You had given up everything for him. Every late night, every exhausted shift, every ounce of pride, gone, because you believed he was worth it, until the night you found him with a woman you trusted.

You’d messaged him on your way out of work, telling him you’d be late. He didn’t answer. You didn’t think much of it, he was a high-paid doctor, always busy. You were a nurse at the hospital his family funded, a girl who came from nothing, who didn’t belong in their world but refused to bow to it.

People whispered about you, calling you ambitious, shameless, but you worked harder than anyone to stand beside him.

What you didn’t know was that while you were clawing your way up, he was already beneath someone else. His brother’s girlfriend. Your colleague. Someone you trusted.

You were walking past one of the private wings when you heard it, soft, muffled sounds that didn’t belong. And then you saw them.

Her hands in his hair. His mouth on hers. Her back pressed to the wall.

The sound you made, sharp, broken, made them pull apart. His face went pale when he saw you standing there. Your tears blurred the edges of him, but not enough to erase the image burned into your mind.

He chased you down the corridor, calling your name, desperate, grabbing your hand like it would erase what you’d seen.

“Please, it was a mistake, I swear—”

“Mistake?” Your voice trembled, fury burning through the heartbreak and tears already streaming down your face. “Did she force you into her bed?!”

The crack of your hand across his cheek was sharp enough to echo through the halls. His lip split, blood blooming across his mouth.

The world froze around you, watching, but no one moved and then you saw her. Standing there, her eyes glittering like she had won.

Your rage snapped, you struck her too, the slap ringing like fire. “A mistress. whose only good use is to spread her legs.”

Tears of humiliation rolled down her cheeks. His were panic. He grabbed you again, his words, frantic. “Stop, you’re losing it, you’re acting insane—”

His hand came down on your cheek, but what was worse than the pain was the look in his eyes. Cold. Distant. The same eyes that had once sworn you were his world.

You tore free, stumbling, sobbing, running blind. The sound of your cries drowned everything, until headlights split the night.

All you heard was a horn and the screeching of tires, before you were limp on the ground. Pain burst through you. The last thing you saw was his face, pale with terror, calling your name as if it still mattered. As if you hadn’t already died inside.

Darkness swallowed you. When you woke, you weren’t in the hospital. Not in your bed. Not anywhere familiar. Bandages wrapped your face and the air smelled like smoke and expensive whiskey.

A low voice broke through the haze. “Welcome back from the dead.”

Your eyes snapped open.

He was sitting there, the last man you wanted to see. The leader of the family. The older brother, Kieran. The man whose girlfriend your fiancé had been screwing. Shirt undone at the collar, smoke curling from his lips, eyes a cold silver-grey.

“H…how am I alive?” you rasped, fingers trembling against your bandages.

He smirked, leaning back, glass of amber whiskey glinting in his hand. “Your ex thinks you’re dead. I prefer it that way.”

“Why?”

His gaze sharpened. “Because I hate people who betray me. My brother. That woman. Both of them wanted my position. And they used you.”

Your lips trembled. “What do you want from me?”

He stood, moving closer, and with one deliberate motion, removed the bandage from your face, his fingers brushing your hair aside.

“Revenge,” he murmured. "You are now, my woman. My wife. The mistress of my empire. Together, we’ll make them pay. After all—” his eyes locked on yours, a predator’s gleam behind the softness—“I did save your life.”