Chapter 1

I deliberately left my lace panties on my uncle’s bed.

I had always been secretly in love with him—the man who ruled our city’s mafia.

When I was drunk, I would melt into his arms and act spoiled.

I would find excuses to visit his study in sexy pajamas.

At a ball, I would deliberately slip off my bra, just to hear his breathing grow heavier.

But every time, he stopped himself and pushed me away.

Then, during a game of Truth or Dare with my friends, I lost.

My dare was to text “I love you” to the contact pinned at the top of my messages.

My heart pounded. My pinned contact was the man I had loved for years. My uncle.

After I sent it, the typing indicator appeared and disappeared, but no message came through.

Two hours later, he finally replied: [Enough. I’m getting married soon. Stop testing me like this.]

Then he blocked me and told his assistant he no longer needed updates about me.

The guards stopped letting me into the Blackwood estate. “Mr. Blackwood said you’re an adult now. You’re no longer allowed inside.”

Even when I happened to cross his path, he would immediately turn and walk away.

But he didn’t know I had cancer.

I was running out of time.

I didn’t speak to him again until three days before his wedding.

That was also when I was finally allowed back to pack my things.

I hadn’t been gone long, but the place already felt almost unrecognizable.

Three months after my uncle, Adrian Blackwood, blocked me, his fiancée, Vanessa Sterling, moved into the main house.

The Sterlings ran illegal casinos and money-laundering operations on the north side. The Blackwoods controlled port logistics and private security. Both families wanted control of the docks, and a marriage alliance was the simplest solution.

Everyone at the estate was preparing for the wedding.

The cherry blossoms I loved in the greenhouse had been replaced with her favorite white roses. Even the linen tablecloths I liked in the living room had been swapped for matte silk.

I wasn’t allowed inside the main house. I could only use the side entrance to reach the guest wing at the back.

A guard raised his arm when he saw me. “Mr. Blackwood said you’re not allowed in the main house.”

Used to it by now, I nodded and went around to the side entrance.

I kept my head down as I returned to my room to pack.

Footsteps sounded behind me. Adrian looked me up and down, frowning.

“Remember, you’re only here for the wedding. Don’t do anything you shouldn’t, and don’t upset her.”

A dull ache spread through my chest. So the only reason he was willing to speak to me was to issue a warning.

“I understand. I even prepared a—”

He frowned and cut me off.

“Enough. Just don’t cause a scene at the wedding. Remember, I will always be your uncle. Nothing more.”

He glanced around my half-empty room and added,

“Are you moving out? There’s no need. I can have someone buy you another set of everything.”

It felt as if a thousand tiny needles had pierced my heart.

I forced a smile and shook my head.

“No need, Adrian. I won’t be… coming back to stay much anymore.”

The truth was, it wasn’t that I wouldn’t come back often.

I would never come back at all.

And my belongings weren’t being sent to another home nearby. They had already been shipped to Iceland.

Dr. Harris had arranged for me to see a lung cancer specialist in Reykjavík.

In three days, on the day Adrian and Vanessa married, I would leave this place for good.

Whether the surgery succeeded or not, I would stay in Iceland forever.

Everyone at the estate was busy with wedding preparations. The lavender in the greenhouse had been neatly trimmed, and Vanessa’s favorite white roses filled the living room.

I had just finished packing and stepped into the corridor when I heard Vanessa’s voice.

“So this is the girl the Blackwoods have been keeping for all these years?”

She stood at the living room doorway in a sharply tailored white suit, a glass of wine in her hand. Her gaze swept over me as if I were a piece of old furniture.

“The Blackwoods paid the settlement after your parents’ accident. They’ve paid for everything you eat, wear, and use. Adrian even arranged your schooling. Now that he’s getting married, what are you planning to give him?”

Before I could answer, she smiled again.

“As long as it isn’t another ‘I love you.’ Adrian hates that.”

Someone in the living room chuckled. The servants lowered their heads, and the guards looked away.

I tightened my grip on the bag of medication in my hand until my knuckles turned white.

Adrian sat on the couch, looking through the wedding schedule. Without raising his head, he said flatly, “Vanessa, enough.”

She shrugged. “I’m just stating facts.”

Only then did Adrian look at me, his gaze indifferent. “Lily, go rest in the guest wing.”

As though allowing me to stay the night were an act of extraordinary generosity.

But I no longer needed it. “No, Adrian. I’d rather stay somewhere else.”

With that, I turned to leave. Behind me, Vanessa added, “Oh, I had that old photograph in the living room put away. Having a memorial photo out before a wedding is bad luck.”

I stopped.

It was the photograph of my parents.