Chapter 1

The hemp rope cut brutally into the back of my neck, the stinging pain finally bringing me back to reality.

My former fiancée, the woman who once swore she would marry no one but me, had tied me up in an underground VIP gambling parlor. She was using me as a living dartboard target, all for the sake of her precious childhood sweetheart.

Ten razor-sharp throwing knives grazed my skin and slammed into the hardwood board behind me. Blood slowly seeped down the wood grain.

She stood right beside the dartboard, looking down at me. Her voice was as cold as poison.

"Ethan Reed, you owe this to Christian. Your mother stole his father’s life-saving donor heart back then. It’s only fair you pay it back with your life."

I grit my teeth, refusing to make a sound. She had promised me that if I survived these ten knives, she would pay the overdue medical bills for my little sister in the ICU.

She had no idea that when the truth finally came out, it would completely break her.

Back then, it was my mother who had willingly signed the donor agreement to save Christian's father.

My mother didn't steal anything. In fact, she was framed by the Cole family while trying to protect the original agreement, and she died miserably in a prison cell.

Years later, Serena found my sister’s grave. She knelt before the tombstone, slapping her own face repeatedly until her cheeks bled.

I stood by the roadside, glanced at her coldly for a brief second, and turned around to link arms with the person beside me.

I wouldn’t give her even a shred of forgiveness.