CHAPTER ONE

The hospital waiting room smelled like antiseptic and stale coffee. Angelie sat on the cold plastic chair, her fingers clenched around the fraying strap of her handbag. Her eyes hadn’t left the doctor’s office door since he’d gone in with Tim’s latest test results. Her twin brother was down the hall, unconscious again. Pale. Fading.

“Angelie?”

She stood so fast the strap snapped off her bag. She didn’t even look at it.

Dr. Harrow’s expression told her everything before he said a word.

“It’s progressed faster than we hoped,” he said gently. “Tim’s kidneys are failing. Completely this time. We need a transplant. Soon.”

She blinked. “How soon is ‘soon’?”

He hesitated. “Two weeks. Maybe less.”

Angelie felt the ground slip out from under her. “We don’t have that kind of money.”

“I know. But there’s a donor. A private one. The procedure would happen at St. Nicholas. They can do it quickly if the financial part is handled.”

“How much?”

“Three hundred and fifty thousand.”

She felt like he’d punched her in the chest. She nodded, numbly, and left before he could say anything else.

She barely remembered getting home. Her apartment felt too quiet without Tim's jokes echoing through it. She dropped her bag on the floor, walked straight into her tiny kitchen, and filled a glass with tap water. Her hand shook as she drank.

Angelie had a job, sure. Two. A receptionist at a dentist's office by day, waitress by night. And yet, she barely made rent. There was no family to call. Just her and Tim, ever since that car crash six years ago ripped their parents out of their lives.

She pulled out her phone and opened the contact she hadn’t touched in a long time: Jeffery Lu.

She didn’t even have a photo saved, just his name.

They weren’t close. Not really. Just a few shared moments that clung to her memory like perfume on an old shirt. She’d worked at the Lu Corp front desk for six months before she left to care for Tim. That was where she'd met Jeffery.

Once, she’d spilled hot coffee on his suit. He’d looked furious, but handed her a clean napkin before security could react. Another time, he’d asked her if she was okay when she’d shown up to work with puffy eyes.

And then there was that night. The night it rained, the night she’d cried in the elevator because she thought Tim might die even then. He’d stepped in just as the doors closed. No words, just silence and the soft hum of descending floors. But when the doors opened, he’d turned her to face him and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then her lips. Like it meant something. Then he walked away.

And she’d never forgotten.

She called.

The phone rang once. Twice.

Then a voice message. Jeffery Lu is currently overseas for business and unavailable until further notice.

Gone.

Angelie sank onto the floor.

Who else could she ask?

She didn’t know she’d been crying until the knock at her door startled her.

Lucas Lu looked like Jeffery. Almost. Same sharp jaw, same tall frame. But where Jeffery was composed, quiet power, Lucas was... calculated. Cold charm in an expensive coat.

He smiled when she opened the door, his eyes scanning the mess of her expression.

“Rough night?” he asked.

“What do you want?” Angelie asked, not in the mood for games.

“Came to offer my condolences. I heard about your brother.”

Her throat tightened.

He walked in without being invited, like he owned the place. His cologne filled the room. The same scent Jeffery used to wear. It made her stomach turn.

“I assume you’ve tried reaching my brother?” he asked, casually inspecting her fridge magnet collection. “He’s always had a soft spot for you.”

“He’s not picking up.”

“Well, lucky for you... I don’t have to fly twelve hours to make miracles happen.”

Angelie narrowed her eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I can pay for your brother’s surgery. All of it. And the best aftercare. You’d never have to worry about a bill again.”

It sounded too easy. Too rehearsed.

“What’s the catch?”

Lucas turned. His smile deepened. “Marry me.”

Angelie stared at him, stunned. “Excuse me?”

“Fourteen days from now. You and I, A public ceremony. My lawyers will handle everything. Your brother lives, you walk away married to a Lu.”

“And Jeffery?”

“Won’t be a problem. He’s halfway across the world, and besides…” Lucas stepped closer, voice low. “He had his chance. He never took it.”

Angelie backed away. “Why would you want to marry me?”

Lucas didn’t answer right away. Just watched her. Then he said, “Because it’ll kill him.”

The air left the room.

“You’re using me to hurt your brother.”

“I’m giving you a choice, sweetheart.” He walked past her toward the door, pausing before opening it. “Two weeks. Clock’s ticking. Your brother’s life or your pride.”

And then he was gone.

******

Angelie sat in the darkness long after Lucas left.

It wasn’t just about pride.

It was about love. About heartbreak. About dignity. About being forced to choose between someone you love and someone who would only use you.

But as she lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling, all she could see was Tim’s pale face in that hospital bed. All she could hear was the beeping monitor and the doctor’s voice.

“Two weeks. Maybe less.”

She clutched her pillow and sobbed into it until morning.

*********

Four days later, she stood outside the Lu family estate.

The gates were taller than she remembered. The guards recognized her. One of them looked at her like he wanted to ask why she was here, but he didn’t.

Lucas met her at the front door with a satisfied smirk.

“I hope you brought your size,” he said, gesturing to a box behind him. “The ring’s already being resized.”

Angelie didn’t smile.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Lucas raised a brow. “No cold feet?”

Her voice was steady. “Just cold hands.”

As Lucas led her inside, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and frowned.

Then smiled.

“It’s Jeffery,” he said, slipping it back into his pocket. “Looks like he’s coming back early.”

Angelie froze.

Her heart dropped into her stomach.