A private hospital stood in the heart of Ravencrest City, its sterile corridors silent beneath the cold glow of fluorescent lights.
Inside one of the secluded private rooms, Evelyn Vale had one hand wrapped tightly around the throat of the trembling woman lying on the hospital bed.
Her fingers tightened.
Claire Vale’s face was already turning purple.
The two women could not have looked more different.
Evelyn was older by two years, yet Claire still possessed the youthful, delicate beauty that had made countless people willing to overlook her cruelty.
Evelyn’s once-elegant face was now twisted with rage.
“You actually have the nerve to call yourself human?”
Her voice shook with fury.
“Ethan called you his sister.
He trusted you.
How could you be so cruel as to cut out his heart?”
Claire struggled beneath her grip, desperately clawing at Evelyn’s hand.
“Evelyn…
you’re hurting me…”
“You deserve worse.”
Evelyn’s eyes were bloodshot.
Her younger brother, Ethan, had been the only person in the world she had truly cared about.
And now he was dead.
For years, she had endured humiliation, betrayal, imprisonment, and despair.
All because of the people standing before her.
But now she had finally escaped.
And she had returned for revenge.
“Ethan was in a car accident,” Claire gasped, desperately trying to justify herself.
“His heart was still healthy…
It would have been a waste not to use it…”
Evelyn stared at her.
Then she laughed.
It was a cold, hollow laugh that made Claire’s blood run cold.
“You still want to lie to me?”
Evelyn’s fingers tightened around her throat.
“I heard everything.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“You and Damian.”
The color drained from Claire’s face.
“You were the ones who arranged Ethan’s accident.”
“No…”
“Damian never married me because he loved you.”
Evelyn’s voice became eerily calm.
“He married me because of my mother’s inheritance.”
Claire stopped struggling.
“And when you realized my heart was compatible with yours, you helped put me behind bars instead of killing me.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“You wanted me alive.”
Her lips curved into a bitter smile.
“Alive long enough to become your spare heart.”
Claire’s eyes filled with terror.
How?
How had this woman escaped?
Evelyn was supposed to be rotting inside Blackridge Prison.
She should never have been able to find them.
“Damian…”
Claire’s voice was barely audible.
“Damian…
save me…”
Evelyn’s expression turned colder.
“Still expecting him to save you?”
She released Claire’s throat for a moment and reached toward the bedside cabinet.
Her fingers closed around a small fruit knife.
Claire’s eyes widened.
“Evelyn…”
With one sharp movement, Evelyn tore open Claire’s hospital gown.
Claire screamed.
An ugly, freshly healed scar stretched across her chest.
It resembled a twisted centipede beneath her pale skin.
And beneath that scar—
A heart was beating.
Evelyn stared at it.
Her brother’s heart.
Ethan’s heart.
The heart that had once kept her little brother alive.
The heart that now beat inside the woman who had destroyed him.
“You don’t deserve it.”
Claire shook violently.
“What are you doing?”
Evelyn looked into her eyes.
“Taking back what belongs to my brother.”
“You crazy bitch!”
Claire tried to crawl away.
Evelyn caught her by the throat again.
“You stole everything from me.”
Her voice trembled.
“My brother.”
“My family.”
“My freedom.”
“My future.”
“And now…”
She raised the knife.
“I’m taking something back.”
The blade plunged into Claire’s chest.
Claire’s scream tore through the private hospital room.
Blood spread across the white gown and soaked into the sheets.
Evelyn’s movements were deliberate and merciless as she carved around the old surgical scar.
Claire’s screams slowly weakened.
Her pupils dilated.
Her body went limp.
Silence filled the room.
Claire stared toward the ceiling with her eyes wide open.
Even in death, she could not understand how Evelyn had escaped from Blackridge Prison.
Evelyn dropped the knife.
Her breathing was ragged.
She had done it.
Claire was dead.
Now she only needed to reclaim Ethan’s heart.
With trembling fingers, Evelyn reached toward Claire’s chest.
Then—
BANG!
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Pain exploded through Evelyn’s chest.
She froze.
Slowly, she looked down.
A dark hole had appeared in her chest.
Blood began spreading across her clothes.
She collapsed onto the floor.
Across the room stood Damian Cross.
The man Evelyn had knocked unconscious earlier was awake.
And he was holding a gun.
His face was twisted with grief as he stared at Claire’s lifeless body.
“You killed her.”
Evelyn coughed blood.
Damian raised the gun toward her.
“You murdered Claire.”
His eyes were red with rage.
“I’ll kill you!”
Evelyn laughed weakly.
Of course.
Even now, Damian only cared about Claire.
He had waited years for Claire to become his bride.
In another month, they would have been married.
But Claire was dead.
And Damian’s grief quickly turned into something else.
Greed.
Evelyn knew that look.
Her inheritance.
That was what he truly wanted.
Even if Claire was gone, Damian still intended to claim the fortune Evelyn’s mother had left behind.
He raised the gun again.
Evelyn suddenly smiled.
“Damian…”
Her voice was weak.
“Come here.”
Damian hesitated.
“I’ll tell you the password to the family vault.”
His eyes flickered.
Evelyn noticed.
Exactly as she expected.
“After all…”
She forced herself to smile.
“You were the man I once loved.”
Damian slowly lowered the gun.
“I’m dying.”
Evelyn reached toward him.
“So at least give me one kiss.”
She looked at him with an almost pitiful expression.
“We were married for five years.”
Her eyes glistened.
“And you never kissed me.”
The words pleased Damian’s ego.
His suspicion faded.
Slowly, he approached.
The gun remained in his hand.
He crouched beside her.
“Tell me the password.”
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“Come closer.”
Damian leaned toward her.
Closer.
Closer.
Until his face was only inches from hers.
Then—
THUD!
Damian’s expression changed.
His eyes widened.
A dagger was buried deep in his chest.
He looked down in disbelief.
The weapon Evelyn had hidden beneath her clothes had found its target.
“You…”
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Evelyn smiled.
“You really are an idiot.”
Damian staggered backward.
He fired several shots blindly.
The bullets struck the floor and walls around Evelyn.
But she no longer cared.
She had won.
Claire was dead.
Damian would not survive.
Her revenge was complete.
Evelyn’s body grew colder.
She smiled faintly.
For the first time in years, she felt no regret.
No fear.
No hatred.
Nothing.
Or so she thought.
Then a single name appeared in her mind.
Alexander.
Her smile disappeared.
There was still one regret.
Alexander Blackwood.
The man who had once been her fiancé.
The one person she had failed to repay.
She had never expected that he would ultimately become the person who saved her.
Despite being a man obsessed with rules and reputation, Alexander had secretly helped her escape Blackridge Prison.
He had even created a false identity for her.
He had risked everything for her.
And she had never been able to repay him.
“Alexander…”
Her voice trembled.
“I’m sorry.”
Her vision blurred.
Claire was dead.
Damian was dying.
Everything they had taken from her had been reclaimed.
But what she owed Alexander…
She could only repay in another life.
If there was another life.
The hospital room slowly faded into darkness.
Then—
BANG!
The door was violently kicked open.
Evelyn forced her eyes open.
A wheelchair rolled into the room.
The man sitting in it was pale and exhausted, but his back remained perfectly straight.
Alexander.
Despite the years that had passed, his presence was unmistakable.
He looked at Evelyn.
Then at Claire.
Then at Damian.
Finally, his eyes settled on the blood covering Evelyn’s body.
His expression shattered.
“…Why didn’t you leave?”
Evelyn tried to answer.
But blood filled her throat.
She struggled to open her eyes wider.
She wanted to see his face.
Really see him.
But all she could focus on was the frost-colored hair at his temples.
Her heart ached.
How had he aged so much?
Was it because of her?
Had carrying everything alone finally broken him?
“Alexander…”
Her voice was almost inaudible.
“I’m sorry…”
Alexander’s hands tightened around the wheels of his chair.
Then Evelyn remembered something.
There was one final truth she needed him to know.
“Miss.
Vale…”
She struggled to breathe.
“Aunt…
Eleanor…”
Her voice broke.
“I didn’t…
kill her…”
Alexander’s eyes trembled.
“I know.”
Two simple words.
But they carried years of pain.
“I know.”
He had only recently discovered the truth himself.
Evelyn stared at him.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“Alexander…”
“If…”
Her breathing became weaker.
“If there is a next life…”
Alexander leaned closer.
Evelyn smiled.
“I’ll stay beside you.”
Her voice was fading.
“I’ll spend my whole life…
with you.”
Her blood-covered hand slowly slipped from his.
Her fingers went limp.
And then—
Everything went dark.
Evelyn Vale died with one final regret.
Not the man who betrayed her.
Not the woman who stole her brother’s heart.
Not the prison that had taken years of her life.
Her only regret…
Was that she had realized too late who had truly loved her.