Chapter 1

Stella's POV

"Mrs. Marchetti, you have Type A blood. This blood bag is Type B. Are you sure you want us to proceed with the transfusion?" the nurse asked as she held up the blood bag, her brow furrowed.

"Go ahead." My voice was as light as a feather. "My husband, Don Marcello Marchetti, signed the consent form himself. There's no way it'd be a mistake."

The nurse hesitated for a few seconds before finally letting out a sigh and tearing open the packaging. The moment the needle pierced my vein, a chill spread from my wrist straight to my heart.

Slowly, I closed my eyes. In under 20 minutes, I started feeling a dull pain in my lower back. It felt like someone was carving into my bones with a blunt knife.

Then came the fever. My whole body trembled. No matter how tightly I wrapped myself in the blanket, it didn't help. My teeth chattered, making faint clicking sounds.

At that moment, the door flew open with a kick.

Marcello Marchetti strode in, the collar of his shirt hanging open and a lipstick stain still visible on his neck. Behind him was Letizia Marchetti, who looked perfectly normal and unscathed. She was wearing a sequined spaghetti-strap dress, her eyes red-rimmed, making her look delicate and pitiful.

"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull this time?" Marcello snapped after walking up to the bed and staring down at me. "The doctor already said you only have superficial injuries and a mild concussion. Why are you shaking like that?"

Gritting my teeth through the pain that was intensifying in my lower back, I said, "I'm cold."

Marcello let out a mocking laugh and adjusted his tie. "Cold? The room is set to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Why would you be cold?"

He turned toward Letizia, and his voice immediately softened as he said to her, "Letizia, turn up the thermostat. Otherwise, your sister-in-law will find another excuse to complain."

Letizia obediently nodded and walked over to the controls on the wall. After pressing a few buttons, she turned back around and looked at me timidly. "I'm so sorry, Stella. I really didn't know you'd be driving that car. I just wanted to test my new program... Cello already scolded me. Please don't be mad, okay?"

Tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Marcello immediately pulled her behind him protectively and shot me a dark look. "That's enough. Letizia nearly got hurt at the bar just now. She has already been through a terrifying ordeal tonight, yet she came all this way here just to apologize to you. What more do you want?"

I looked at his righteous expression. Out of nowhere, I found myself feeling rather amused.

The car had rolled three times on the highway. I had nearly died in that crash.

But what my own husband cared about the most was whether Letizia had been taken advantage of at the bar.

"She's been through a terrifying ordeal, you say?" My voice was as rough as sandpaper. "She went clubbing and got hit on by a man. In your eyes, that's a terrifying ordeal. In that case, what do you call nearly dying in a car crash?"

Marcello frowned, the impatience practically spilling out of his eyes. "Why do you keep talking about death? Haven't I already arranged for the best medical team in the city to attend to you? Besides, a military-grade collision protection system was installed on that car. Letizia had already calculated the odds to prove that you would've been just fine."

She'd run the calculations, huh?

I stared at the blood dripping steadily from the bag I was hooked up to, the one containing Type B blood. It was slowly flowing into my veins, destroying my cells and organs.

Letizia had indeed calculated every last detail with pinpoint accuracy.

"Marcello," I called out quietly. "What if I really end up dying?"

He stiffened for a moment before scoffing at me. "This again? Whenever Letizia makes the tiniest mistake, you use your death to threaten me. Don't you know that the way you're acting just gets on my nerves?"

He pulled over a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs. "Drop the act. If you feel uncomfortable, I'll tell the doctor to prescribe you some painkillers.

"Letizia was badly shaken today. I need to stay with her tonight. You can stay here by yourself and get some rest."

I said nothing.

My body temperature kept climbing, and my vision began to blur. My chest felt as though it were on fire. Every breath I took made my lungs feel like they were burning.

I knew what this meant—these were the early symptoms of a hemolytic transfusion reaction. The red blood cells all over my body were rupturing.

"Are you not feeling well, Stella?" Letizia tugged on Marcello's sleeve. "Her face looks really red."

Marcello didn't even glance at me. "What are you talking about? It's probably because she's mad that I'm not staying here with her."

He got back on his feet and eyed me, his gaze as cold as ice. "Stella, I'm only going to say this one last time—stop playing these stupid games with me just because you're jealous. Letizia is my sister. It's my duty to protect her. If you ever take this attitude with her again, I won't go easy on you."

Staring right back at him, I smiled. "Sure. You'd better do everything you can to protect her, then."

Scoffing, Marcello took Letizia's hand and walked off. "We're going. Let's not waste any more of our time on this crazy woman."

The door slammed shut.

I looked at the nearly-drained bag of blood and closed my eyes.