Chapter 3

During my hospital stay, one of them stays with me every day. But they always leave in a hurry.

I think they are busy.

Then one day I need to use the bathroom. No one is around. I drag my IV pole and slowly make my way down the hall.

I pass a room. Through the window, I see Julian Price—the man who said he had an urgent meeting—feeding a dumpling into Jade’s mouth.

My three brothers are in the room too. They watch her with soft, doting eyes.

Ethan’s voice is helpless but fond.

“Jade, you can’t go stuffing yourself just because you’re better. Those dumplings are too greasy.”

Jade bats at his white coat and pouts. She complains with the exact touch of a spoiled child.

“But Marcus made them for me. They’re too good to resist.”

Then she complains again. “You guys crowd around me every day. It’s so annoying. I can’t even sneak a snack without someone catching me.”

My nails dig into my palms. I laugh at myself.

For days my meals have been nothing but plain rice porridge I’ve ordered myself.

No one noticed.

No one asked.

Jade, meanwhile, has hot dishes hand-delivered by Marcus.

I turn around. My legs feel like lead. Then I hear two nurses whispering outside the break room.

“The patient I’m taking care of? I think this one is the real sister. Dr. Hart was explicit—just give anther one IV fluids and keep her alive. If Miss Jade has severe rejection, that one be ready to replace her whole blood.”

My body clamps shut.

The scar lines across my chest and belly feel like they’re tearing open; pain crawls through my limbs.

How did it come to this?

When I first came to this world, my body was weak. I was sick all the time. Another critical condition notice. Another brush with death.

I remember being the child who if I so much as bumped my knee. Ethan learned medicine to take better care of me. Marcus and Oliver were the same.

Marcus hustled to build businesses so we could afford treatments; Oliver buried himself in pharmaceutics to make my medicines less bitter.

When I was on the edge of death, they prostrated themselves at famous temple and pray for a protective charm to me.

To bring me good karma, they even saved an orphan named Julian Price from the snow.

Everyone in Fairmont knows the Hart family’s daughter is blessed: three brothers who dote on their fragile little sister, and her fiancé is the CEO of a tech giant.

I was an orphan. I craved that love more than anything. After I finished the mission I even refused the reward—I just wanted to stay and be loved by them.

Then Jade arrived.

The day they brought her home, the brothers swore over me. “She looks so much like our mother. She has the same heart condition. We can’t ignore her.”

“Don’t worry. Adopting her will bring you more good karma. You’re still our love and only.”

I believed them. I really tried to accept her.

To be kind I gave up my room.

Every time my brothers came back from a business trip, I reminded them to buy her a gift too. I felt sorry she couldn’t go places because of her heart. So every time Julian and I went on a date, I brought her along.

Slowly, Jade sank into the family.

She learned to whine for gifts. She play-fought with Julian. She fit right in.

But somewhere along the way, something shifted.

When Jade fell in front of me, Ethan’s first question was, “Did you push her?”

One time Marcus cooked, he made all of Jade’s favorite foods.

Oliver’s research goal became—develop a targeted drug for Jade’s heart.

Even Julian, when we argued, would throw out, “Why can’t you be more like your sister? Learn to be softer!”

And then… they plotted to steal my heart.

All for her.

The emotions surge back. My heart feels like someone is ripping it out again.

I try to move faster.

I want to leave this place. But I’m too weak. My legs give out. I fall.

The wounds on my chest and abdomen split open. Pain so sharp it blots out thought folds me into a ball. I go limp, fog swallowing me, and whisper,

“Ethan, Oliver and Marcus …”

Just as I am about to pass out, I see them. My brothers and Julian. Running toward me.

Ethan is the fastest. He scoops me up. His voice is harsh.

“Ivy Hart! Because you saw us all with Jade, you hurt yourself again? Just to get attention?”