Chapter 1

1

After the crash, my daughter and I were left broken and bleeding.

My husband, Donovan Sawyer, commanded the System to transplant my heart and my daughter's eyes into his paralyzed ex-girlfriend.

"A useless wife doesn't need such a healthy heart," he muttered.

"And what's the point of a slow-witted kid having such beautiful eyes?"

What he didn't know was that the System had lied to him.

I had died instantly at the scene.

And once I was gone for good, Donovan went completely insane.

......

I felt my chest being ripped open.

The pain was so sharp it made my scalp go numb.

After a moment of suffocation, I looked down and saw a heartless corpse.

It was mine.

Through the haze of death, I heard Donovan's voice, sounding breathless with excitement.

"System, take my daughter's eyes too. Give them to Lila Monroe."

I couldn't believe it.

It was one thing for him to steal my heart, but he wouldn't even spare our child.

"Host, Chloe Sawyer is only five years old. If you take her eyes, she will be blind for the rest of her life," the cold voice of the System warned.

Donovan's face twisted with disgust.

"Chloe is basically a vegetable anyway. Why does a slow kid need perfect eyes?"

My vision turned red with rage.

I lunged at him, trying to tear his throat out, but I passed right through him and that strange black shadow standing beside him.

"Donovan, I'll sign the divorce papers! I'll do anything! Just please, leave Chloe alone!"

I screamed until my ghostly lungs burned, but I couldn't stop a thing.

During the procedure, my daughter's eyes were squeezed shut.

Her tiny body trembled with agony as she whimpered, "Daddy! Mommy! Chloe hurts! It hurts so much!"

Donovan only frowned slightly.

He looked at her as if she weren't his own flesh and blood, but a stranger on the street.

I fought with everything I had to tear that black shadow apart, but I watched as it slowly merged into Lila Monroe's body.

I collapsed to the floor, clutching my head in despair.

Donovan, you've been played.

I tried to leave him, but an invisible force tethered me to his side like a magnet.

I was forced to watch him dote on his ex-girlfriend.

Everyone was shocked.

The woman who had been a vegetable for ten years had miraculously woken up.

People envied their "true love."

Since Lila woke up, Donovan hadn't left her side for a second.

He washed her hair, trimmed her nails, and fed her every meal.

They looked like the perfect, happy couple.

I looked at the faint tan line on my left ring finger, my heart filled with bitterness.

"Lila, are you married?"

Lila asked one morning, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Donovan's wedding ring.

"Lila, I'm awake now. You don't have to settle for someone else anymore. Divorce her."

To my surprise, the smile on Donovan's face froze.

I felt a flicker of confusion, but I quickly suppressed it.

He had always despised me and our daughter.

Why would he hesitate now?

"I'll think about it," Donovan said, his eyes darting away as he made an excuse to leave the room.

I followed him as he walked toward Chloe's ward.

Her eyes were wrapped in thick, heavy gauze.

She was clutching the corner of her blanket, looking smaller and thinner than I remembered.

The nurses were whispering that they couldn't get a hold of Chloe's parents and might have to call Child Protective Services.

I looked at Donovan, desperate for him to do something.

He just rolled his eyes and dialed his mother's number.

"Mom, come pick up this slow-witted brat of mine. I'm done with her!"

A brat?

My soul felt like it was being shredded.

Donovan had forgotten that it was his fault.

He had been so desperate to catch a bus to visit Lila that he'd left Chloe alone on the curb.

Chloe had been hit, suffering a traumatic brain injury that left her struggling to count even to ten.

Back then, my mother-in-law had knelt on the floor, begging me not to leave him, pleading for the sake of the child.

Donovan had sworn to the heavens that he would help me raise her.

I had swallowed my pride and stayed for her.

But now, Donovan had broken every promise and abandoned his own daughter.