Chapter 1
Chapter 1
It was a quiet afternoon when Sylvia Blair’s phone shattered the cains with its shilling
“Sylvia, get to the hospital now. It’s our son!” Her husband, Byron Blair’s desperate shout echoed in her eat.
Sylvia’s heart skipped a beat. The phone slipped from her fingers, hitting the floor with a clatter, Shaking, she grabbed it and rushed out the door, Byron, her husband, was a billionaire CEO, making millions every year. Yet here she was, his wife, without a car to her name, desperately flagging down a
“Please, hurry?” she pleaded with the driver, her voice thick with fear.
Outside the ER, Byron was pacing like a trapped animal. The moment he spotted Sylvia, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the nurse’s desk. “Where’s Zack? Is he okay?” Sylvia’s voice trembled, her face pale, eyes wide with dread.
Byron didn’t respond. “Doctor!” he snapped. “She’s Rh negative. Take her blood?”
A doctor hurried over, sliding a needle into Sylvia’s arm.
“She’s healthy,” Byron said curtly. “Take as much as you need.”
Sylvia nodded, her eyes burning with deter
determination. “Do it. Whatever it takes to save my son.”
After one bag of blood, dizziness washed over her. Her stomach churned, and her vision went fuzzy.
She clutched the bedrail to stay on her feet, only to notice Byron had slipped out of the room.
When the spinning eased, she stumbled out to find him. She hadn’t even seen Zack yet–they started drawing her blood the second she got there.
Her steps slowed at the end of the hallway. A small, familiar voice came from a private room ahead.
“Dad, will Joanna be okay now that she got Mom’s blood?” a boy asked.
Sylvis stopped cold. Through the cracked door, she saw her three–year–old son, Zack Blair, standing by a hospital bed, holding a woman’s hand. His little face was creased with worry.
Byron’s stern eyes softened as he ruffled Zack’s hair. “She’ll be okay, buddy. Thanks to you. Were it for you, your mom might not have given her blood.”
The woman in the bed, Joanna, locked weak but held Zack’s hand tightly, tears in her eyes.
“Zack, I owe you so much.
- h. You saved me,” she sobbed.
Zack reached up, wiping a tear from Joanna’s cheek with his small hand. “You’re always so nice to me, Joanna. I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”
He paused and added, “My mom was a country girl. She’s strong, like FARM strong. Giving blood won’t hurt her. She’s just a bit selfish. That’s why I had to trick her.”
Sylvia stood frozen outside, her hand shaking on the doorknob. Her eyes locked on the woman in the bed as a chill spread through her.
“Joanna…” The name escaped her quivering lips in a whisper.
Joanna Moore. Byron’s true love, the one he never got over. If it weren’t for Sylvia, Joanna would be the one married to him.
Her eyes stung as she pushed the door open and stormed in
gas
“Byron,” she said, her voice trembling with shock, “you lied to get me here? For her?”
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Chapter 1
Byron didn’t even blink. Na gullt, just Irritation, “You know the truth now, to drop the drama. Joanna was in a car accident. You owe her, Subra dhe her your blood is the least you can do”
He’d chosen Sylvia as Byron’s wife, threatening to destroy Joanna and the Moore family if Byron didn’t agre
Byron, stubborn, had planned to run off with Joanna and marry her in secret. He waited all day at the county clerk’s office, but Joanna never showed. Her phone went straight to voicemail.
Heartbroken, he thought she’d bailed. So he gave in and married Sylvia as his grandfather wanted.
But soon after, Joanna called. She’d been in a car accident on her way to the clerk’s office, she said, and was in a coma for days.
Worse, she suggested the driver who hit her might have been Sylvia,
Joanna had been weak ever since the accident, battling inesses that clung to her like stubborn shadows.
The crash left her with chronic health problems, and she’d never bounced back.
Byron laid all the blame on Sylvia.
“You’re seriously claiming again that you didn’t cause the accident?” Sylvia’s bottled up feelings finally spilled over, a flood of unfairness washing through her.
She yelled, “I’ve told you a hundred times, I didn’t do it! That morning, I was at my grandpa’s grave, telling him I was getting married!”
Byron wasn’t having it. His eyes blazed with anger, but aware of the hospital around them, he kept his voice cold and sharp. “Spare me your excuses. You’re done here. Get out”
Sylvia’s chest tightened, but she held her ground, jaw clenched.
Trick her into giving blood for his old flame, then toss her out without even an explanation?
“I’m sorry, Sylvia. Don’t blame Byron or Zack. They only lied because they were worried about me.” Joanna said.
She then glanced at the IV bag with a delicate, rehearsed weakness. “If you don’t want to give me your blood, take it back. I’d hate to come between your family.
Come between them–She’d been doing that for three years.
Sylvia bit her lip so hard it bled, the sharp
p taste of blood filling her mouth.
Byron’s eyes sohened as he looked at Joanna. “No way. You need to get better. The blood bank takes too long, and you’ve got that audition coming up. What if this sets you back?”
He turned back to Sylvia, his voice icy again. “Look at Joanna. She’s big enough to let the past go, always thinking of you. And you? What have you done?”
Sylvia’s fists balled so tight her nails dug into her palms, a wave of grief and anger rising inside her.
Since marrying Byron, she’d been stuck in a fancy cage, reduced to a stay-at–home mom. She took care of the family, put up with his unbearable mother, and barely had a second to herself.
The daily grind she could deal with. But Byron’s behavior? it was too much.
A decision snapped into place in her mind.
“Mom, it’s just blood! It’s not a big deal. How can you let Joanna suffer like this? You’re the bad guy!” Zack ran at her, his little fists hammering against har, his face red with anger.
Chapter 1
Zack’s hair was slicked into a stylish side part, already carrying his dad’s charm.
Sylvia’s arms froze as she reached for him, aching to pull him close. But this wasn’t new–her own son staring at her like she was the villain.
Byron had turned Zack against her, filling his head with loyalty to Joanna. They spent holidays doting on Joanns, like they were the real family .
