"Cece should go first," Noelle said, trying to sound sincere. "She's younger. She needs a good match."

She was putting on the same act all over again.

But the way she and Theodore Kerr kept sneaking looks at each other gave them away.

Everyone knew they'd been secretly dating each other.

And today, Lincoln was clearly going to announce their engagement.

In my previous life, I was clueless. I thought growing up together meant Noelle would never hurt me.

So I chose Damian, thinking I was doing her a favor.

But I was actually walking straight into hell.

The 73 stabs had torn my heart apart.

Yet the medical team Damian called in crowded around Noelle, fussing over a tiny scratch on her wrist.

Curled up in Damian's arms, she sobbed, "Damian, it hurts. Please save Cece. It's my fault. I shouldn't have fought her for you..."

People around us started whispering, calling Noelle a selfless sister for putting me first.

She didn't call for the bodyguards until I was bleeding out.

"Over there! Save my sister! Please, help her!"

Thinking back to that tear-streaked face almost made me laugh.

This was the real Noelle—smiling like an angel while ruining me, stealing Dad's love, forcing me into a loveless marriage, and leaving me with nothing.

I snapped back and smiled coldly. "Oh, how thoughtful. Then I'm choosing Theodore."

Noelle looked at me in disbelief. Then her eyes welled up. "Cece, you know how I feel about Theo..."

Damian looked at me, too, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

Lincoln exploded and slapped me hard across the face.

"Theodore's not for you. He's the heir of the top family, and you're nothing.

"He likes your sister, you know that, and you still picked him?"

I swallowed the pain and laughed. "If it's all decided, why not just marry me off to that cripple? Afraid people will say you're playing favorites?"

Noelle frowned, her eyes red. "Cece, how can you say that? Dad has always loved you."

Suddenly, Damian stood from his wheelchair.

"Mr. Atkinson," he said, "let's make a deal.

"I know your company's bleeding cash. I'll invest 150 million dollars, but only if you let me marry Noelle."

I couldn't believe it. After faking being disabled all this time, he just got up.

I stared at him, and for a brief second, his cold eyes betrayed guilt and hesitation.

A short laugh escaped me as I realized he'd been reborn, too.

He watched me die once, and now he was throwing away his biggest secret—he was never paralyzed, never disowned—just to keep Noelle.

The idea of losing her must sting worse than any guilt he felt for me.

Last time, I sold everything I had to help him walk again and even whored myself out to get bank loans.

He never tried to stop me.

Lincoln's eyes lit up at the offer.

He was desperate to get us married, all to rescue the company.

And Damian's family was far more powerful than Theodore's.

Lincoln snorted. "If you're that hung up on Elle, fine. Cece can marry Theodore."

Theodore's face darkened at the decision. Fury burned in his eyes.

"Celine Atkinson, look at yourself," he spat. "You're nowhere near Elle's level. Marry you? Not a chance!"

Lincoln's face was tight with frustration.

"Seriously, Theo? Our families go way back. Are you saying my daughter's not good enough? You want to back out of the engagement?"

"Mr. Atkinson, with all due respect, I'm not marrying anyone but Elle. Marry her sister? "Theodore said, giving me a scornful look. "Might as well bury me now."

Noelle bit her lip and bopped his chest.

"Theo, Cece got sick saving you. Can you at least show a little compassion?"

Honestly, I'd forgotten all about that.

When we were ten, Theodore liked me, not Noelle.

One day, he fell into the lake, screaming for me to save him. Without thinking, I jumped in and dragged him to shore with all my strength. I had been sick ever since.

Now he looked at Noelle like she was his whole world. "Elle, stop worrying about her. If you hadn't called the doctor, I wouldn't even be here. You saved me."

Then he shot me a disgusted look.

"Celine, if you hadn't used that to cling to me, I would've married Elle already."

Noelle smirked and buried her face in his chest, trying to hide it.

I nearly rolled my eyes.

"If you like both and can't decide," I said coolly, "why not just marry them both?"

Her face flushed. "What are you even saying? If I did that, who'd marry you?"

I stood up slowly. "What if I don't want either of them?"

They both turned.

Theodore looked at me with outright contempt.

Damian's gaze was dark and steady, like he was trying to read me.

I looked away, uninterested.

Lincoln slammed his cup down. "Don't be ridiculous. You're a woman. If you don't get married, what good are you?"

I met his eyes and answered in a firm voice, "I know the overseas business is in trouble. I'll go, take charge, and get the company through it."

In my last life, the family business hit rock bottom.

Lincoln used the money that was meant for me to fix things, but it barely made a difference.

Before the Atkinson Group went under, he quietly moved everything to Noelle.

She ended up with enough to live in luxury for generations.

I was left in a run-down rental home, waking before dawn and working myself to exhaustion just to cover Damian's treatments.

At my lowest, I knelt in front of Noelle and begged for 5,000 dollars. She had the guards drag me out and break my leg.

The doctor said Damian's surgery was short by exactly that much. Any more delay, and he'd be permanently disabled.

So I gave up my dignity and sold my body to save him.

But it was all one-sided. I was the only one who cared.

Enough. I was done thinking about it.

I gave a bitter laugh, deleted Damian's number, and boarded the flight to the U.K.

At the new company, no one expected much from me. Just Noelle's shadow, they thought.

I didn't care. I was here to prove myself.

My last life revolved around Damian. This time, I threw myself into work and found I had a gift for negotiation. Even our partners couldn't stop praising me.

After I closed a deal that had stalled for three years, the big boss asked to meet me.

One win turned into a streak. I made a name for myself—a sharp, beautiful investor, outshining Noelle.

Then the father, who'd long ignored me, finally called.

I picked up, and he was yelling before I could speak.

"Celine, seriously? Your mom's memorial is coming up, and you're too busy to show up?"

My mother was the soft spot in my heart. I wrapped up work and flew back.

After visiting her grave, I was stopped by Noelle.

Noelle stood there, her fake smile in place, but her eyes betrayed her jealousy.

"Cece, you've really been working hard lately.

"Always running things at the office. I'm not saying you should stop, but you're a woman. Always putting yourself out there, you've embarrassed Dad.

"People are talking. Saying you sleep around to win investors.

"I can see it. You're only doing that to get attention from men."

Her eyes flicked to Damian, standing beside me.

"So Dad asked me to tell you this," she went on with a smirk. "You're engaged to that vegetable from the Perkins family.

"Starting tomorrow, you're out. I'm taking over as CEO. No more running around and making a scene."

"Oh, you can't handle the fact that the sister you've been walking all over is finally ahead of you?" I shot back.

She flinched, stunned.

My gaze stayed calm on her, but my voice turned sharp. "I worked my ass off to save this company. And you think you get to take over? Because your mom was the mistress? Or because Dad bought you into some crappy school?

"Who the hell are you to tell me to step down, bastard?"

Noelle scrunched up her face and burst into tears. "I was just trying to help. How could you think that about me?"

"Help?" I scoffed. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that. But listen, Dad's already given you more than enough. Stop trying to steal my mom's inheritance."

"I know you've always hated me. I just didn't want to see you struggle," she sobbed, looking hurt.

I had had enough and turned to leave. But Damian grabbed my wrist and pinned me against the wall.

His eyes were dark, voice low. "You went too far."

He was defending her again. I found it almost funny.

His stare sharpened. "Apologize to Elle."

I slapped him.

The sound echoed through the room.

"Elle's perfect little fiancé, are you done?" I scoffed. "Take it outside if you want a fight. You make me sick."

His head jerked from the impact, hair falling across his eyes. For a moment, he looked almost shattered.

"You..."

His voice was hoarse, like he couldn't believe I'd hit him.

I shoved him off and packed my bags that night.

But just before I boarded the plane, Theodore grabbed me.

His hand clamped around my throat, his eyes blazing with fury. "This is all your fault. Elle jumped off a building last night. She's in the hospital, bleeding out. You have to save her!"

Thankfully, my bodyguards moved fast, pinning Theodore to the ground in seconds.

I stared at him, incredulous. "She jumped off a building? Then take her to the hospital. What's that got to do with me? Did I push her?"

His face twisted with anger. "No, but you called her a bastard yesterday! You wanted her dead, didn't you?

"If anything happens to her, I swear I'll make you pay."

I sneered. "You? Against my ten bodyguards?"

Damian stepped in with an icy expression, followed by a group of bodyguards. "What if you count me in?"

Theodore snapped, "Enough. Elle's bleeding out. We don't have time. Tie her up and take her to the hospital. She can donate blood.

"You caused this. Time to make it right."

All my bodyguards were down in minutes. Theodore grabbed me by the throat and slammed me to the floor.

My cheek scraped against the ground, bleeding. The pain nearly made me cry.

But I ignored him and stared at Damian instead. "Just one thing, Damian. You really don't see it?

"She jumped for sympathy. It was all fake."

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the hesitation was gone. "I know."

How pathetic!

They both knew it. And still, they fed me to the wolves.

On the way to the hospital, Damian let out a quiet sigh.

"You came back from the dead, too," he said.

"Does it even matter? You were never gonna choose me," I sneered.

"I'm sorry."

I turned to him, disappointed to the bone. "After everything we've been through, that's all you've got?"

He leaned in suddenly, kissed me hard, voice low against my lips. "Cece, just one last time.

"It's only a transfusion. You'll be okay.

"After this, I'll marry you and spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

I didn't answer, just pressed my lips together.

The second we arrived, they dragged me straight into the transfusion room.

As blood drained from me into the bag, I felt my strength slipping away, bit by bit.

Damian and Theodore were already pacing outside the operating room, asking the same question over and over. "How's Elle?"

No one asked how I was or noticed how pale I'd gone.

By the time the nurse hooked up the second bag, my vision was starting to blur.

She looked uneasy. "Ms. Atkinson is severely anemic. If we keep going, it could be dangerous."

Damian frowned and took my hand. "Elle's still in surgery. Just hang on a little longer."

I stared up at the ceiling light, suddenly so tired.

"Damian, let's stop doing this to each other."

His eyes flickered. He started to speak, but a shout came from the operating room.

He rushed over. "Is Elle alright?"

The doctor looked grim. "She woke up, but the complications triggered heart failure. We need a transplant immediately.

"Get her family tested. There's no time."

Before he even finished, every eye turned to me.

Lincoln had heart disease; that left me.

My blood ran cold. A twisted smile spread across my face.

"Damian, you know Noelle's been healthy her whole life. I'm the one with the weak heart. You all know she staged this whole thing. And now you want me to give her my heart?"

Damian's face tightened into something I couldn't read.

Theodore cut in. "It's just a transplant. Artificial hearts are solid now. You'll be fine. Stop acting like you're gonna die."

But no one said Elle could have an artificial heart.

Lincoln arrived and didn't even look at me. He signed the consent form without hesitation.

As they pulled me toward the operating room, I grabbed Damian with the last of my strength, tears in my eyes. "Damian, are you seriously just going to watch me die?"

His lips parted, his hand reaching for mine.

Then Noelle's voice rang out from inside. "Damian, help me!"

He shoved me through the doors. "I know it's not fair," he said hoarsely. "But Elle can't die."

"So you let me die instead?" I sobbed.

"Once she's safe, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you," he sighed.

The doors closed behind me. Damian didn't look back at me.

Inside, I wiped my tears and slowly sat up on the gurney.

The despair faded, and my eyes went cold and empty. "It's over. Untie me," I said.

The nurses started untying me, whispering, "Sorry, Ms. Atkinson."

I pulled on my coat, my face hard. "Continue the plan. Go."

They nodded. Moments later, alarms blared through the hospital.

From the rooftop, I watched the chaos unfold below and stepped into the helicopter.

The man inside chuckled, lips curling into a wicked smile.

"Ms. Atkinson. Nice working with you."

That was the end of Celine Atkinson.

What came next would haunt the Atkinson family forever.