnie." His voice is emotionless. "Regina's condition is deteriorating rapidly."

Winter feels her heart sinking the moment she hears her nickname being uttered coldly. She takes half a step backward instinctively, feeling a premonition looming over her.

"She needs a heart transplant."

Liam's gaze is fixed on Winnie, his tone carrying a hint of absolute decisiveness. "Right. Now."

Every word feels like a blade made of ice cutting into Winnie's heart, where hope is starting to flare.

Winnie's voice quivers violently, her words coming out fragmented and broken.

"What… are you talking about, Liam? My dad… My dad has been waiting for this heart for seven years!"

Winter Liddell was ecstatic. "Have you forgotten how much we went through just to get this heart donor source?"

"No," Liam Jager said calmly.

His composed tone was almost suffocating. "But things have changed. Regina is much younger than your father. Her chances of recovery are higher. She has more long-term value to society.

"Rationally speaking, the heart should go to her."

"Rationally speaking? Liam, that's my dad's life! He's being kept alive by machines while he waits for a donor!" Winter screamed, enraged. "Regina had a full physical two days ago! She has mild angina! She doesn't need surgery at all!"

Winter pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from her pocket and hurled it at him.

"Have a look at that! You've kept her wrapped in bubble wrap her whole life. One stubbed toe and she's screaming in pain. 'Critical condition'? Do you even have a conscience, Liam?"

Liam lowered his gaze and skimmed the thin medical report. His expression didn't change.

Winter's heart sank. He had known all along.

Liam unhurriedly reached into the inner pocket of his expensive coat and took out several neatly folded sheets of paper.

"Sign this. It's a voluntary organ transfer agreement. You'll give Regina priority use of the heart."

The room spun. Winter held onto the wall tightly to keep herself from collapsing.

"I—Never!" she said through clenched teeth.

Liam lowered his voice. Each word was cold like ice. "Be realistic, Winter. What's keeping your father alive right now? Extremely expensive ICU machines.

"Sign it, and let Regina have the heart. I'll make sure the equipment keeps running until we find another one for him," he said, pausing before adding, "If you refuse, I'll have every machine shut down in ten minutes."

Strength drained from her body. She slid down the wall, feeling powerless.

Just before her knees hit the floor, Liam reached out. He wasn't trying to help her up. Instead, he shoved a pen into her stiff, icy hand.

Seven years ago, when Richard Liddell was diagnosed with severe heart failure, he solemnly placed the same pen he had carried around for 20 years into her palm.

When she and Liam made their relationship official, she gave the pen to him as a token of love.

She had looked up at him with eyes full of trust. "This is my dad's most precious possession. Now I'm giving it to you."

Liam took it, bent down, and kissed her forehead.

"I'll never betray you, or your father's trust, Winnie."

And now, this pen that carries her purest love is being used by the man she once deeply loved—he wields its sharp nib like a blade, pressing it against her throat to force her to sign the contract that will kill her own father!

Winter's lips trembled. Her voice cracked as she said, "If I refuse, would you really—"

Liam's face was unmoving under the harsh hospital lights.

"This isn't a negotiation, Winnie."

"Liam, for the sake of our seven-year marriage—" she said as her hand spasmed around the pen.

His gaze turned colder. "Remember, Winnie. It's your stubbornness that killed your father."

As his words fell, his men rushed into the ICU and shut down the life-support machines.

"Who are you guys? Don't you know he'll die?"

The nurse's scream crushed Winter's last hope.

Liam had actually done it.

Winter let out a broken scream. She staggered forward and grabbed at Liam's sleeve.

He dodged her.

"I'll sign it!"

She snatched the agreement, but her hands were shaking so badly the pen kept slipping from her fingers.

Tears streamed down her face as she took a deep breath and forced herself to focus.

She steadied her right wrist with her left hand and scrawled her name at the bottom. "Liam! I signed! Tell them to stop!"

Liam let out a low chuckle and leaned closer. There was a cigarette between his fingers. "As punishment for disobeying me, your father gets another ten minutes off the machines."

Richard's weak, labored breathing echoed through the walls.

Fear gagged Winter. "You're insane!"

She lunged toward the ICU, but Liam grabbed her and threw her aside.

"I said ten minutes. Not one second less."

For the next ten minutes, Winter begged, cursed, and screamed. Liam stared at his wrist, never looking at her once.

When the alarm sounded, he lifted his gaze from his green Submariner watch. "The punishment's over."

The machines hummed back to life. They sounded like music to Winter's ears.

Like a puppet whose strings had snapped, she could no longer hold herself up. Her knees slammed onto the cold floor.

She couldn't feel the pain. She struggled to her feet and shuffled toward the exit while clinging to the wall for support.

Doctors and nurses rushed past her.

"Resuscitate him. Now!"

Winter turned just as the ICU doors flew open.

Her eyes met Richard's. His lips were purple as they twisted into a grimace.

Winter's tears fell in heavy drops.

Liam spoke softly into his phone. "Don't worry, Regina. She signed. What do you mean by I stole it? Her father was dying anyway. Giving it to him would've been a waste."

He strode toward the elevator.

"Wait for me. I'm coming. You'll be fine."

Winter laughed through her sobs. That was the man who had once said she was the only one for him. He had even promised not to betray her.

It took the hospital staff an entire hour to rescue Richard.

Winter stood outside the emergency room and dialed a number that had sat untouched in her contacts.

"Hello? I'd like to apply for an artificial heart transplant for my dad. The immigration paperwork will take a week. We'll leave then."

Liam was a notorious playboy in Harbor City's business circles. His private jet was always filled with beautiful companions.

That all changed at a cocktail party one day, where he fell for Winter at first sight.

The very next day, he cut off every woman around him and grounded his private jet.

In the height of summer, he showed up outside her office building every single day with a sapphire necklace worth over a billion.

People around him tried to persuade her to be with him. They said they had never seen Liam so fixated on any woman before.

"A reformed playboy is priceless," they said.

Even Winter's friends both openly and subtly nudged her. "Just give him a chance."

Still, Winter never accepted him.

She knew how wide the gap between them was.

She was afraid that it was just a passing obsession and that he'd lose interest in her after a few days.

Instead, he stood there for an entire month, regardless of the weather.

One night after working late, the rain was pouring outside.

Winter saw Liam standing in the downpour through the office window. His expensive suit was soaked through.

She ran downstairs. "What do you want from me?"

He tore off his tie, showing a messiness he had never had before.

"I want you," he said. "If you'd just look at me once, I'd give you my life."

That was the moment Winter's defenses finally collapsed. Ignoring Richard's objections, she married him.

After the wedding, his devotion grew.

Anything she mentioned liking would appear at her bedside the very next day. It didn't matter how far away it was or how outrageous the price was.

People joked that if Winter asked for the stars, Liam would find a way to pluck one straight out of the sky.

Even Richard, who had always opposed the marriage, changed his mind.

"Liam's a man you can trust. I can die without regrets if he's the one taking care of you."

Winter remained wrapped in the illusion of a perfect marriage. That was until the day Liam appeared in front of her while holding Regina's hand.

"Winnie, this is Regina," he said calmly. "You two should get along."

Before Winter could process what she was seeing, Regine burst into tears. "You never told me you were married! I may just be a poor college student, but my parents raised me to have dignity!"

Liam immediately pulled her into his arms and apologized to her repeatedly. "She's my wife. But you're the one I truly love. Don't worry. You won't be any less important than her. Whatever she has, you'll have more."

Every word stabbed straight into Winter's chest.

Afterward, she cried, argued, and eventually drafted divorce papers, placing them in front of him.

"I'll step aside for you and Regina," she said. "I'll give up being Mrs. Jager."

Liam's eyes reddened as he tore the papers into pieces. "Winnie, she's just a distraction. No one can replace you as Mrs. Jager."

When Winter insisted on divorce, his tone shifted to a half-threat, half promise.

"Winnie, your father’s health has never been good. You wouldn't want all this chaos interfering with his recovery, do you?"

Her head snapped up, and she stared at him. "What are you implying?"

"We're family. You've never had to worry about the cost of his treatments, have you?" he answered lightly.

Winter froze. She couldn't say a word.

He pulled her into a loose hug. "That's enough drama. I'll come back once I get bored. We'll have a child then. It'll make your father happy."

The truth was that Liam cared about Regina far more than he ever admitted.

When Regina caught a cold, he canceled billion-dollar deals just to sit with her through IV drips and medication.

When her school organized a summer camp, Liam—who usually despised pointless socializing—took off his suit, put on a ridiculous school uniform, and went hiking hand in hand with her.

At her graduation, he showed up in full formal wear as her fiance, landing himself on the front page of Harbor City's headlines overnight.

Winter became a laughingstock among socialites and wealthy wives.

When she confronted him with the newspaper in hand and red eyes, Liam didn't even look at her.

"The media makes up things all the time. Do you really believe them?"

He even turned it back on her. "You're my legal wife. Is this really all the grace you have?"

…

Bit by bit, Winter's disappointment hardened into resolve. She began planning to leave with her father.

Until she received a call from the hospital: “Your father has a successful match! The heart has arrived, and we are ready for surgery at any time.”

She cried with joy. Seven years of prayers had finally been answered.

Yet Liam had used her father's life to force her to give up the hope she had waited seven years for.

Winter dragged herself back to the place she had called home for the past eight years.

The moment she opened the living room door, she saw Regina leaning against Liam's chest.

There were tears on Regina's face. She had clearly been crying.

Liam was gently comforting her. "Alright, stop crying. If you keep this up, your eyes are going to swell, and they'll look ugly."

Regina pouted and lightly thumped his chest. "You're so mean. I'm not ugly! You're the ugly one!"

Winter watched coldly as the man she once deeply loved petted his canary intimately; there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart.

Liam cleared his throat and finally looked up. "Winnie, you're back. How's your father?"

Winter felt like laughing.

He had ordered her father's life support shut off, and yet he still had the nerve to ask her how he was doing?

She glanced at Regina.

"Thanks to you, he's still breathing for now," she replied.

Liam's expression darkened. "Do you realize who you're talking to?"

Who? The man who nearly killed Richard, of course!

The two locked eyes as tension snapped tight between them.

Regina timidly tugged at Liam's sleeve and spoke in a soft, fragile voice. "Daddy, did I upset Winnie?"

"Daddy?" Winter widened her eyes.

That used to be her nickname for Liam.

The irony stung.

Liam didn't notice Winter's expression. Perhaps, he simply didn't care.

He turned back to Regina and pinched her cheek indulgently. "Don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Will you stay with me at the hospital? I don't want the nurses taking care of me. They're not gentle at all," she pleaded.

Winter's eyes dimmed.

Now that he had the consent form, he was already rushing Regina into surgery.

As Winter turned toward the stairs, Liam suddenly called out to her. "Winnie."

He stood up and walked toward her. "I need you to do something for me."

With one foot already on the first step, Winter didn't turn around.

"Go on. What is it this time? Is it another document you want me to sign? A divorce agreement? Or maybe you want another organ for your precious little girl?"

Liam's face hardened. "Winter! Can you stop talking like that?"

"My dad just came out of emergency surgery. What do you expect from me?" she said, swallowing the ache in her throat. "I haven't slept in over 24 hours. I just want to go upstairs and rest."

Liam grabbed her wrist. "This is your home. You can sleep whenever you want. It's just—"

He pointed toward Regina, who was watching with innocent eyes.

"Regina needs to be hospitalized for treatment. You've taken care of a heart patient before. You'll stay and look after her for a while."

"Have you completely lost your mind? My dad is in the hospital. Who's going to take care of him if I have to take care of her?" she asked, laughing.

He tightened his grip on her. Pain shot up her arm. "Can you handle the consequences of disobeying me?"

She lowered her gaze. "Fine. I'll take care of her."

He loosened his hand at once.

"Good. I'll leave it to you," he said gently.

Sending his wife to serve his mistress would undoubtedly dominate the Harbor City gossip columns.

Winter no longer cared. She didn't have the strength to care.

On Regina's first day in the hospital, Winter understood why no private caregiver would stay.

Regina complained that the room looked too plain, and had a renovation team brought in to redecorate it in pink.

She said the hospital bed was too small and demanded that a custom round bed be moved in.

"Is this water even drinkable? I only drink Evian," she complained. "This food is disgusting. I want Pretorian cuisine."

The doctors and nurses grumbled constantly. "Is she here for treatment or a vacation?"

Regina did whatever she pleased because Liam had donated an entire building to the hospital.

When Winter tried to reason with her, Regina burst into tears and immediately called Liam.

"You said I wouldn't be less important than her. You lied!"

Liam soothed her over the phone. Seconds later, Winter's phone rang.

"She's a patient," she said impatiently. "Can't you just give in to her?"

Was someone who had the entire hospital running in chaos really the critically ill patient he claimed she was?