A single car accident was all it took to shatter my world. The family who once cherished me, the fiancé who swore to protect me—they all lost their memories. Every trace of me was erased from their minds.

The only one they remembered was Ava, the family's adopted daughter.

On what should have been a joyful birthday, my older brother—the same brother who once indulged my every whim—smashed a cake into my face in front of a crowd. He then ordered the bodyguards to strip away my gown, as if I were nothing but a joke to him.

My parents, who used to treasure me like the most precious pearl, struck me to the ground before a room full of guests. Without hesitation, they announced that I was no longer their daughter.

And my fiancé—the man who had grown up with me, who had whispered countless promises of love—dragged me to another man's bed and left me there.

I wanted to believe it was all the accident's fault. That it was a cruel twist of fate. But then the man in that bed showed me a video.

"Sienna will never forgive us if she finds out we faked our amnesia."

"Don't worry about it. Ava's parents have done us a huge favor. Once we save Ava, we'll fix things with Sienna."

"Actually, this might be good for her. Sienna will realize she can't be happy on her own. She won't be so eager to leave after this."

"After Ava recovers, we'll stage a treatment to restore our memories. Sienna will have to forgive us—she won't have a choice."

It wasn't fate. It wasn't an accident. It was betrayal—cold, calculated and deliberate.

And when the four of them chose to offer me up in exchange for Ava's safety during a hostage situation, I finally understood. I was nothing more than a disposable chess piece.

So, I let go. I stepped off the edge and plunged into the sea.

From that moment on, I owed them nothing.

——

I lay on the cold floor, my body trembling, my swollen eyes fixed on the silhouette of a man standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tears burned hot against my raw skin, but I had no strength left to wipe them away.

"You're lying!" My voice cracked as I forced the words out. "You've got something against Cassius, don't you? That's why you faked this video, to make him and my family look bad!"

The man, Troy Vitali, didn't react. He remained still, his back turned to me, as if my outburst wasn't even worth acknowledging.

It wasn't until I grabbed the phone and hurled it against the door, shattering the screen into jagged shards, that he finally moved. He turned around slowly, then let out a low, mocking chuckle as he strode toward me.

"You still think they care about you? Seriously?" His voice was laced with disdain. "You're nothing to them compared to Ava. I was doing you a favor."

His words crushed me, a bitter truth to swallow. I had no value left.

Then, a sudden banging shook the door. After a brief silence, several bodyguards broke in and the man at the center of the intruding bodyguards was none other than Cassius, my fiancé.

Cassius was a man whose word was law. Yet, when it came to me, he had always been gentle, almost indulgent. He spent millions to build me a paradise. When I casually mentioned wanting to see snow, he had private planes transport the first snowfall from the north, just to see my smile.

But three hours ago, at my birthday party, before countless guests, this very man threw my disheveled self into Troy's arms like I was trash.

With nothing but cold indifference, he had turned away, leaving behind a single sentence.

"She's yours. I'm sick of her."

Now, as I stood in this room, his sharp, piercing gaze swept over me and Troy, scrutinizing every inch of my torn dress, my messy hair, my humiliation. It was as if he were looking at something utterly worthless.

Then, with chilling detachment, he spoke.

"Tie her up."

His bodyguards stepped forward at once. I staggered back, but before I could react, Troy moved first.

He placed himself between me and Cassius, his stance relaxed, but his presence unwavering. "What's this, Cass? You said you didn't want her anymore. Having second thoughts?" His voice was laced with amusement, yet his eyes held something deeper—something unreadable.

Then, he turned to me, his gaze lingering.

"Well, I've done what I needed to do. The rest is up to you."

And with that, he walked away, his footsteps steady, unhurried. He didn't look back.

I was left staring at his retreating figure, my mind a storm of emotions I couldn't untangle.

Cassius' face darkened, his expression twisting as his gaze landed on my tattered clothes. A muscle in his jaw tightened before, without warning, he stepped forward and seized me by the throat.

The air left my lungs as I stumbled back, my fingers clawing at his wrist, but his grip only tightened.

"What did you do with him?!" His voice was ice, his breath sharp with anger.

I gasped, struggling against his hold, but I refused to look away. I forced a smirk, tilting my chin up, meeting his fury with quiet defiance.

"You're the one who put me in his bed," I rasped, my lips curling. "You really have to ask what we did?"

His fingers dug into my skin, his hold unrelenting. "Ava is lying in the hospital, fighting for her life and you're here messing around? Have you no shame?!"

Shame?

My laugh was hollow. "You kicked me out, remember?" My voice wavered, but I held his gaze. "You even said the Crawford Family only has one daughter—Ava. So why should I care?"

Cassius' sneer cut through me like a blade. "You brought this on yourself. Ava's sick and you still celebrated your birthday? You did it to upset her, didn't you?"

The words didn't hurt anymore. Not after what I had just seen.

Then came the final blow.

"The hospital just confirmed—you can donate a kidney to Ava. Consider yourself lucky."

My heart plummeted.

Troy's video flashed in my mind—the whispered voices, the calculated cruelty. I had prayed, I had cried, I had told myself over and over that they just lost their memories. That there had to be an explanation.

But the truth had come first. And it was merciless.

Cassius yanked my arm roughly and dragged me toward the door.

A sharp, twisting pain bloomed in my stomach, making my vision blur for a moment. I swayed on my feet, my fingers instinctively pressing against my abdomen.

"Cassius!" My voice trembled, but I forced the words out. "I'm pregnant! I can't donate a kidney—it's dangerous for me and the baby!"

The room plunged into an eerie silence, the air turning ice-cold.

Then, with ruthless indifference, Cassius shoved me backward. My body hit the ground hard and the sharp edge of the table caught my forehead on the way down. Pain exploded through my skull and warm blood trickled into my eyes, turning my world red.

Cassius didn't even look at me.

"Pregnant?" His voice was laced with contempt. "Who knows which man it belongs to? Weren't you just fooling around with Troy?"

I clutched my throbbing head, my pulse roaring in my ears.

"It's just a bastard child," he continued coldly. "If it's gone, it's gone. Donating a kidney won't kill you."

I stared at him, my breath catching.

"Think of it this way—your kid's taking on Ava's suffering. That's its purpose."

My blood ran cold.

The man who once panicked when I so much as cut my finger with a fruit knife was now speaking about my life—and my child's—as if they were nothing more than disposable objects.

The weight of his words crushed me. Ava's arrival had stripped me of everything—my home, my family, my love.

A bitter laugh tore from my lips. Cassius looked away, his gaze distant, detached.

"Cassius," I whispered, tasting iron on my tongue. "Are you sure you won't regret this?"

For a fraction of a second, something in his expression cracked. But just as quickly, he crushed it beneath a sneer.

"Regret?" His lips curled cruelly. "Sienna, don't flatter yourself."

With a flick of his wrist, the bodyguards lunged forward. A dozen hands grabbed me, shoving me onto the cold operating table. I thrashed, my limbs burning with resistance, but their grip was unyielding.

Then I saw them. My parents.

Their familiar figures emerged from the hallway, their faces twisted with frustration—not concern. Not worry. Just disappointment. For me, for their own daughter.

A stinging slap cracked against my cheek, jerking my head to the side.

"How could you be so heartless?!" My mother's voice trembled with rage. "It's just a kidney donation and you won't even agree to that?"

My father's gaze bore into me with icy detachment. "How did we end up with such a selfish daughter?"

Something inside me fractured. I stopped struggling.

Slowly, I turned my head to face them, blood seeping into my lashes. My voice was calm, eerily detached.

"Didn't you already sever ties with me?" I asked quietly.

Their expressions stiffened.

I tilted my head, watching them, unblinking. "What? Now that you need to save your precious adopted daughter, you suddenly remember me?"

A flicker of hesitation passed over my mother's face. She froze, caught in my words.

But my father quickly yanked her sleeve, grounding her back in reality.

Anger flared in her eyes and in the next instant, she grabbed the anesthetic syringe from the doctor's tray.

"You ungrateful child!" she spat, jabbing the needle into my arm without hesitation.

Pain lanced through me, but I barely felt it. The numbness spread fast, creeping from my arm to my fingertips, then my legs.

My tongue felt heavy. I wanted to speak—to ask them one final question.

Who was their real child?

But before the words could leave my lips, the door burst open.

A nurse rushed in.

"Miss Ava is terrified and won't stop crying. Perhaps—"

Before the nurse could finish her sentence, my parents had already rushed off to Ava's ward without hesitation.

I didn't know when it began, but my parents gradually devoted more and more attention to Ava until my presence became nothing more than an afterthought. She would sit on the couch with my mother, watching TV and whispering about trivial things while I sat alone in my room. She would go fishing and play golf with my father, laughing in a way he never did with me.

My parents used to bring back my favorite desserts when they returned from work, but now, all I received were cold leftovers and empty pleasantries. The so-called debt of gratitude had twisted into something unrecognizable.

A hollow laugh escaped my lips. "Cassius, let's break off our engagement."

His head snapped toward me, disbelief flashing across his face. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

If I hadn't already seen the truth with my own eyes, I might have mistaken his reaction for genuine shock—perhaps even concern. But I knew better.

"You don't even want our baby. What's the point of this engagement? Consider this break off my blessing to you and Ava." I closed my eyes, pressing a trembling hand against my stomach.

Cassius let out a short, humorless laugh. "Don't think I don't see through you—you just want an excuse to be with Troy, don't you?"

His hands were clenched into tight fists, barely restraining his anger. My chest ached, but I refused to let myself crumble in front of him.

When we first got engaged, he had been ecstatic, treating me like the most precious thing in the world. When he tossed our engagement ring to a beggar on the street, faking amnesia, I never considered ending things. But now, it was painfully clear—it had all been a cruel joke from the start.

He took a step closer, his gaze piercing through me. "Sienna, you and Troy—"

"Cassius! Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be with Ava?"

My older brother's voice cut through the air, sharp and impatient. He strode into the room, his eyes barely sparing me a glance before settling on Cassius. His expression darkened as his gaze flickered to my pale face.

"Sienna, you should be grateful. Donating your kidney to Ava will finally make you two real sisters," Michael, my brother, said, his tone condescending.

A bitter taste coated my tongue. "Real sisters?" I whispered, more to myself than to him.

Michael's expression twisted with irritation at my silence. With a scoff, he grabbed Cassius's wrist and turned to leave. "What did I do to deserve a sister like you? You're disgusting."

I stared blankly at his retreating figure. The words echoed in my head, clashing against a memory from years ago—his voice, warm and gentle, saying, "I have such a lovely sister. I'll protect you for the rest of my life."

Now, those same lips uttered nothing but contempt. The ache in my chest deepened, spreading like an infection through my veins.

When Ava first arrived, Michael seemed to hate her even more than I did. He had thrown her luggage out when our parents weren't home, tricked her into wandering the mountains alone and made her walk all night to find her way back. He had been scolded harshly for it, punished by our parents.

"I don't hate you. I'm just protecting Sienna. I have no choice but to bully you."

It was late one night when I overheard my brother speaking to Ava. I had only gotten up for a glass of water, but the sound of hushed voices from the dimly lit hallway made me stop in my tracks.

Michael's tone was casual, almost indifferent. Ava, on the other hand, stood with quiet grace, her posture composed. Then, without warning, she leaned in close and whispered something in his ear.

Her voice was soft, almost tender, but I still heard it.

"I won't compete with Sienna, because I like you. I will cherish everything you love."

A chill ran down my spine. It was the first time I had ever felt disgust toward Ava.

But before I could even process that feeling, the world turned against me.

The very next day, Ava drank almond milk and suffered a severe allergic reaction, one so extreme that she nearly lost her life. I had no idea where the milk had come from. I didn't even know Ava had an allergy that severe. And yet, when my brother turned to me, his eyes burned with unmistakable resentment.

Michael didn't ask. He didn't hesitate. He simply looked at me as if I were a stranger and condemned me without a second thought.

Our parents demanded answers, but instead of speaking up, he took the blame upon himself. The injustice of it all was suffocating.

"Sienna, you already have everything. Why do you still have to be so petty with an orphan?" my father scoffed, his voice filled with disappointment.