Chapter 1Two Hearts Pledged

I was born with a peculiarity: two hearts beating inside my chest.

It was the only thing about me that ever brought my parents any joy.

Because my older brother, Jason, was born with a congenital heart defect.

The only reason I existed was to ensure he would live.

Then I met Kitty, and we got married.

She rescued me from the abyss of my desperate longing for a family’s love.

I thought she would be different from my parents.

But when my brother’s heart began to fail, she became obsessed with the idea of me donating one of mine to him.

What she didn’t know was that I only had one heart left.

My other one was already inside of her.

* * *

“It’s just one heart, Ethan. Why are you being so selfish?”

“Weren’t you born to keep your brother alive?”

Kitty’s grip on my arm was like a vise.

“But I want to live, too. I’ll die without a heart.”

Her face tightened for a moment before she pressed on. “You have two hearts. Give one away, and you’ll still have one left. You’ll live.”

“But your brother is different. Without this heart from you, he’ll die.”

Ignoring my struggles, Kitty shoved me into the prep room.

I tried to explain, my voice filled with a desperate helplessness. “I only have one heart now.”

“You saw the test results, didn’t you?”

She wouldn’t listen. “Who knows what you’ve done to get out of this? You probably bribed the lab technicians to fake the report.”

She was convinced I’d paid someone off to alter the results.

“No, Kitty, that’s not it. I had surgery when I was a kid. I already donated one of my hearts.”

“Enough, Ethan! This is about saving your brother’s life. Why are you being so stubborn?” she snapped, cutting me off.

“I’m not lying. My heart is inside you.”

But she didn't hear a word I said. She was already walking toward my brother's prep room.