Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Take your last breaths, Stephie. Your heart will soon beat for me, a menacing voice sneered.

In the operating room, Stephanie Hayes was trapped on the table, unable to move. The pain from the car accident was almost unbearable. Above her, the surgical lights cast a harsh glow on her face. In disbelief, she looked at her sister, Florence Hayes, clad in a sterile hospital gown.

“Why are you doing this?” Stephanie cried out, her voice laced with agony.

Florence smirked and jabbed her finger in Stephanie’s chest. “Why? Because you’ve been hogging the spotlight for years, and no one asked you to.”

“You really thought I cared about you?” Florence sneered with contempt. “I had to sweet-talk you just to get your design drafts, to make you my voice. double. And to get you to trust me enough to drink that s i k e d juice that sent you careening into this mess

Florence’s revelations continued mercilessly. “Remember the bar fire ten years ago? I orchestrated that. Such a shame the thugs I hired were complete m o r o n s. They botched the job, and I had to clean up their mess. And that nasty rumor about your abortion? That was my doing. But really, you should be grateful. The skills you picked up after Grandpa sent you abroad? Priceless. Such a pity they were all exploited for my benefit.”

A sinister laugh escaped Florence. “Don’t worry; you’ll get a dignified send-off. Everyone will admire how selfless you were, donating your heart to let me live. It’ll be a tear-jerker for sure.”

Florence pressed cruelly on Stephanie’s shattered leg. Blood mingled with torn flesh as Stephanie’s face turned deathly pale from the excruciating pain. Hatred surged through her heart.

Stephanie had been an exile for eight long, lonely years. Aside from her grandfather, only Florence had seemed to care, arranging her relationship with Douglas Fletcher and even visiting her in Astoria. Her trust in Florence had been absolute.

When Florence dreamt of becoming a singer, Stephanie became the hidden voice behind her songs. When Florence aimed to launch a fashion label, Stephanie contributed her designs. In a family devoid of warmth, Florence, alongside Grandpa, had seemed like a beacon of kindness.

But now, Stephanie saw through the facade of affection. All the care had been a veneer for self-serving manipulation.

Florence pushed down on Stephanie’s broken leg, eliciting an anguished scream from her.

“Does it hurt? Well, this is how I felt every time you overshadowed me!” Florence’s face looked utterly crazy. “Don’t be scared, Grandpa’s waiting for you down below. Once we take your heart out, you can keep him company in the afterlife.”

Stephanie coughed up blood, her spirit waning “Florence, you won’t have my heart!”

“Well, we’ll see.” Florence’s crazed laughter filled the room.

At that moment, the operating room doors flew open, and Douglas rushed in with medical staff trailing behind.

“Douglas, call the cops!” Stephanie begged her fiancé, her voice barely a whisper.

To her dismay, Douglas merely sneered, peering down at her with naked disdain, “You stole Florence’s designs, destroyed her voice, and had an abortion before. You’d just be better off dead.”

Before Stephanie could respond, Douglas stuffed her mouth with gauze, stifling her explanations.

“Just watch; we’re about to take out your heart,” Douglas hissed with venom.

hadn’t planned on killing you, you know,” he confessed. “You were useful for pilfering industry secrets. But fate has a way of changing things, especially since your heart fits Flore so perfectly.”

Chapter 1

Douglas delivered the final blow. “Here’s the truth before you go. Flore and I have been an item for ages. And that fire? Vincent saved you, not me

He spat with fury. “We’ve been trying to off you for months, but Vincent kept meddling, I never got what he saw in you. Well, tonight’s your unlucky night. Vincent got caught in my trap trying to save you, and now he’s gone.”

Shock, anger, and unspeakable pain filled Stephanie’s eyes, tears streaming uncontrollably.

That explained the confusion on D o u l a s ‘s face whenever she had called him her savior. After the fire, it was Vincent who had suffered, sent abroad for better treatment. Stephanie’s heart had chosen the wrong man, her blind trust in both her fiancé and her sister had only served to cause trouble for her grandfather. And she hated herself even more for mistaking her real hero and dragging the innocent Vincent into this ordeal. Sadly, she realized all of this

far too late.

“Let’s do this! No anesthesia for the donor!” Douglas barked out his orders,

Stephanie’s eyes went wide as she saw the surgeon cut right into her chest with a sharp scalpel, and her own heart, still beating away, was placed on a metal tray beside her.

She felt herself getting lighter, almost see-through, like some sort of ghost. She could see all the messy insides of her body as they poked around her chest. Douglas was watching all crazy-like as they got Florence ready for the new heart.

Then, bam! The doors flew open so hard they nearly fell off their hinges.

These folks dressed all in black charged in, and the one leading them was this big guy wearing a black trench coat.

He saw Stephanie, all covered in blood and not moving, and one could see the shock hit him. “Did I make it too late?” he thought.

“Stephanie…” he barely got her name out.

Vincent was hurting deep down. He kind of stumbled over and said with a shaky voice, “I’m sorry I was late.”

He took off this amethyst bracelet from his wrist and gently put it on Stephanie.

Then he grabbed her hand, looking super sad.

D o u l s ‘s throat made this weird noise and he croaked, “Uncle Vincent? Thought you were dead. Aren’t your legs busted? Shouldn’t you be in a wheelchair or something?”

Stephanie was just as shocked as she was also kept in the dark the whole time.

Vincent gave Douglas a look that could kill Douglas’ legs buckled, and he pretty much fell to his knees.

“Uncle Vincent, I’m begging you! Remember, I’m your nephew!” Douglas was practically in tears.

Vincent walked over cool as ice, the barrel of his gun pressed right up against D o u g a s’s sweaty forehead. “You took her life, now it’s your turn,” he said, stone-cold.

Stephanie’s spirit hovered above, unable to watch Vincent commit a crime that would cost him his own life too. She tried to stop the gun, but she couldn’t touch anything,

Then boom, boom, boom! The gunshots were crazy loud, and Vincent didn’t hold back. He took down everyone who had a hand in this inessed-up

surgery.

After that, Stephanie watched as Vincent took her body away to the beach. They stayed there till the sun started to peek out. Vincent finally opened his eyes and said, “You always wanted to see the sunrise, didn’t wanna go without being in love. Why’d you have to go so soon?”

Chapter 1

She remembered those words. She’d said them in that fire years back, yet they were etched on his memory.

Vincent said, his voice choky, “We watched the sunrise together. Next life, let’s stick together.”

Without thinking twice, he pointed the gun at his own head.

Stephanie froze, then in sheer panic, lunged forward to grab his hand, but her hands just passed through his arm. “No, please!” she begged,

The gun went off, lost in the sound of the crashing waves, and Vincent’s body just slumped over into the sand. She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

force was pull

Suddenly, some weird force was pulling and twisting at her.

“No!” she screamed out.

Then, smack, her eyes flew open.