For seven years, I had a secret relationship with Finn Brooks. And just when I thought we could finally stand in the light, his so-called first love sent him a medical report: kidney failure.

Without a word, Finn packed his bags and flew overseas overnight to bring her back.

The Best Actress nomination that had my name written all over it? Gone. Reassigned to her on Finn’s orders.

I called him, my voice trembling with disbelief. But he snapped before I could even ask.

“Darcie is dying. Do you have to be this petty? It’s just a damn award, you’ll have plenty more chances!”

“She lost a kidney trying to save me. She was kidnapped, for God’s sake. I owe her everything. I have to be there for her every second.”

“As for the announcement, let’s wait until she recovers, alright?”

The call ended. I stared at the screen, stunned by how absurd the whole thing was.

He didn’t know I had made a deal with my family: If I didn’t win Best Actress by 28, I’d have to go back and marry the man they chose.

——

Finn had just made it official: his long-time girlfriend was pregnant.

On the post he tagged Darcie Bennett in, I clicked like and commented softly, [Wishing you a long and happy life together.]

Seconds later, my phone rang.

His voice burst through the quiet café, sharp and furious.

“Faith! What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Darcie has kidney failure! She just wants to keep the baby. Is it wrong for me to support her?”

“Even if I go public with her, that doesn’t change how I feel about you! Why would you comment something like that and upset her?”

I glanced down at the IV needle in the back of my hand.

Yesterday, during filming, I fell from a high wire.

I lost the baby. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell him.

And then I saw his announcement.

A tightness gripped my chest, sharp and unrelenting. My fingers curled instinctively into my palm.

“Finn, let’s break up.”

He laughed, a cold, disbelieving sound.

“Besides threatening to leave, what else can you do?”

“You’re already 28, Faith Harper. You’re not that fresh-faced 21-year-old anymore. Who else would even want you?”

“All those roles, those endorsements, who do you think handed them to you?”

“I never said I didn’t want you. I just told you to be patient. Once Darcie has the baby, we’ll get married.”

“You haven’t lost anything. So tell me, how have I wronged you?”

Seven years. I’d stood beside him in silence, never named, never acknowledged.

From twenty-one to now, I had given him all my youth.

He wanted obedience. I gave him fire.

In the beginning, he called it charming. Said I was unlike anyone else.

But now….

My silence made him snap.

“You’re the one who wanted a breakup? Fine, have it your way. But I’m telling you, by tonight, you’ll be the one crawling back, begging me to take you.”

Right then, I heard Darcie crying in her sleep from a nightmare, and the call cut off without warning.

I yanked out the IV, grabbed my clothes, and walked out of the hospital without looking back.

My fingers trembled as I dialed a number I hadn’t touched in years.

“Archie, want to get a marriage license?”

The screech of tires came through the line as if he’d just spun off a racetrack.

Then came rustling, scrambling noises, followed by his breathless voice.

“Get it? I’ll get it right now! I don’t even care about my life. I’ll fly back this second to marry you. Faith, I’ve waited eight damn years. If you dare trick me again, just try it!”

I drew in a sharp breath, my throat tightening, my eyes stinging with tears I refused to shed.

“If you don’t show up, you’re a dog.”

Finn held enormous sway among Dallas’s elite.

In less than ten minutes, he stripped me clean of everything.

Every endorsement I’d signed was immediately reassigned to Darcie.

Now, the headlines exploded with scandal, painting me as the shameless third party who ruined their so-called seven-year romance.

Seven years ago, I had run to the capital alone just to escape an arranged marriage.

I almost got tricked into becoming a hostess.

It was Finn who had pulled me out of that pit.

Finn’s power in Dallas’s elite circle was something no one dared to challenge.

And now, he was turning that very power against me.

I had just started packing when my agent’s message popped up.

She told me Finn had made a bet with his drinking buddies, claiming I’d come crawling back within thirty minutes.

Then came her warning, saying, “Faith, if you still want a future in Dallas’s entertainment world, don’t cross Young Master Finn.”

I stared at her message in silence.

My eyes drifted over the room filled with gifts he’d given me over the years, tokens of love that now felt like shackles.

It was time.

Time to return everything.

Time to end it cleanly.

So I said, “Send me the address.”

When I arrived at the private lounge in the bar, I heard a soft, delicate voice float out through the door. It was Darcie’s voice.

“Finn, it’s a little stuffy in here. Maybe I should step out first?”

A loud crash echoed from inside, glass shattering against the floor.

Then came Finn’s furious voice, sharp and commanding. “Put those cigarettes out! Can’t you see she’s pregnant? My child can’t breathe that in!”

I used to sit beside him at these parties.

Back then, I was the one he shielded. He’d demand everyone stub out their cigarettes because I was allergic.

But it hadn’t lasted.

Eventually, he grew irritated.

“Faith, you’re an actress. Don’t act so fragile. These are my brothers. Just put up with it. Don’t ruin the mood.”

He knew the smoke would leave me coughing till dawn, but still, he told me to endure it.

Yet now, for Darcie, he was willing to turn on the very friends who’d fought by his side.

I swallowed the sting rising in my throat and pushed open the door.

Laughter exploded in the room.

“Well, well, look who couldn’t stay away. Our little movie star came crawling back to Brother Finn!”

“What’s the point of winning awards? Being Finn’s woman is the real prize!”

The tension between Finn’s brows vanished in an instant.

He glanced at his watch, the corners of his lips curling into a cold, smug smile.

“Twenty minutes. So much for all that pride, Faith.”

“Darcie’s been upset for hours because of your little jab. Apologize to her, and I’ll let it slide. I won’t make things difficult for you.”

All around us, mocking eyes swept over me, some amused, others tinged with pity.

In their minds, everything I’d earned in this industry was handed to me by Finn’s money.

But they didn’t know.

Two years ago, when Finn was betrayed and on the brink of losing everything, it was me who signed a sky-high gambling clause to keep his company from crumbling.

Seven years.

It took me seven whole years to finally see the truth: Finn never really loved me.

Otherwise, how could he look straight at me and not notice my pale complexion, the blood seeping from the IV mark on my hand?

My fingers felt numb as I threw everything down in front of him: the watches, the jewelry, the gifts he’d showered me with over the years.

“These are everything you gave me in the past seven years. I’m giving them all back.”

“From today on, we’re even.”

The room fell into a heavy silence.

Finn stared at me with cold eyes, but the hand clutching his glass turned pale, trembling with tension.

“You really think we’re even just because you say so? Don’t forget, your contract is still chained to me. Walk away now, and you owe ten billion. You’re nothing but an orphan without a family. How could you possibly pay that?”

When I was with Finn, I’d hidden my true identity, afraid my family would find me.

So I lied. I told him I was an orphan.

That lie used to be his soft spot, what made him pity and love me.

Now, it had become his weapon.

A sharp ache tightened my chest.

My eyes dropped to the diamond bracelet circling my wrist, the same bracelet Finn had given me seven years ago, saying it marked me as his.

But the bracelet felt tighter than ever as if squeezing the distance growing between us.

Suddenly sensing something, Finn sat up abruptly, his breath catching in his throat.

“Faith, don’t you dare.”

Before he could finish, I yanked the diamond bracelet from my wrist and flung it onto the growing pile.

“I’ll pay you the ten billion. I admit defeat for the seven years I lost in my youth.”

Finn moved to check my bleeding hand, but Darcie clung to him tightly.

“Finn, there’s so much blood… I’m scared…”

Before she could finish, her body went limp, and she fainted.

Finn scooped her up and barked furiously at everyone to clear the way.

I was about to walk away, but the next moment, he seized my injured hand, and a sharp, burning pain shot through my bones.

“You’re not leaving. Darcie has anemia, and you share her blood type.”

Determined, he dragged me into the car and sped to the hospital.

When the doctor revealed Darcie’s genetic disorder, thalassemia, and said her rare blood type required a family donor, Finn pushed me forward, voice cold as ice.

“Draw her blood. She’s RH-negative.”

My heart turned utterly cold.

Seeing my silence, Finn’s anger flared instantly.

“Darcie has no family. She’s in danger right now. Would it kill you to donate blood?”

I met his gaze quietly and took a slow, steady breath.

“Finn, I had a miscarriage two days ago. The baby was yours. I can’t give blood right now.”

A bitter laugh escaped him, laced with disbelief.

“So your jealousy runs that deep? You’d lie just to dodge donating to Darcie?”

“You better donate now. One blood donation and the ten billion contracts are wiped clean!”

In his eyes, my life was worth no more than ten billion.

He saw Darcie collapse from anemia but never once noticed I was a grieving mother mourning a lost child.

Dizzy and weak, I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling.

In the emergency room, a nurse hurried out.

“The patient’s anemia is critical. She needs a transfusion now, or we won’t save either mother or child.”

The doctor looked deeply troubled.

“What can we do? A celebrity came in with a miscarriage earlier today. Our blood supply is dangerously low. Even if we transfer from another city hospital, it won’t arrive until late this afternoon.”

Finn shouted with impatience.

“We ask you to donate just a little blood, and you put on this whole act? Darcie fainted, and now you’re doing the same? Faith, how did I never realize you were this fake?”

Seeing my refusal, he dragged me toward the blood donation room without mercy.

As I fought with all my strength, Finn’s voice cut through.

“I saved you seven years ago, and now you want to sever ties? How do you plan to repay a life-saving favor?”

“If you just behave and donate blood to Darcie today, once her child is born, I swear I’ll marry you. Darcie doesn’t have long. Won’t the child end up calling you mom anyway?”

At that moment, all my resistance felt hollow.

The fine needle pierced my vein.

The pain usually terrified me, but now I felt nothing but numbness.

They drew two bags of blood from me.

Watching Finn rush anxiously into the emergency room, my eyes burned, yet not a single tear fell.

“Finn, I’ve paid my dues. From now on, we go our separate ways. Let’s never cross paths again.”

Dragging my suitcase behind me, I rested for a day at a hotel before booking a flight to Miami the next morning.

After that, I went to the company and terminated my contract.

My agent called Finn several times.

He answered only the last call.

On the other end came his cold, ruthless roar.

“If she wants to leave, let her! Calling at this hour, don’t tell me it’s just for show!”

“She donates a little blood and vanishes without a word. Does she even respect me as her benefactor?”

Seven years of ‘love,’ to him, had always been just a transaction between a patron and his canary.

I couldn’t stop a bitter laugh from escaping.

My agent’s expression shifted from worry to resentment, blaming me once again for getting him scolded.