Chapter 1
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Maya POV:
The smell of burnt sugar and vanilla filled the kitchen, but it didn't do anything to warm the cold, anxious knot twisting inside my stomach.
It was my sister Chloe’s eighteenth birthday party. Ever since she showed up at our house six months ago with a DNA test in her hand, claiming we were switched at birth, my entire life had turned into a living nightmare. My parents instantly believed her. They welcomed her with open arms, convinced she was their real biological daughter who had suffered out in the world, while treating me like a greedy thief who had stolen her life.
I looked down at the small, hand-knitted scarf in my raw, cramped fingers. I had spent three months secretly knitting it just to show them I still wanted to belong.
"Hey! Out of my way, trash!"
A sharp, violent shove sent me crashing hard against the hallway wall. Chloe brushed past me, looking breathtaking in her designer silk dress and a sparkling diamond necklace. She didn't even look back.
"Mom!" Chloe whined loudly, stepping into the dining room. "Why is Maya still standing out there in that ugly sweater? She’s going to ruin my birthday photos with the guests!"
My mother, Eleanor, walked out of the kitchen. The second her eyes landed on my face, her elegant expression hardened into pure disgust.
"Maya, what did I tell you about staying out of sight?" her voice cut through me in a sharp, low whisper. "Take that ragged piece of yarn and get upstairs to your room. You are not needed down here today."
I swallowed the burning lump in my throat. "Mom, please... I just wanted to wish her a happy birthday."
"Chloe doesn't need your cheap knick-knacks," she scoffed. She snatched the scarf right out of my hands and tossed it onto a dusty console table like garbage. "Go to your room. Don't make me repeat myself."
I looked past her shoulder toward the living room. My father, Richard, was standing by the fireplace, laughing with Lucas Vance—the powerful billionaire heir and law student who had recently started coming around our house. Lucas was looking down at his phone, his sharp, handsome face set in its usual cold, unreachable expression.
I felt a sharp pain in my side where my surgical scar still ached from the secret, anonymous kidney donation I had done months ago. I had risked my life to save a dying stranger, yet here I was, treated like an outcast in my own home.
Unable to breathe the suffocating air inside anymore, I turned around, slipped through the side corridor, and ran blindly out the heavy glass doors into the dark, rain-slicked courtyard just to hide my tears.
The rain was starting to fall hard, blurring my vision completely as I dashed down the stone steps, entirely unaware of the shadow standing right in my path.
***
Lucas POV:
I stood near the stone pillar in the Sterling courtyard, checking an urgent work document on my phone while the muffled sound of the birthday music played inside. High-society parties always annoyed me, but I was obligated to attend.
My chest felt tight beneath my tailored black coat—a phantom reminder of the critical illness that had almost taken my life a year ago before an anonymous angel donated their kidney to save me. My eyes flicked toward the glass doors where Chloe was laughing inside. She had claimed she was the one who went under the knife for me, and I owed her everything for it. Which meant I had to tolerate her family.
Especially her cruel, attention-seeking sister, Maya. From what Chloe told me, Maya was a manipulative fraud who had enjoyed a life of luxury that rightfully belonged to Chloe, and now threw dramatic tantrums because she was being sidelined.
Suddenly, a frantic figure bolted out of the side doors, running blindly into the dark.
Before I could step aside, the person collided forcefully right into my chest.
The impact sent her skidding on the wet, slippery tiles. Acting on reflex, I reached out and clamped my heavy hand tightly around her forearm, swinging her back onto her feet before she could crash against the concrete.
She gasped, wiping the heavy rain and tears from her face. It was Maya.
As she stared up at me with wide, trembling eyes, any irritation I had turned into pure ice. I looked at her tear-stained face, then flicked my gaze down to my casual, wet sweater with deep distaste.
"Watch where you're going," my deep voice cut through the damp night air like ice. I let go of her arm abruptly, pulling my hand away as if her very touch burned him. "Are the Sterling daughters so desperate for attention that they’ve resorted to throwing tantrums in the dark now?"
Maya stepped back, looking completely shocked by the venom in my voice. "I wasn't... I didn't mean to—"
"Save the dramatic act, Maya," I interrupted coldly, pulling my coat tight over my broad shoulders. I had zero patience for her greed. "Your sister is inside celebrating the life you stole from her for eighteen years. If you're looking to create a scene to ruin her night, do it somewhere else. I have absolutely zero interest in your pathetic games."
Without giving her a chance to speak, I turned on his heel and walked straight back into the bright warmth of the mansion, leaving her behind in the freezing storm. I didn't care about her tears. She deserved it.
I had absolutely no idea that the girl I just left freezing in the dark was the one who actually carried the scar that saved my life—or that the web of lies binding us together was about to cost her everything.
