Chapter 1

The phantom choke of Piper Carlson ripping out my ventilator tube still crushed my throat when I jolted awake.

Blinding white filled my vision. The sharp stink of disinfectant hit next.

"Marco, pretending to pass out again? After all these years, can't you come up with something new?"

Her icy voice cut right through me.

I slowly turned my head.

Piper stood beside my hospital bed in a sharp suit.

But the way she looked at me?

Like I was trash.

Elliot Lacy—the man who got me killed in my last life—stood beside her with a smug grin, his arm hooked through hers.

Then it hit me.

This was the day I was diagnosed with kidney failure.

The same day Elliot "accidentally" let Piper find out he only had one kidney.

After that, the woman who once loved me with everything she had became convinced Elliot was the one who saved her.

And me?

I became the liar who stole his credit.

But this time, I got another shot.

I was back where it all started.

Hatred slammed into me like a wave.

"Piper, don't say that. Marco might actually be sick..." Elliot said, all fake concern.

But the smug look in his eyes gave him away.

"Sick?"

Piper scoffed and dropped his arm.

Then she leaned over, grabbed my chin, and squeezed hard enough to make my jaw ache.

"He's perfectly fine. This is just another pathetic stunt to get my attention."

I stared at the hand gripping my face.

In my last life, that same hand had ripped out my ventilator.

I'd loved her with everything I had for ten years.

I gave her a kidney to save her life.

And what did I get?

She called me a thief who stole someone else's life.

I met Piper's eyes, my voice rough and ice-cold.

"Let go. You make me sick."

She froze, clearly not expecting me to push back.

"What did you say?"

"I said let go, Piper Carlson. Don't touch me with those filthy hands."

I had a second chance now.

I wasn't wasting it sacrificing myself and waiting for Piper to learn the truth.

I just wanted away from these two monsters.

As far as possible.

Piper's face went dark.

"Marco Mercer, do you have a death wish?"

"Piper!" Elliot grabbed her arm. "Marco must be delirious. Otherwise..."

He gave her sleeve a gentle tug, playing the saint.

"He loves you so much. Why would he ever talk to you like that?"

"Love?"

The word made Piper's eyes go red.

Her family had forced her to marry me, and she had always resented it.

Then the hospital room door opened.

A doctor walked in, looking grim, my test results in hand.

"Mr. Mercer, your results are back. Your kidney function is severely damaged. You need to be admitted immediately. And... we found that you only have one kidney."

My fingers curled tight.

Beside me, Piper froze.

Then she looked straight at me.

"You only have one kidney too?"

Disbelief flashed across her face, like she couldn't accept it.

I let out a bitter laugh.

I hadn't planned to say anything.

But then I saw the panic flash across Elliot's face, and the denial died on my tongue.

"That's right. I only have one kidney."

I held Piper's gaze, waiting.

Regret?

Guilt?

Maybe even total devastation?

This time, she knew the truth ten years earlier.

"You're lying!"

Her answer hit harder than a slap.

She ripped the report from the doctor's hand, crushed it into a ball, and threw it at me.

"Keep lying. You'd fake a medical report just to save yourself?"

She leaned in, teeth clenched.

"You think claiming you have one kidney makes you Elliot? That it makes you my savior?"

Her eyes turned cold.

"Dream on, Marco. You'll never be half the man Elliot is."

Disgust rolled through me.

I was too tired to fight anymore.

I really loved someone like her?

Someone this arrogant... this cruel?

Elliot suddenly gasped and bent down, picking up a yellowed slip of paper that had fallen with the report.

One look, and his face changed.

He quickly tried to hide it.

"What's that?" Piper frowned.

His eyes darted away as he forced a smile.

"N-Nothing. Just an old surgery receipt... Piper, let's go."

A surgery receipt?

My heart jumped.

Piper snatched it from him and studied the handwriting and date.

Her brows slowly pulled together.

Then she looked at me.

For the first time, suspicion flickered in her eyes.

"Is this yours?"