Foolishly In Love

Miley's POV

Pain washed over me, leaving my face as pale as a sheet.

In my previous life, Jennifer died in a car accident on a stormy night. She was gone on the spot. Julian never got to see her one last time.

He never forgave me for that—not even in death.

But in this life, I had already stepped aside.

So why… why was it still ending like this?

Just when I was struggling to find a way to fulfill his final wish, fate handed me the opportunity on a silver platter.

I made up my mind to trade my life for hers. I would save Jennifer and give Julian the happiness he deserved.

"Take my kidney. Use it to save her."

Julian's grip on my wrist tightened even more.

"You think I won't do it?" he snapped. "Miley, if you hadn't constantly used this engagement to provoke her, would she have crashed into that highway guardrail? This is what you owe her!"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me through the hospital corridors straight into the ICU.

Jennifer lay on the bed, barely clinging to life. Her body was covered in tubes, her skin ghostly pale, her chest rising and falling ever so faintly.

The attending physician approached with a grim look and a medical report in hand. "Mr. Asher, the patient's kidneys are severely crushed and in acute failure. She needs a transplant immediately. The matching results are in. Miss Ford is a perfect donor."

He looked at me with a trace of sorrow in his eyes. "Donating a kidney is a permanent sacrifice, and Miss Ford's health is already fragile. Frankly… I'm afraid she might not survive the surgery."

"No!" Julian's expression changed instantly. He spoke without thinking. "A transplant would cost her half her life. With her weak body, she won't make it. There has to be another way!"

The doctor shook his head, clearly conflicted. "I'm sorry, Mr. Asher. There is no other way. Without immediate surgery, I doubt Miss Nichols will survive the night. Donating will severely weaken Miss Ford, but it won't kill her. Miss Nichols, however… she will die."

Julian turned to look at Jennifer lying in the bed, his heart aching, torn by the choice before him.

But I already knew—he would never let Jennifer die.

So I made the choice for him.

I looked at the doctor and forced a pale smile. "I'll do it. Please prepare for surgery."

Only then did Julian finally look at me, his eyes filled with complicated emotion. Jaw clenched, he turned to the doctor.

"Do it. Prepare the surgery."

Before leaving, he tossed one last cold sentence over his shoulder, "Miley, I owe you one."

They wheeled me into the operating room.

The needle pierced my skin. As the anesthesia kicked in, a wave of drowsiness overtook me, and my mind began to blur.

Memories surged like a tide.

I was eight when my father brought his mistress and my stepsister into the house. I was driven into the attic and nearly starved to death. They called me a cursed child, a bastard who killed her own mother.

It was Julian who came and took me away. He told me, "Don't be scared. From now on, I'll protect you."

And he meant it.

Even in my past life, when flames devoured everything, he still shielded me with his own body until the very end.

That's why I loved him, why I was willing to give up everything for him.

But I also knew… his kindness toward me came from duty, not love.

The one he truly loved had always been my stepsister, Jennifer.

When I woke again, I was lying in a private recovery room under intensive care. Pain pulsed from the incision site, sharp and twisting. My limbs were weak, and no one was around.

I turned my head toward the window. Sunlight poured in, warm and brilliant.

It was time for me to go.