Chapter 2

2.

The moment he heard my name, Pierce's face twisted into a scowl.

"Another life-or-death drama. She just has to compete with Quinn for attention, doesn't she?"

"She did this five years ago, and she's doing it again today!"

"I don't care if she's dead or alive. It has nothing to do with me."

He had never let go of his resentment toward our marriage.

Years ago, the Sterling Group needed my family's biotech patents to survive a transition. My parents wanted the patents to stay with me.

To create a win-win situation, Pierce married me.

We had agreed to a marriage of convenience, staying out of each other's business.

But Quinn, his precious darling, vanished the night before the wedding, leaving behind a letter.

She claimed I had threatened her and forced her to flee.

Pierce was livid. Without asking a single question, he decided I was a monster hiding behind a pretty face.

Lucas lowered his voice. "Hospital records don't lie, Pierce. Something really happened to her!"

"Go check on her. This surgery is going to take hours."

Pierce's face darkened even further. He snatched a stack of papers and slammed them onto the floor.

"It's better if something happened to her. It saves me the trouble of a divorce."

Everyone knew the Sterling Group rose from the ashes because of my family's technology.

Seeing Pierce be this heartless made even Lucas lose his patience.

"Even if she wasn't your wife, she's the partner who provided your company's core tech. You can't be this cruel."

"What partner? She's just a parasite living off her parents' legacy," Pierce spat. "It's a dog-eat-dog world. If she couldn't protect her own assets, that's on her."

"She didn't show Quinn any mercy five years ago, so why should I show her any now?"

Lucas shook his head. "If you won't go, I will. I'm telling you one last time, Pierce―don't do something you'll regret."

"The only thing I regret is marrying her."

Pierce waved him off. "Once Quinn is better, I'm correcting that mistake immediately. I'm ending the marriage with Sierra!"

"I'm going to give Quinn a wedding the whole city will talk about. She's the only one who deserves to be my wife!"

The only one who deserves it.

Grief flooded through my spirit. Looking back at my life, every step I took was a mistake.

When my parents told me I was going to marry Pierce, I was over the moon.

He was handsome, brilliant, and driven.

I'd had a crush on him since high school. I thought my dreams were finally coming true.

I really thought we could build a life together.

But on our wedding night, I watched him walk out the door to spend the night searching for Quinn.

On the day I was diagnosed with cancer, I tried to tell him.

He looked at me with pure disgust.

"Cancer? Can't you come up with a better lie? Even if you were dying today, I wouldn't give you a second look!"

The Sterling Group was powerful enough to find my medical records with a single phone call.

But he didn't care enough to check.

After that, I stopped trying to contact him. We lived as strangers, or worse, as enemies.

Pierce was right. He wouldn't give me a second look.

And now, he wouldn't even get the chance.

Since no one claimed my body, I was sent to the crematorium.

I was turned into a pile of gray ash.