The Heart I Gave You

Serena's words did nothing to cool Ethan's rage.

To vent his fury—and the jealousy gnawing at him—he grabbed my hair and dragged me from inside the house all the way out. My calves scraped over broken glass, leaving a winding trail of blood behind me. Disgusted, he grabbed a basin of cold water and dumped it over my head.

"Back then, you made Serena kneel here while people mocked her." His voice dripped with venom. "Today, you get to feel what that was like."

I knew he wanted to humiliate me. I knew none of them wanted me to have it easy. I knew how much Serena hated me.

Chatter swelled around us. Everyone was laughing—laughing at me for not knowing my place, for bringing this on myself, for being loose and fickle, for being cheap. Even one of Serena's underlings couldn't help but chime in. "Serena was so good to you back then. If you hadn't left, you'd be the one living the high life now..."

If I hadn't left—if I hadn't done what I did—Serena wouldn't have lived to see today at all.

I clenched my teeth, refusing to let the tears fall. But my body still trembled from the cold.

Harbor City's winters don't kill people. But that surgery had left my body wrecked. A simple cold, a bit of wind-chill—either could take me out at any time.

I curled up on the ground, rubbing my arms over and over. But I couldn't fight off the bone-piercing wind. Or Serena's icy stare.

Seven years. I'd survived alone in this mud pit for seven years. The artificial heart's beat was growing weaker. My life was nearing its end.

I lifted my head one last time to look at her. And suddenly, I understood how she must have felt seven years ago. At the edge of death, at the final moment of a lifetime—I was just like she had been. Humble. Helpless. Begging for the person I loved to turn around and look at me. Just once.

But she didn't. Seven years ago, I never turned back. Seven years later, neither did she.

As darkness swallowed me, the only voice I heard was a stranger's.

"Serena, what the hell are you doing!" Third Master's roar cut through the noise. "Alex gave you his heart to save your life! If you can't be grateful, fine—but do you really need to kill him twice to be satisfied?!"