Chapter 1A Bone Marrow Lie, A Husband’s Ruin

For five years, Gideon Blackwood had never once truly looked at me.

His heart belonged to a ghost.

His lost love, Seraphina Monroe.

It wasn't until today, when I snatched the documents he’d been hiding, that the full truth crashed down on me.

It was a Deed of Gift.

Three properties in his name, along with forty percent of his shares in Blackwood Enterprises, were all being gifted, free and clear, to Felicity Monroe.

Felicity. The younger sister of his dead first love.

Tucked into the last page was another form.

A bone marrow donation consent form. The recipient: Felicity Monroe.

All it needed was my signature.

I slapped the papers down in front of him. "What the hell is this, Gideon?"

He didn't even look up, just reached out and smoothly pulled the documents from under my hand.

"Aurora, this is what we owe Seraphina. If you hadn't insisted on marrying me back then, she would never have died."

"Now Felicity has leukemia," he continued, his voice devoid of emotion. "We have to save her."

Five years. For five long years, I'd been his personal ATM, all to soothe his guilt over a dead woman. And now? Now he wanted to force me to donate my bone marrow.

If Gideon Blackwood had no room in his heart for me or our daughter, then he could play the tragic, romantic hero all by himself.

…

When I pushed open the study door, Gideon was in the middle of locking a thick file into his safe. I moved like a flash, blocking the heavy door with my body and yanking the file from his grasp.

The black ink on the white paper was brutally clear.

Thirty percent of his shares in the Blackwood Corporation, three sprawling penthouse apartments overlooking the bay—all gifted unconditionally to Felicity Monroe.

And tucked beneath it all was the bone marrow consent form, waiting for my signature.

I slammed the file onto the polished mahogany desk, my eyes locking onto his.

"Have you lost your goddamn mind, Gideon? Or did you sell your soul?" I demanded, my voice dangerously low. "It's one thing to pour our marital assets into that bottomless pit, but now you want to drain my marrow? By what right?"

Gideon's brow furrowed, his eyes clouded with impatience. "Aurora, can you stop being so selfish for once?"

"Seraphina was consumed by fire trying to save me. There wasn't even a body to bury," he said, his voice laced with that familiar, sanctimonious grief. "Felicity is her only sister, and now she has leukemia. If we don't save her, who will? These assets are just material things. They're worth it if they can save Felicity's life."

A laugh, sharp and ugly, tore from my throat.

"You're the one who owes Seraphina a life. You go pay it back," I spat. "You want to donate marrow? Go get typed yourself. Don't you dare use my body to play the saint."

My words finally lit his fuse. He shot to his feet. "I'm not a match! You are. It’s the only one that's viable. That has to mean something. It’s fate."

"You're the lady of the Blackwood estate. You've enjoyed years of luxury. What’s a little blood?" he sneered. "Besides, if you hadn't forced your way into this marriage, Seraphina would never have left town in despair. She never would have been in that fire. You're atoning for your sins, Aurora."

My hand moved before I could think. The sharp crack of my palm against his cheek echoed in the silent study.

"If you're going to act like a rabid dog, Gideon, go get a shot. Don't stand here barking at me," I said, my hand stinging. "You're the one who knelt in the rain, begging me to marry you, begging for my family's capital to save your company from bankruptcy. Now that you're safe, you want to rewrite history and play the heartbroken lover?"

He clutched his cheek, staring at me in disbelief. "You... you hit me."

"And I'll do it again to knock some sense into your thick skull."

I couldn't stand the sight of his disgusting face a moment longer. I turned and stalked out, heading for the stairs. But as I reached the landing, our daughter Rosie's heart-wrenching sobs drifted up from below.

My heart seized. I flew down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

The living room was a disaster. Felicity was sitting on the ruined sofa, a twisted expression on her scarred face. In her hand, she held a decorative, glass-handled feather duster.

Rosie was huddled in a corner, trembling, a long, bloody gash marking her small arm.

The blood rushed to my head in a blinding wave of fury.

"Felicity, you are going to die today."

I lunged, ripping the duster from her hand and bringing it down hard across her back.

Felicity let out a shriek like a butchered hog, tumbling onto the rug. "Aurora! What are you doing? I was just teaching Rosie a lesson!"

"She deliberately broke the crystal glass my sister gave me! I was just helping you discipline her, what's wrong with that?" she wailed, her face a mask of tear-streaked innocence, as if she were the one who'd been wronged.

I swept Rosie into my arms, my heart shattering as I looked at her tear-stained face.

"Mommy," Rosie sobbed, her little arms clinging to my neck. "I didn't touch her glass. She dropped it herself. And she pinched me."

I turned, my gaze a weapon aimed at Felicity. "What gives you the right to lay a hand on my daughter? Who do you think you are?"

"I swear, I'm going to peel the skin from your bones today."

I raised the duster to strike again.

Suddenly, a powerful force shoved me from behind. Gideon had stormed down and pushed me away.

"Aurora, are you insane?" he roared. "Felicity is sick! How could you hit her so hard?"

He knelt, gathering Felicity into his arms with painstaking care, then glared at me as if I were his mortal enemy.

I steadied myself, holding Rosie tight, and met his furious gaze without flinching. "Are you blind, Gideon? Did you not see the blood on our daughter's arm?"

He didn't even spare Rosie a glance, his attention focused on gently wiping away Felicity's crocodile tears. "Kids get scrapes all the time. It's normal. But Felicity is fragile. A blow like that could kill her."

His voice dropped to a menacing command. "Apologize to Felicity. Now."

Laughter bubbled up inside me, a hysterical, trembling sound. "You want me to apologize to her? The day I do that, Gideon, is the day I die."

I leveled a final, unwavering look at him. "From this day on, this house isn't big enough for both of us. It's her or me."