But fate had played the cruelest joke on him.

I didn't want him to lose hope, so I had the hospital keep it confidential.

For the past year, I'd practically lived in the lab, day and night, developing a treatment for his condition.

One more round of therapy, and he would have been cured.

Too bad he'd never deserve it now.

"Is that so? Then I wish you two all the best. May you pop out babies left and right and stay shackled together forever."

Nora flushed with rage and raised her hand.

I was bracing myself when someone grabbed me hard from behind and yanked me backward.

A palm cracked across my face.

Leila Henson's eyes burned with enough hatred to flay me alive.

"Amanda Henson, you stay away from my daughter! If anything happens to her, this family will make you pay!"

I pressed my hand to my throbbing cheek.

Looked into those eyes, brimming with disgust.

All I felt was the irony.

Six months ago, she'd been diagnosed with liver cancer. Not a single suitable donor could be found in all of Crestfield.

So I gave her part of mine. That transplant was the only reason she was still breathing.

But it nearly killed me. Massive hemorrhaging on the operating table. I'd flatlined before they pulled me back.

When I woke up, she held my hand, called me "sweetheart" over and over, and swore that even after they found Nora, she'd love us both equally.

That hadn't lasted long.

Now all she had left for me was revulsion.

"I've already had your name removed from the Henson family registry. From this moment on, you have nothing to do with us!"

"I will never give you the chance to hurt my daughter or my grandchild!"

Watching me stand there, stunned, Nora cradled her stomach with a slow, deliberate hand. "Don't tell me you didn't know, sis? I'm pregnant. Three months along."

Carter stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.

So that was why he was marrying her.

"Congratulations, Mr. Gilbert."

Before the words had fully left my mouth, Leila's hand swung at me again.

"Flirting with Carter right in front of us? Do you think we're dead?!"

But this time, I didn't let her land it.

I caught her wrist and held it. Squeezed until she cried out.

Nora scrambled into Carter's arms, trembling like a frightened kitten. "Carter, is it because I took the drug development project from her? Is that why she's lashing out?"

"Please, sis, if that's what this is about, just let Mom go. I'll give you back the spot."

Then her eyes locked onto mine, glinting with challenge.

I almost laughed.

They had no idea.

That drug development project was mine. I'd initiated it. The only reason I'd handed it to Henson Pharmaceuticals was to elevate their standing in Southgate City.

But I didn't feel like giving anymore.

Carter's face went white with fury. He seized my hand in a crushing grip.

"Amanda, are you done making a scene?!"

"One of them is the sister whose life you stole for twenty years."

"The other is the mother who raised you. Do you really have to be this aggressive?"

His grip was iron-tight.

And suddenly I remembered the day he proposed. He'd held my hand just like this, fingers locked around mine.

Breathing hard. Eyes full of conviction.

Promising that if we both made it home alive, he'd give me a lifetime of happiness.

I never once doubted his love. But love shifts like wind.

Everything he'd given me, he could just as easily give to Nora.

Carter's brow furrowed, and his voice dropped to something dangerous.

"Apologize to Nora and her mother."

"Or I'll make sure you never work in Crestfield again."

He used to defend me just like that. Blindly. Fiercely. Without asking questions.

Now the same ruthlessness was aimed squarely at me.

"Even though you know they provoked me first. Even though you can see I'm the one who got hit." My voice was steady, each word precise. "And you still want me to apologize. Is that right, Carter?"

Carter pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing.

Leila took that as her cue. She rushed forward and slapped me across the face, just as she'd been itching to do.

"Amanda, shut your mouth!"

"Don't forget—he's your sister's husband now. What right do you have to say something like that?"

I laughed.

But the tears spilled before I could stop them.

"What right do I have?" My voice cracked. "My sister stole my husband. Mom... I have more right than anyone."

Carter's tone went cold. "She's Nora's mother. Not yours."

I cut him off, my eyes locked on Leila's bloodless face.

"She is mine."

Leila screamed like a woman unhinged. "Stop talking!"

I let out a quiet laugh, even as something inside my chest tore. "After her one-night stand, she gave birth to me and dumped me with my grandmother. She didn't marry Morgan Henson until the following year. It wasn't until Nora went missing at five that she brought me home as a replacement."

Leila's eyes went wide. She stared at me, stunned.

She hadn't expected me to know any of this.

Her composure shattered. She lashed out, shrieking: "Don't listen to her nonsense! After we kicked her out of the family, she lost her mind!"

"She's just a girl I adopted from an orphanage—we have the paperwork to prove it!"

After my grandmother died, I'd been sent to the orphanage.

I never had enough to eat. The older kids beat me daily. I was seven years old but so malnourished I could've passed for four. My body was covered in bruises, every shade of purple and green.

I still remembered the first time my mother saw those marks.

She cried the entire day.

I felt her guilt, her regret. After that, she tried to make up for everything at the Henson house. For years, I truly believed she loved me.

But that love was too fragile.

Too fragile to survive even a few whispered words from Nora.

"Mom." My voice was steady. "This is the last time I'll ever call you that. From here on out, you're on your own."

Leila couldn't meet my eyes.

I smiled bitterly at myself. What did it matter, saying all of this out loud? She didn't care. She never had. She had Nora, and that was enough.

Carter opened his mouth but said nothing.

The moment he wavered, Nora collapsed into his arms.

"Carter, I'm so dizzy... Am I dying?"

Leila's face went ashen, her voice sharp with panic. "Nora has a heart condition—she could have an episode at any moment! Get her out of here, now!"

"This new drug we've been developing targets exactly her type of congenital heart disease. Why do you think her father and I have been bending over backward to secure this partnership?"

"Nora is supposed to join the project team. She absolutely cannot have a setback right now."

In that instant, whatever sympathy had flickered in Carter's eyes vanished. He whipped around and glared at me with pure venom.

"Amanda, you knew damn well Nora was sick, and you deliberately provoked her. If anything happens to her, I will bury you. Do you understand me? I will make sure there's nothing left."

He scooped Nora into his arms and tore down the hallway like a man possessed, searching for a doctor.

The man who once swore he'd protect me for the rest of his life now wanted to destroy me.

I smiled faintly. Calmly wiped the tears from my face.

Then I pulled out my phone.

"If you still want to marry me, be at City Hall in thirty minutes."

On the other end of the line, I heard a voice tight with restraint.

"Done."

Carter Gilbert, this time I'm the one walking away from you.

After we registered at City Hall, I went straight into the sealed lab for the new drug trial. Carter called repeatedly. I didn't answer a single one.

It wasn't until the first phase of testing was complete that I finally stepped out of the laboratory.

And found the Hensons and Carter standing in the lobby of DM Biotech's research center, every one of their faces dark as a storm cloud.

I'd made myself clear—neither the Henson family nor the Gilberts would ever receive our cooperation again. So why the hell were they here?

I swallowed my irritation and was about to call security to have them thrown out.

But Carter spotted me from across the lobby.

"Amanda Henson!" He ground the words through clenched teeth. "I knew it was you hogging Nora's spot!"

I had no interest in getting tangled up with any of them. I turned and headed for the elevator bank on the opposite side.

I wasn't fast enough.

Carter seized my arm and slammed me against the wall. The back of my skull cracked against the surface, and a sharp ringing flooded my ears.

"The Hensons already wired you a million dollars. What more do you want? Why are you still stealing Nora's chance?"

"Do you have any idea—she can only get on the first trial list if she's part of this drug development project. Her heart can't wait any longer. Are you trying to kill her?"

Nora had congenital heart disease, yes. But she was nowhere near as fragile as they made her sound. It didn't take a genius to figure out she'd exaggerated her condition on purpose, just to wrestle the project away from me.

She leaned against Leila now, limp and doe-eyed, the picture of harmless innocence.

Carter's face was all tender concern—for her. The moment his gaze swung to me, it hardened into pure accusation.

"This project is a collaboration between DM Biotech and the Hensons. Have you no shame? You said you wanted nothing from the Henson family, and yet here you are, shamelessly stealing Nora's slot just to pad your medical credentials."

"One phone call. That's all it takes for me to have you thrown out."

My assistant rushed over, face tight with apology. "I'm so sorry," she said to me. "I had no idea this would happen."

Carter assumed the apology was meant for him.

He cut her off, bristling with fury. "Perfect timing. Get your director—Anna—in front of me within ten minutes. Otherwise, the Gilberts pull every cent of funding from this project."

Leila swept me with a venomous glare and snapped, "And if you don't remove Amanda Henson from the premises, the Hensons will withdraw our investment too!"

Nora watched me, a smug little smile curling her lips. Triumphant. Taunting.

As if she'd already won everything.

I couldn't fathom what she thought she was celebrating. The new drug development didn't need the Hensons' or the Gilberts' money. It was the other way around—they needed the social influence that a successful drug launch would bring.

Because of me, the Hensons and the Gilberts had been DM Biotech's strategic partners for years. This time, to demonstrate their commitment before the deal was even finalized, they'd sunk the bulk of their liquid capital into purchasing production equipment.

Keep pushing, Nora. Please.

The more they overplayed their hand, the clearer their true colors became. Once their capital was locked up with no way out, bankruptcy wouldn't be far behind.

My assistant stood in rigid silence. Carter's face had gone ashen. He forced the words out between his teeth.

"So you've even bought off a lowly assistant. Impressive, Amanda. Fine—I'll call Anna myself."

"And when I do, you can all get thrown out of this project together!"

My assistant moved to stop him. I held her back.

"Let him call."

Carter pulled out his phone. A few seconds passed.

In the quiet corridor outside the lab, a crisp ringtone echoed off the walls.

It was coming from me.