Chapter 1

Everyone said Ethan Vance, the prodigy cardiothoracic surgeon, suffered from emotional detachment disorder.

But during the most desperate year of my life, he paid for my mother’s treatment out of his own pocket and personally performed the surgery that saved her life.

I fell head over heels for him. Ethan said he loved me too, but he needed proof.

"Go serve as a combat medic in the war zone for three years, and I'll believe your heart is real. When you get back, I'll marry you."

So, for three years, I lived a life where bullets grazed my eyelashes daily, and I had to perform surgeries on rebel leaders with rifles pressed against my temple.

Every time I stared death in the face, I thought:

*It's worth it. Once I go back, I get to marry Ethan.*

Until the day I returned home early due to a shrapnel injury, and overheard him arguing with a colleague in his office.

"Vivian almost died on that battlefield for you! And you’ve been lying to her and using her from the very beginning?"

Ethan’s expression was ice-cold.

"So what? From the moment I paid for her mother's surgery, this was exactly the day I was waiting for."

"Chloe needs the sole credit for that overseas humanitarian mission to secure her permanent residency at this hospital. Vivian is driven enough, and dumb enough."

"When she returns, I’ll convince her to hand over the mission credit to Chloe. In exchange, I'll marry her. It's a fair trade."

Furious, his colleague slammed the door on his way out, nearly running right into me.

Ethan looked up and saw me. His pupils contracted instantly.

I touched the blood-stained gauze on my face, my tears falling silently.

"Ethan, we're done. Let's break up."

Hearing this, Ethan frowned, his face tight with displeasure.

"Vivian, eavesdropping is incredibly rude."

"But since you heard it anyway, it saves me the trouble of making up an excuse. Come to the Chief of Medicine's office with me this afternoon to sign the transfer papers. Give Chloe the credit for the mission. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the courthouse and get married."

I stood frozen, staring deep into Ethan's eyes.

There was no warmth there. Just a cold, barren wasteland.

He didn't even show a shred of panic or guilt for being caught in his lie.

In that moment, I saw him clearly.

Ethan wasn't afraid of losing me because he never loved me.

"Ethan, let me say it again. We are over."

"I am not giving my credit to Chloe, and I am definitely not marrying you."

With that, I turned to walk away.

Only then did Ethan stand up, grabbing my wrist with a sudden, tense grip. He tried to suppress his rising anger.

"Vivian, stop acting like a child."

"You survived three years on the battlefield, and I’m marrying you as promised. Wasn’t this the deal we agreed on? Why are you backing out now?"

A deal?

So the love I risked my life to prove was nothing more than a transaction to him.

I looked back at Ethan and let out a bitter, hollow laugh.

"Because you lied to me."

Ethan froze, looking genuinely confused.

"You lied and said you loved me. I would never have risked my life on a battlefield for someone who was just using me as a stepping stone."

Ethan blinked blankly.

Because of his emotional detachment, he couldn't comprehend what I meant by "love."

Yet, hearing my words, a sudden, heavy tightness gripped his chest.

Especially when his eyes drifted to the fresh scar on my cheek and my tear-stained eyes.

The suffocating tightness made it hard for him to breathe.

Ethan thought that maybe he really did need to see his therapist again.

He felt sick.

Taking advantage of his hesitation, I yanked my hand free and walked away.

But just as I rounded the corner, a chaotic commotion broke out near the emergency clinic.

Before I could react, I saw a frantic, middle-aged woman holding a knife to a nurse's throat. She yanked the nurse's hair, screaming hysterically:

"You bitch! You gave my baby the wrong medication and killed him! Give me back my son's life!"

The nurse looked familiar.

It was Chloe.

Driven by my instincts as a doctor, I stepped forward to try and calm the woman down.

"Ma'am, please, calm down."

"Do you know me? I’m Vivian Mercer, a combat medic. You might have seen me on the news. Please, put the knife down. We can talk about this."

The woman stared at me for a few seconds, as if recognizing me. She slowly pulled the blade away from Chloe's neck, waving it wildly in the air.

Her voice cracked as she shrieked:

"What is there to talk about?!"

"Do you know how many rounds of IVF I had to go through to get pregnant? Because of this bitch's wrong prescription, my baby is gone! And she had the nerve to tell me it was just my bad luck, that I deserved the miscarriage!"

I took a deep breath, stepping closer while keeping my voice soothing.

"Please don't think that. I have a former classmate who is a top fertility specialist. She is incredible. I can introduce you to her. You are still young. There is still a lot of hope for you to have a baby."

The woman’s eyes flickered.

Her hand holding the knife began to tremble. Just as she was about to drop it...

A sudden, violent force shoved me forward from behind.

*Slash—*

The sharp blade plunged deep into my abdomen.

Agonizing pain exploded through my body as screams erupted all around us.

The woman was petrified. She let go of the knife in horror, and security guards immediately rushed in to tackle her to the ground.

Warm blood gushed from my stomach, pooling on the floor.

Clutching my wound, I turned around with agonizing effort to look back.

Ethan.

It was Ethan who had pushed me.