Chapter 2

"You're dreaming!"

I roared in fury.

"Heh." Chloe sneered.

"Then don't blame me."

She suddenly grabbed my hand and placed it on her own body.

Then, she violently threw herself backward.

"Ah—!"

Chloe screamed as she tumbled down the stairs.

Just as panic seized me, the banquet hall doors burst open.

Liam rushed in, leading the charge.

He looked at me, his eyes blazing with rage.

Chloe lay in a pool of blood, weakly pointing at me.

"Liam... save me..."

"Skylar... she said I stole you... she wanted to kill me..."

Liam charged over, slapping me hard across the face.

"Skylar!"

"You heartless monster!"

I stared at him blankly for a long time.

He once swore he'd love me, protect me, but now he'd given all his gratitude and affection to someone else.

And not just anyone—to my own sister, who I'd grown up with.

Six months ago, Liam went climbing in the mountains, only to be caught in an unexpected avalanche and went missing.

The search and rescue team looked for three days straight before announcing they were stopping the search.

Everyone gave up.

But I didn't.

My body, with only one kidney, couldn't endure the extreme cold.

Still, I rushed into the forbidden zone regardless of the risks.

I dragged my fragile body, on the verge of collapse, and found him at the edge of the avalanche zone.

A hand emerged from the snow, and I instantly recognized it as Liam's.

My hands, purple with cold, tried to dig away the thick snow, but I couldn't. I resorted to ramming my body against it.

Once, twice, three times...

I don't know how long passed. My consciousness started to fade, but just before I collapsed, I finally pulled him out.

I dragged him across the vast snowy landscape for a day and a night.

With every step, the old wound on my side tore open with excruciating pain.

Only after I successfully dragged Liam out of the mountains and into the hospital did I dare to collapse in a secluded corner.

By the time I treated my wounds and returned, Chloe was sitting by his hospital bed.

Her face was tear-streaked, and her hands even had perfectly appropriate frostbite.

Liam had just woken up, his voice hoarse.

"Chloe... you saved me?"

Chloe nodded, crying.

"Liam, I was so scared... I looked for you for so long..."

"I almost thought I'd never see you again..."

I pretended to walk past the door, but then found myself frozen, unable to move.

I desperately wanted to rush in and tell Liam that I was the one who saved him.

But I couldn't.

Liam completely believed her.

He believed Chloe was his savior.

She donated the kidney.

She saved him from the mountain.

And I, Skylar, was just a malicious woman who had abandoned him for money, and was now back to torment him.

"Liam... I can't go on..."

"Skylar... she hates me..."

"Marry me... otherwise I... I won't get treatment..."

She started pulling out the IV needle from her hand.

"Chloe, calm down!" Liam frantically pressed her hand down.

I stood rooted to the spot, not saying a word.

Liam's gaze turned to me.

There was not a trace of warmth in his eyes.

"Skylar, we're getting a divorce."

I numbly nodded.

"Alright."

He didn't explain, and I didn't ask.

My calmness seemed to enrage him.

His face darkened, and he grabbed my chin.

"Skylar, are you so eager to leave me again?"

He paused, then spat out an utterly humiliating condition.

"Since you're Chloe's sister, I suppose planning our wedding would be no problem for you?"

"I want you to personally walk Chloe down the aisle to me."

My eyes widened in shock.

"Liam, don't go too far!"

Chloe let out a weak sob from the bed.

"Skylar, don't you want to be my bridesmaid and send me off?"

Liam's face was livid.

"You have no right to refuse."

"If you don't agree, I'll make sure you go to jail for attempted murder."