Chapter 1

"Boom--!"

A deafening metallic tearing sound instantly pierced my eardrums as a heavy truck, without warning, crossed the highway guardrail and ran over the truck bed where we were.

Without a moment's hesitation, I instinctively ripped off my seatbelt, lunged forward, and shielded Claire beneath me.

A tremendous tumbling and weightlessness followed.

"Pfft—"

It was a chilling, muffled sound.

A sharp, twisted steel bar from the chassis pierced through my right chest cavity, just millimeters away from my heart.

Even as a ruthlessly trained heir to the Russo family, the excruciating pain of having my lung pierced still made me feel dizzy and black out.

Warm blood rushed into trachea, turning into bloody foam with each difficult breath, staining Claire's expensive haute couture trench coat crimson.

The impact finally stopped, leaving only a sharp ringing in my ears.

I struggled to open my eyes and saw my wife Claire, whom I was holding in my arms. Apart from a few minor scratches on her face, she was completely unharmed.

At that moment, she was staring at the deformed carriage and letting out a terrified scream.

dream of Claire throughout her adolescence —was violently thrown against the hard back of the front seat because she wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and lost consciousness.

I opened my mouth, wanting to tell her not to be afraid, but the blood in my lungs blocked my voice.

Even so, I only feel fortunate that she was not injured .

For the past three years, I have shed all the sharp edges of a mafia godfather and willingly become an ordinary husband despised by everyone in this arrogant family , all because I love her .

However, when the ambulance siren ripped through the night sky, the truly absurd chaos began to unfold.

Firefighters used hydraulic shears with great difficulty to cut the two ends of the steel bars connecting the vehicle body before I was pulled out of the deformed carriage.

"Get out of the way! Prepare for defibrillation! Quickly!"

In the stark white emergency room corridor of Kent Private Hospital, my vision was already swallowed by the dark spots caused by blood loss.

Kyle and I lay side by side on two stretchers, being frantically pushed to the emergency center.

Just as Claire was about to enter the top-tier thoracic surgery operating room, Dr. Rick, the attending physician, rushed out, sweating profusely, and forcefully stopped her from trembling.

“Miss Claire!” Rick’s chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath, his voice filled with terror . “Both of these patients are in critical condition! Mr. Kyle has a fractured sternum resulting in a severe ruptured heart, while Mr. Enzo has a penetrating chest wound that has caused massive pulmonary hemorrhage! But the only top-of-the-line extracorporeal circulation machine in the entire hospital is only enough to keep one person’s vital signs alive!”

Dr. Rick spoke very quickly: "And they all have extremely rare Rh-negative blood! The torrential rain tonight disrupted blood bank supplies, and the current plasma and extracorporeal circulation machine can only save one person!"

Time seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

Because of the broken steel in my back, I couldn't lie flat at all. The nurse had to stuff two hemostatic pillows into my chest, forcing me to lie half-on my side on the trolley. With each breath, a sharp pain shot through my chest, and I struggled to turn my head to look at Claire.

That was the woman I protected with my life.

I thought that even if she didn't hold my hand tightly in the face of life and death, she would at least look at me .

But Claire didn't.

Her gaze was fixed on Kyle, who was dying on the gurney next door due to heart damage.

Faced with this life-or-death, cruel choice, this high-ranking family head did not hesitate for even a second.

"Save Kyle."

Her voice echoed in the empty corridor, carrying the cold, resolute tone of someone in a superior position.

Dr. Rick was taken aback, not expecting Claire to be so resolute.

The moment those words fell heavily, I suddenly felt no more pain in my chest ; instead, a chill ran through me.

"Then... what about Mr. Enzo?" The nurse's voice trembled as she looked desperately at the large patch of blood spreading across my chest . " If we don't reinforce him immediately, he won't hold on! "

Only at this moment did Claire finally turn her head slightly, her eyes glancing at my nearly broken body. There was no regret or heartache in her eyes, only a cruel look, as if she were examining a cheap, disposable item.

“Enzo is in good health,” she coldly declared. “First, allocate all the people and blood to Kyle! As for him, take him to an empty ward for emergency hemostasis. Once Kyle is out of danger, we can have another doctor treat him.”

Dr. Rick was incredulous: "You probably don't realize the extent of Mr. Enzo's injuries..."

“Shut up! Rick, don’t forget who this hospital is!” Claire interrupted him. “Enough talk! I don’t have time for that! Save Kyle first! He’s the only thing my sister left in this world, I can’t lose him! I said he can hold on, he definitely can! ”

Seeing the doctor's pale face, she gritted her teeth and gave a firm order: "If Kyle dies, your entire department is fired!"

My wife, in order to save the man she loved, cut off my last chance of survival.

The moment the words left my mouth, something I had held onto for three years crumbled completely, accompanied by a cracking sound in my chest.

I stared wide-eyed, my lips moving weakly, watching as the nurses abruptly turned my stretcher around.

And my wife never turned back to me even once.

The moment the green light came on in the thoracic surgery operating room, she followed the life-saving machine and Kyle's trolley and disappeared from my sight .

Then, the wheels of the gurney rolled over the bloodstains on the ground.

I was pushed away from the light source and slid towards the end of the corridor.