They were born to hate each other. They chose to love instead. Caroline Dacombe and Nicholas Hackett grew up in rival families, taught to despise one another. But in secret, they fell in love—a dangerous, forbidden love that cost them everything. When Nicholas was poisoned, Caroline sacrificed her sight to save him. When he needed a heart, she gave him hers. But he never knew. Now, he’s marrying another woman. And she’s counting down the days until her own heart stops beating.
Chapter 1
On the day Nicholas Hackett, the rich tycoon, got a second shot at life, he threw his fortune into a single, spiteful act: a missing-person notice with my name on it.
"Caroline Dacombe, I'm alive again. Aren't you disappointed?"
Our families had been hereditary enemies.
Since we were kids, we'd wished for each other's downfall.
After inheriting our family's traditional medicine practices, we even tried to poison one another.
When the games went stale, we started poisoning ourselves—waiting for the other to save us.
It was insane. It was beautiful. It became ours.
By then, we were in love.
Nicholas swore he’d rather die than let go of me. He forced his family to swallow their pride and ask mine for my hand.
On his twenty-fourth birthday, he collapsed—poisoned. The best doctors failed.
But I turned a blind eye to the Hackett family's cries for help and didn't show up at all.
I just left them with one line. "I won."
From that day, the feud deepened.
"You once said
