Chapter 2
Liam and I were desk partners in middle school. I was the unwelcome extra in my father's remarried family, and he was the illegitimate son cast out by his family.
Two people with dark, troubled lives, we agreed to go to the same high school, the same college, escaping our broken homes to become the only light in each other's darkness.
We thought we'd never be separated, but then Liam was diagnosed with leukemia, and I decisively walked away.
Even when he knelt on the ground, begging helplessly for me not to leave, to stay with him through his final days.
I didn't look back. Instead, I linked arms with the man beside me and said coldly:
"Liam Sterling, I don't waste my time with losers. I belong to him now."
Then, as if it were a joke, I had someone break his leg.
"Consider that leg a blessing for our relationship."
Every word was a dagger to his soul, driving Liam to the brink of spitting blood.
That night, Liam didn't utter a sound when his leg was broken. The night rain was cool, and I could see the bone-deep hatred in his eyes.
When Liam found a successful bone marrow match and was cured of leukemia, he returned to the place he least wanted to be – the powerful, old money Sterling family.
He bided his time for three years, consolidating absolute power within the Sterling empire. Even his half-brother, Noah Sterling, was driven out of the country with ruthless efficiency.
In three years, the Sterling family saw a complete change of guard.
Once in power, Liam immediately found me, now a journalist, and made me pay for what I'd done.
Thinking of this, I let out a bitter laugh.
It wasn't that I couldn't endure hardship, or that I wanted to curry favor with the powerful. It was that when Liam had leukemia, the only match for his bone marrow transplant was his half-brother, Noah Sterling.
But Noah hated Liam, the illegitimate son, for shattering his family and claiming a piece of his inheritance. Why would he ever agree to donate bone marrow to save him?
To beg Noah to donate bone marrow, I once knelt through a brutal autumn storm all night.
The cold seeped into my bones, leaving me with chronic ailments even now.
But all that earned me was a single meeting with him.
"Liam and his damn mother ruined my family. He's the original sin! He deserves to die!"
However, Noah, looking at me, a stubborn young woman fresh out of college, seemed to find a cruel game in mind. "I can save him, but on one condition."
"He's starting a company, right? Steal his bid proposals and project plans for me. I want to see him go bankrupt! Leave him with nothing, like a stray dog!"
I was strongly against that condition at the time.
But Noah's next words forced me to compromise.
"Listen, sweetheart, or should I say, 'sister-in-law'? Company bankrupt or death for him—you choose!"
In utter desperation, I made the deal.
Liam, despite his poor health, had an excellent career. His company was thriving in the city. Unfortunately, at the peak of his ambition, he was personally brought to his knees by the person he loved most.
Liam's hand roamed over Chloe Hayes's chest, but his gaze remained fixed on me.
Seeing the tears in my eyes, he scoffed, "Don't act like you're some big victim. Getting involved with Noah and helping him get rid of me must have brought you plenty of benefits, didn't it?"
The loud music in the private room drowned out an almost imperceptible tremor in his voice, betraying the intense, suppressed emotion beneath his cold exterior.
I opened my mouth, but in the end, said nothing.
What good would telling him do?
I stole the bid proposals and project plans. I was indeed the culprit who caused his bankruptcy.
"No victim here. I did it willingly. Your judgment was just terrible, you picked the wrong guy."
"My judgment was terrible? Yours wasn't much better, falling for Noah Sterling!"
He stared at me, unblinking, then pushed Chloe Hayes aside and lunged, grabbing my neck.
"Now the Sterling family is firmly in the hands of the man you personally destroyed, and you, Anya, will pay for your choices!"
"This is what you owe me!"