Chapter 1

After I saw Jackson Sterling's cancer diagnosis, I immediately handed over the $10,000 I had painstakingly saved from my college part-time jobs to the hospital.

I was terrified it wouldn't be enough. I forced myself to go to the underground black market and sold one of my kidneys for $100,000.

I walked to the hospital room door, clutching the bag containing the $100,000. Suddenly, a burst of piercing laughter came from inside.

"Sierra Sutton is such a cheap girl. She fell for our trick again! Haha！"

My hand froze on the doorknob.

What did they mean by... tricking me？

I instinctively looked through the small glass window on the door. The man who looked incredibly weak before I left was now leaning lazily against the headboard.

Jackson had a cigarette in his mouth, nonchalantly blowing out a smoke ring.

He didn't look like he had cancer at all.

"It's been almost two years, and that stupid woman is still kept in the dark," one of his friends teased.

"If she hadn't stolen Chloe Quinn's first-place spot in the competition, Jackson wouldn't have gone to such lengths. He's the heir to a billion-dollar empire, yet he's been pretending to be a low-life in a run-down apartment."

"It's hilarious seeing that poor girl so devoted to him," another voice added.

"The punishment was supposed to end when Jackson and Chloe got engaged. The time is almost up. If you count it, he's punished her one hundred and eight times in two years, right？"

"The first time, he lied and said he had no suit for an interview. She worked seventy-two hours without sleep to buy him one, only for that suit to be used as a rag by his maids."

"The second time, he faked a high fever. She withdrew from a major research final right on the spot just to rush to the hospital and take care of him..."

"Sigh, it's almost over. I'm actually going to miss having her as a source of entertainment."

Listening to the heartless laughter inside, my face, already pale from surgery, turned ghostly white.

The black-market surgery had been done without proper anesthesia. The memory of the blade slicing through my flesh still made my heart race.

But that physical pain was nothing compared to the agony tearing through my chest right now.

Jackson had been dating me just to punish me？

Even his identity was a lie？

With trembling hands, I took out my phone and typed "Jackson Sterling" into the search bar.

In an instant, a flood of information appeared.

"Heir to the Sterling Group, graduated from Harvard at twenty, worth billions. Engaged since childhood to Chloe Quinn, the heiress of the Quinn Group..."

So, Jackson was actually that prestigious.

I had been foolish enough to believe he was a poor orphan who couldn't even afford tuition, just like me.

When I was being harassed during my part-time job, Jackson had saved me like a hero. He pursued me relentlessly after that.

I thought I was lucky to have met someone with a similar background. I thought we could keep each other warm and become a family.

It was all a giant scam.

He approached me just to get revenge for his childhood sweetheart, Chloe.

Our relationship was a massive lie.

I looked at the face in the hospital room that now seemed so foreign through the smoke. Hearing their mockery, I felt like a total joke.

Tears were already streaming down my face. The heavy bag of cash in my arms felt like it was laughing at my stupidity.

For a liar, I had actually sacrificed one of my kidneys.

A passing nurse kindly checked on me. "Ma'am, do you need help？"

I snapped back to reality. Seeing someone about to come out of the room, I hurried away. I thanked the nurse and dragged my weak body into a nearby restroom.

The mirror reflected a face as white as paper.

Memories of the past two years with Jackson flooded my mind.

To give him better nutrition, I took on three part-time jobs and squeezed in time for tutoring.

To make his life easier, I paid the rent every single month.

And today, to "cure" his cancer, I sold my kidney.

Two years of selfless devotion were met with nothing but ridicule.

The heart I had offered him on a silver platter was thrown to the ground and crushed.

How pathetic.

I wiped the tears from my face and called Professor Miller.

Two weeks ago, he told me there was a spot for a study abroad program. He wanted to recommend me.

At the time, I didn't want a long-distance relationship with Jackson, so I turned him down without hesitation.

Now that I knew the truth, there was no reason to sacrifice my future for him.