Chapter 1

I was once the person Ethan loved most.

Because I saved his life. Because he owed me that life. My brother Sebastian died in that accident, pushing both of us to safety.

Then they reopened the case. Changed the ruling. Sebastian's rescue choice killed Ethan's sister. Vivian was the real savior.

From that day on, Ethan decided I was guilty.

Vivian casually said, "I wonder if she'd just wait there and die if we locked her in a freezer."

Ethan locked me in the cold storage. Right away.

But I was pregnant. My child died in that cold.

Lying in the hospital bed, I sent that man a message.

"I won't love Ethan anymore. I'll go to New York with you."

Natalie's POV

I was once the person Ethan loved most.

If a little hot water scalded my hand, Ethan would drop everything. He would leave all the company directors waiting to personally take me to the hospital.

When someone laughed at me for being too delicate, the next day that person's company was removed from the collaborator list.

Everyone knew I had saved Ethan's life, and that I'd lost my brother saving him.

Back then, Ethan said he would protect everything I had left.

But last night, at a dinner party, Vivian casually mentioned wanting to see if I'd also wait in vain for rescue if locked in a freezer. After a few seconds of silence, Ethan had someone send me in.

The freezer door locked from the outside. By the time they found me, it was already the next morning.

When the warehouse worker opened the door, he stumbled backward in shock. I lay on the floor, my lips completely colorless, my hands and feet stiff as if pulled from ice.

The doctor lifted me onto a stretcher. When the needle pierced the back of my hand, I didn't even have the strength to flinch.

Ethan stood not far away, his face pale.

He had taken half a step forward.

Vivian stood beside him, fingers touching the old scar on her arm, her voice soft. "Ethan, don't forget. Melissa waited like this for someone to save her too."

Ethan's footsteps stopped.

He didn't come any closer, only instructed the doctor. "Take her to the hospital."

When I woke up, a warming blanket covered me, and an IV dripped into the back of my hand.

The doctor said I was lucky they found me soon enough, but I couldn't be exposed to cold for the next few days.

Ethan frowned as he listened.

I stared at his face.

I remembered years ago, right after the accident. I'd developed a high fever from smoke inhalation. My brother Sebastian died at the rescue site. Ethan sat by my hospital bed, holding my hand, saying over and over, "From now on, I'll protect everything you have left."

And he really had kept that promise. He personally placed Sebastian's memorial plaque in the hall. When I was too afraid to sleep alone, he renovated the master bedroom in the villa so I could rest peacefully.

Until they reopened the old case and changed the conclusion.

Sebastian was found to have wrongly sealed off a rescue route, indirectly causing Melissa's death.

Vivian was the responsibility Melissa left behind, and also a survivor of that accident.

She had old injuries. Whenever she hurt, Ethan would think of his sister.

I pushed myself up in bed, my throat raw and aching. "Did you agree to throw me in the freezer?"

Ethan didn't answer, only said, "Rest first."

I stared at his averted eyes. "If I hadn't been the one who saved you back then, would you have been more decisive? Would you have just let me freeze to death in there?"

Ethan's expression darkened.

"Natalie, saving my life doesn't cancel out another life." He looked at me. "The person who died was my sister."

I gripped the blanket. "My father's rescue decision wasn't meant to harm anyone. Sebastian also died in there. He-"

"The investigation results are clear." Ethan cut me off. "What your family owes Melissa won't be canceled just because Sebastian died too."

The hospital room door was pushed open.

Vivian walked in, holding Melissa's old belongings.

She wasn't crying, just stood in the doorway with reddened eyes. "Natalie, Melissa was also waiting for someone to open that passage. But no one came."

Ethan's gaze left me.

He turned to support Vivian, his voice low. "Don't upset yourself anymore."

I watched his hand fall on Vivian's shoulder. The words on my lips were choked back.

After the hospital room quieted down, my phone lit up.

Adrian sent a message: "I've secured a job opportunity for you in New York. I've prepared everything for you. As soon as you agree to come work here, you can enjoy it all immediately."

He was the person who had been providing legal assistance for Sebastian's memorial project after the accident.

Three days ago, he went to New York to prepare everything for me.

I didn't reply immediately.

Adrian sent another message: "Sebastian didn't save you so you could stay trapped, being punished by others."

Before I could respond, a text from Ethan appeared.

It was brief: "After discharge today, go back to the villa and clear out the master bedroom. Vivian is moving in tonight. Don't leave any of your things in the room or the closet. It makes her uncomfortable."

I stared at those words, my eyes slowly growing cold.

That master bedroom was the one Ethan had personally arranged for me years ago. Sebastian's memorial items were kept there. My nightmares from the accident had gradually disappeared in that room.

Now Vivian was moving in.

I finally replied to Adrian: "I'll go with you."

The moment I sent the message, footsteps sounded outside the hospital room.

Ethan's assistant entered with discharge papers, his tone polite. "Miss Natalie, Mr. Ethan wants you to return to the villa now. The car is waiting downstairs."