ounting down the final seconds of my life. I lay paralyzed, a prisoner in my own body, watching th

Mark. It was Scarlett Hayes, his childhood

ous. "Poor, poor Ava. Mark feels just terrible,

ouldn't move, but m

g me. "You were always so useful, Ava. So

, deliberate, each

k parents and a babysitter for his bratty sister. He neede

beep faster, a frantic ala

u raised so lovingly? He's not yours, you idiot. He's mine. Mark's a

. Tommy. My swee

ice, "the one Mark told you was stillborn? He wasn't. Mark gave him

my temple. The betrayal was so immense, so absolute, it w

t machine, then back at me. "It's

rapping around the plug. With a cas

eping

nce was

ld wen

television filled my ears. I gasped, sucking in a lung

h! A doctor at the county hospital, with a

. It was our neighbor, the me

ing room. Across from me, on the armchair, sat my mother, looking anxious. M

elvet box, was Mark Peterson. His face was arranged in a lo

voice full of practiced e

s the day he proposed. The day

ok impressive. I saw the calculated hope in his eyes, the hope of a man w

ther was bedridden after a stroke and his mother had severe arthritis. She forgot to mention his teenage s

rtably. "Ava, dear? Mark

ness that had been there my whole life. He didn't trust Mark either, but in

this

al, crushing silence, solidified into a core of pure, cold steel insid

fidence on Mark's face slowly curdle into c

was calm, clear, and carr

N

as if he'd mis

Ava, what are you sa

Mark, ignoring the

aid

ng a deliberate d

ry ill, and your mother can barely manage. Your sister is sti

ng this was a prelude to my acceptan

but with you

eed a nurse for your father, a housekeeper for your mother, and a nanny for your sister. I am a profession

was utter

, a dark red flush climbing up his neck.

d smile touching his lips. My mother looked at me, her initial shock replaced by dawning u

l regret this, Ava!" he stammered, before turning and storming ou

r slamm

regret. I fe

arents. "I'm sor

lder. "Don't be sorry. I never l

t for a lifetime, both the one I' d lived and

new life mourning the old one. My

racing ahead. "The new City Hospital is rec

fe had ju