An hour later, Gabriel's party ended.

He carried Ida to the car, then rolled down the window and spoke to me with that easy, practiced tone, as if what he was about to say was nothing.

“Jessica, it's one in the morning. You're walking home.”

“And make sure you take the route past the old accident site.”

“I don't want to see you living too comfortably.”

The car pulled away, slow and unhurried.

I stood where I was. A gust of cold wind cut through me.

Forcing myself through the pain between my legs, I started walking toward the villa, one step at a time.

One a.m. was the exact hour the massive chain collision had happened in Capital City.

The exact hour Bridget's heart had been cut from her chest and placed inside mine.

Gabriel never let me forget it.

He made sure it was carved into my bones.

Eight miles. It took me four hours.

By the time I reached the villa halfway up the hill, my legs nearly gave out beneath me.

I lifted a hand, barely able to press the doorbell. My vision went black, and I was a breath away from collapsing when the door swung open.

“Jessica, go clean Ida up. She's exhausted.”

Gabriel's upper body was bare, covered in lipstick marks and scratches left by a woman's nails.

My heart seized so sharply I couldn't breathe. I clenched my jaw.

I raised my eyes to meet his.

The only thought in my mind:

【Gabriel Henson, one more week, and I won't owe you a thing.】

I looked away.

Head down, I walked slowly to the master bedroom.

The wide black bed reeked of what had happened there. Their scent clung to everything.

I walked in, numb, and gently shook Ida awake.

She opened her eyes, glancing at me with a shy little look.

“Sorry to trouble you, Jessica.”

“Mr. Henson, he……”

She didn't finish. I cut her off, took her arm, and walked her into the bathroom.

The tub was already full of warm water. I picked up a towel and wiped the marks from her skin, inch by inch.

Half an hour later, I helped her back to the bed.

Through all of it, Gabriel watched with amusement in his eyes.

I finished. I turned to leave the room.

That was when Gabriel spoke.

“Jessica, is there something you forgot to tell me today?”

His gaze drifted, barely perceptibly, toward my stomach.

A bitter smile twisted my lips. I shook my head, went downstairs, and shut myself inside the maid's room.

The moment the door closed behind me, my whole body began to shake. I slid down against it until I hit the floor.

I pulled the pills from my bag and swallowed them all at once.

The medication dragged me under, and I drifted into a thin, restless sleep.

I hadn't been out long before the door was kicked open.

Gabriel stood over me, face white with fury.

“What did you do to Ida while you were bathing her?!”

“Why is she bleeding?!”

I braced my hands against the wall and pulled myself upright. Gabriel's hands were covered in blood.

I opened my mouth to speak.

He grabbed my arm and dragged me to the car.

“You're coming to the hospital with us!”

“If anything happens to Ida, I will make you pay!”

He threw me into the back seat. I pressed both hands over my chest, my heart slamming so violently I couldn't draw a full breath.

In the hospital lobby, I watched Gabriel carry Ida inside, his face tight with panic, cradling her like she was made of glass.

I sat alone on the cold plastic chair, jaw clenched against the pain, holding on.

A few minutes later, Gabriel walked out.

“Come with me. Ida has an ectopic pregnancy. Massive hemorrhaging. You're Rh-negative. They need your blood now.”

He said it like it was nothing, then turned and walked away, fully expecting me to follow. The way he always did.

For three years, I had said yes to every demand he ever made.

But this time, I thought about the surgery scheduled one week from now. The surgery to remove my heart.

For the first time, I refused.

“Gabriel, I won't do it.”

“What did you just say?”

He turned around, disbelief written across his face.

Once it registered, his lips curled into a scornful smile and he leaned against the wall.

“Jessica, do you still not understand your situation?”

“With me, you will never have the right to say 【no】.”

The words fell like ice. Gabriel reached into his bag and pulled out a folding knife.

“I'll give you two choices.”

“Come with me and give blood, or I use this knife right now to cut out the heart that doesn't belong to you.”

Three years. Countless nights of agony.

Every single one, I'd thought about cutting the heart out myself and handing it back to Gabriel Henson.

But every time I picked up a knife, I thought of my mother, dying of cancer.

Every time, I told myself: just hold on a few more days. For Mom.

A few more days, then a few more.

Three years slipped by like that.

This time, I swallowed the thought that had screamed inside me a million times, and gave in.

“Gabriel. I'll give Ida the blood.”

Three full bags of blood drained through the IV line and out of my body.

Cold crept in from everywhere at once.

I couldn't stop shaking. A low hum filled my ears, drowning out everything else.

Just when I thought I was about to die, I heard Ida's voice, surprised and sheepish.

“Mr. Henson, Jessica's health isn't great. Can she really afford to give that much blood?

“The doctor said it was just my period starting unexpectedly. You really didn't have to go to all that trouble.”

The moment Ida's words registered, they detonated inside my skull.

I turned to Gabriel in disbelief. Tears slid down one by one, and the world went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

Nurses were squealing somewhere nearby.

“So romantic!”

“The CEO of Henson Group rented an entire luxury yacht to propose……”

I forced myself upright and pushed open the door.

On the big screen in the hallway, a video was playing: Gabriel, proposing to Ida.

He was on one knee, eyes full of love. The sight dragged up words Bridget had once whispered to me in secret.

“Jess, my brother likes you.”

“He even asked me behind your back what kind of proposal you'd want.”

Back then, I'd told her.

I wanted a proposal on a yacht.

Gabriel had done exactly that. Just not for me.

A sharp pain tore through my chest. My phone buzzed with a surgery reminder from the hospital.

【Miss Pruitt, your scheduled surgery time is approaching. Would you still like to proceed?】

I walked out of the crowd and typed my reply.

【Yes.】

That afternoon, the heart removal surgery went smoothly.

When I woke in the hospital bed again, a steady mechanical pulse beat inside my chest.

The artificial heart. It didn't spike with grief. It didn't race with anguish.

I finally didn't have to hurt for Gabriel Henson anymore.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. The phone on my bedside table rang.

“Jessica. Bridget's death anniversary is in three days. You remember what you're supposed to do, same as every year?”

Gabriel's voice on the line was cold, matter-of-fact.

I turned my head and looked at the heart sitting in the ice bag beside my bed. Then I answered, quiet and even.

“I remember.”

Bridget had loved extreme sports.

Every year on her death anniversary, Gabriel and his circle of friends forced me to attempt one.

Three years of it. I was terrified of every single one, but I clenched my teeth and did them anyway.

This year, I didn't have to force myself anymore.

Because I was about to give the heart back to him.

I hung up and stayed in the hospital until the day of Bridget's anniversary.

After checking out temporarily, I made my way to the most exclusive private cemetery in Capital City.

I'd barely reached Bridget's grave when I heard Gabriel's friends laughing among themselves.

“Gabriel, we picked out an extreme sport this year that's absolutely insane!”

“Guaranteed to make Jessica wet herself!”

“You better not go soft on her when the time comes!”

“Me, go soft?”

“Why would I go soft on the woman who killed Bridget?”

“I wish she'd just die so we could cut Bridget's heart right out of her.”

Gabriel's scornful laugh carried through the air beside me.

The artificial heart inside my chest no longer sent stabs of pain.

I carried the ice bag with the heart in it and walked forward, one step at a time.

Until Gabriel saw me.

His lips parted, cold and indifferent.

“Jessica, this year they picked a real thrill ride for your extreme sport……”

I held out the ice bag in my hand, cutting him off.

“Gabriel, I won't be doing any extreme sport this year.”

“Because I already had Bridget's heart cut out.”

“I'm giving it back to you.”