Your Betrayal Was Just My Mission

The systems chime echoed in my mind just as a fresh wave of agony bloomed behind my ribs. I slumped against the cold, sterile tiles of the hospital corridor, clutching my chest.

Every word of the conversation between my fiance and my sister was a jagged shard of ice, driven straight into my marrow. They had lied. The four failed heart matches, the months of agonizing "bad luck"it was all a fabrication, a cruel game played to appease the "real" son who had suddenly appeared in our lives.

Now that he had been diagnosed with heart failure, the donor organ I had spent years waiting forthe one that was supposed to be my second chance at lifewas being diverted to him.

My sister hadnt flown back from London to support me. She was here with a waiver, her voice a practiced melody of manipulation as she told me to "just wait a little longer." She claimed the long-lost biological brother couldnt wait. But who was counting the times I had teetered on the edge of the abyss?

Yesterday, I had been the one throwing her out of my room in a fit of righteous fury. Today, my life-saving surgery had been reassigned behind my back. The family bonds I cherished and the love I had built were nothing more than cheap, disposable commodities in their eyes.

Before my tears could even dry, I pressed the activation key for the Return Program.

[Return Program initiated. Countdown: Seventy-two hours.]

Just three more days. Then I could leave this miserable existence behind forever.

I leaned against the wall, forcing oxygen into my failing lungs as I shuffled back to my room. When I pushed the door open, the sight was a physical blow. Orderlies were already sweeping my personal belongings into cardboard boxes. Two men were unhooking my ventricular assist devicethe machine keeping my heart beating.

My sister, Isabelle, was directing them with cold efficiency. My fiance, Helena, stood by her side, her silence a heavy, suffocating shroud.

I leaned against the doorframe, gasping for air. "What... what are you doing?"

Helenas eyes flickered toward my ghostly face. Her fingers twitched, a momentary lapse in her composure, before she looked away and turned toward Isabelle.

Isabelles expression shifted, a flash of guilt quickly replaced by a hardened resolve. "Adrian, Lucas just came out of a crisis. Hes in the critical observation window. He needs this private suite and this specific equipment. Its an emergency."

I tightened my grip on the doorframe, trying to breathe through a spasm. my voice was a raspy whisper. "Isabelle, Ive failed four matches. My heart is a ruin. If you take this away, Ill die."

Isabelle turned bone-white. She gritted her teeth. "Youve survived every crisis before. Youll make it through this one. Lucas is differenthes fragile. Please, Adrian. For me. Just give your brother this one thing."

I looked at these two womenthe people I had loved with every fiber of my being. One was the sister I had adored for twenty years; the other was my childhood sweetheart. And here they were, ruthlessly asking me to hand over my only chance at survival.

Suddenly, the weight of it allthe years of trying to earn their lovejust vanished. I felt an incredible, numbing exhaustion. What did it matter? In a few dozen hours, I would be gone anyway.

I let out a jagged, self-deprecating laugh and nodded. "Fine. Take it."

Isabelles rehearsed arguments died in her throat. She stared at me, bewildered by my sudden compliance.

Right then, a searing pain clawed at my heart. I stumbled, my knees buckling.

"Adrian!" Helena lunged forward, catching my arm. When she realized I wasn't dead yet, she let out a long breath, her voice softening into that manipulative tenderness I used to mistake for love. "Adrian, youve always been so strong. You can handle a few days without the monitors. Once Lucas is out of the woods, I promise Ill get you the best care available."

She brushed a hair from my forehead. "When you're better, I'll take you to that chalet in St. Moritz. Just the two of us."

Three months ago, those words would have been my lifeline. Back then, if I so much as nicked a finger, Helena would cancel her board meetings to bandage it herself, her eyes red with worry. But now? She knew exactly how excruciating a thoracic surgery was, yet she had tricked me into the operating theater four times, letting them cut me open for nothing, just to spite me on behalf of Lucas.

"Stop it, Helena. Stop the act."

Her hand froze. The irritation of being seen through flickered across her face, and she withdrew her touch. "If youre going to be ungrateful, then well do this the hard way."

She signaled the orderlies to move my remaining things to a general ward.

My assistant, Arlo, burst into the room, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He shoved an orderly who was tossing my things. "You can't throw this out!"

Arlos voice cracked. "This is Adrians pain journal! Every night he couldn't sleep from the agony, he wrote in this just to stay sane. How can you treat it like trash?"

Isabelle and Helenas expressions shifted. Helena stepped forward and snatched the notebook, flipping it open. A stack of yellowed receipts fluttered to the floor.

She paused, reading a page. Isabelle was in that horrific crash. The hospital was out of her blood type. Im the only match. The doctors say over-donating will damage my heart long-term, but as long as she lives, I dont care.

She flipped to another page, filled with frantic calculations. Helenas firm was set up. The penalties are astronomical. I liquidated the trust my grandmother left me to cover her margins. I took out private loans to bridge the gap. The interest is mounting, but she cant know. She has enough pressure. Im a man; Ill carry this debt for her.

The two women stared at the papers, a momentary silence falling over the room. But the ego is a powerful thing. They didn't want to be the villains of this story.

"Adrian," Isabelle said, her voice dripping with disbelief. "Did you really plant these 'props' just to compete for our affection with Lucas? Thats low, even for you."

Recalling all the genuine love I had wasted, I didn't even bother to argue. I leaned down to pick up my journal. As I bent over, the world tilted. A violent throb erupted in my chest. I collapsed, cold sweat instantly soaking my shirt.

Isabelle merely sighed, annoyed. "This again? The moment the monitors are gone, you stage a heart attack? Grow up."

Helena waved a hand at the security guards. "Get him out of here. Adrian, when are you going to start acting like a man? This is pathetic."

I was numb as the guards dragged me down the hall to a cramped, freezing bed in the general ward.

[Countdown: Sixty-eight hours.]

Just a little longer.

I curled into the thin sheets. Without the assist device, every breath was a conscious struggle. Arlo sat by my bed, tears streaming down his face as he cursed them under his breath. He told me hed go find a way to buy the medication I needed, even if he had to beg for it, and then he ran out.

A few hours later, Lucas walked in. He looked slightly pale, but his eyes were bright with triumph. He walked to my bedside, leaning in close, his chest puffed out.

"Adrian," he whispered, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. "Can you hear it? Listen to how strong this heart beats."

He chuckled. "You really think those four matches failed because of 'luck'? I just told Isabelle and Helena that I felt you were looking down on me. To make it up to me, they made sure you went under the knife for nothing. They even swapped your post-op anti-rejection meds for vitamins."

He leaned closer, his voice a venomous hiss. "Youre pathetic. Betrayed by your woman and your sister, and you were still pining for them in that stupid diary. Its hilarious."

My entire body shuddered. I stared at him, the horror of his words sinking in. Four times I had gone into that theater with hope, only to wake up to failure. I had spent nights coughing up blood, watching my hair fall out in clumps from the 'meds' they gave me. I thought it was just my fate.

It wasn't fate. It was a game.

A primal surge of rage gave me a burst of phantom strength. I lunged at him, swinging my fist with everything I had left. "Go to hell!"

Lucas didn't expect the attack. My fist caught his jaw, sending him stumbling back.

"Help! Isabelle! Helena! Adrian's gone crazy! He's trying to kill me!"

The door was kicked open. Isabelle and Helena rushed in, panic written all over their faces.

"Adrian! What are you doing?" Helena screamed, shoving me back with enough force to send me crashing against the wall.

Isabelle threw her arms around Lucas, frantically checking his chest. Lucas sobbed into her shoulder. "My heart... it hurts. He wanted to kill me. He wanted to take it back!"

Helena turned on me, her eyes flashing with hatred as I lay twitching on the floor. "Have you lost your mind? Lucas just got off the table! Do you have to be a murderer too?"

I lay there, the light fading from my vision as the pain reached a crescendo. I watched the women I would have died for shield a monster like he was a wounded lamb.

I forced a bloody smile.

[Countdown: Forty-eight hours.]

Please, system. Make it fast.

That night, Lucas claimed his chest felt "tight," and the entire cardiology wing went into an uproar. I lay in the dark, listening to the chaos outside, my mind drifting to the past.

A year ago, the truth about our "switched at birth" status came out. Lucas was the biological Parker; I was the mistake. To make up for his years in foster care, Isabelle gave him everythingmy room, my car, my position.

"Adrian, he suffered for twenty years. We owe him. Just be patient," shed say.

And Helena, under pressure from her family to align with the "real" heir, tried to keep us both on a leash. She thought if she gave Lucas whatever he wanted, hed eventually let us be together. Lucas took advantage of that. He broke my childhood mementos. He pushed me into a freezing lake in the middle of winter, which triggered my heart failure.

They always told me to wait. To be the bigger person.

But they forgot one thing: once a mans dignity is ground into the dirt, once his heart is truly broken, there is nothing left but ash.

Isabelle burst into my room, her eyes bloodshot. She didn't say a word as she began ransacking my bedside locker.

"What... what are you doing?" I asked weakly.

She ignored me until she found a small amber pill bottle. She grabbed me by the collar and slammed the bottle into my face.

"Adrian! Do you have any humanity left?" she screamed. "They found toxins in Lucass porridge. It was this, wasn't it? If you couldn't beat him to death, youd poison him!"

The bottle hit my eye, making stars dance in my vision. I looked at the bottle on the floor. It was the specialty medication Arlo had bought with his own savings. Without the machines, these were the only things keeping my heart from stopping.

"That's my... medicine," I gasped.

"Liar!" Isabelle slapped me, hard. The force spun my head around, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. "Lucas's nurse saw you lurking near his room! How can you still lie?"

I couldn't even stand up, let alone "lurk" anywhere. The label on the bottle clearly stated the drugs name and its use for heart failure. But she chose not to see it. They only believe the lies that make them feel righteous.

Rapid footsteps sounded in the hall. Helena entered, her face a mask of cold fury. She looked at my battered state, a flicker of somethingregret?crossed her eyes, but she suppressed it. "He just survived, Adrian. Do you really want him dead that badly?"

I looked up at my sister. For a second, I saw the girl from ten years ago who had stood between me and a group of bullies, her own head bleeding as she told me, Don't be scared, Addy. Ill protect you forever.

Now, that same person threw a legal document at my face.

"Adrian, Lucas is the blood that the Parkers have missed for twenty years. If you can't coexist with him, theres no room for you in this family. This is a severance agreement. Sign it, and you're dead to us. Your life is no longer our concern."

She spoke with such finality, but she didn't offer me a pen. She was certain I would beg for forgiveness, as I always did.

I looked at the paper. "Okay."

I didn't have a pen. I bit my finger hard until it bled, and using the blood as ink, I scrawled my name at the bottom and pressed my thumbprint down.

Isabelles pupils dilated. She looked at me, stunned. "I only... I just meant..."

But I couldn't hear her anymore. A roar of pain erupted in my chest, and the world began to spin. I fell backward.

[Countdown: Twenty-four hours.]

My consciousness flickered in the dark. I heard Arlo screaming outside. "Let me go! He's dying! His heart is failing!"

A guards voice, bored: "Orders from Ms. West. No one goes in without her permission."

"You're killing him! I'll call the police! I'll destroy you all!"

Then came the dull thud of fists hitting flesh. I tried to move, but my eyelids felt like they were made of lead.

When I finally woke, Helena and Isabelle were sitting by my bed.

"Where... where is Arlo?"

Helenas face was stone. "The servant who wouldn't stop barking? I had him detained."

I struggled to sit up. Isabelle pushed me down and handed me a script. "The poisoning story has gone viral. People are digging into the 'fake heir' scandal. Our stock prices are cratering because of your drama. You are going to do a livestream. You will admit you're the one who poisoned him, you will apologize to Lucas, and you will publicly break off the engagement."

I stared at the script and laughed.

Helena grabbed my hand, her voice dropping to a persuasive hum. "Adrian, think about the companies. If you do this, Ill release Arlo unharmed. I swear, once the stocks stabilize, Ill divorce Lucas. Ill find you a new heart. Well get married for real. This is the last time Ill ask you to sacrifice. Be a man, okay?"

I didn't want to. But for Arlo's life...

I looked at the countdown. I closed my eyes. "Fine."

Half an hour later, the camera was on. I read the words, branding myself a jealous poisoner and a fraud. I renounced my name and my inheritance.

The comments section exploded.

The fake son is a monster! Why isn't he dead?

Rot in hell, you piece of trash!

Helena watched the stock ticker climb back up. She immediately announced her upcoming marriage to the "rightful" heir, Lucas Parker. Then, she shut off the feed.

"I did it," I whispered. "Let Arlo go."

The door opened, and Lucas walked in, grinning. "Don't bother looking for him, 'Brother.' Half an hour ago, I told him about your little confession. He thought he was the reason you were being blackmailed. He said as long as he was alive, theyd have a leash on you. So he grabbed a guards knife and shoved it into his own throat. Died instantly. Such a loyal dog."

My brain went white. My vision blurred into a bloody haze. Since Lucas returned, everyone had turned their backs. Only Arlo, the boy who had followed me since we were ten, had stayed. He had literally taken bullets and blows for me. I had tried to give him money to leave this sinking ship, but hed just yell, My life is yours, Adrian! If they want you, they have to go through me!

He kept his word.

My sanity snapped. I swung my hand to slap the smirk off Lucass face.

Smack.

Isabelle caught my wrist and delivered a brutal blow to my cheek. The taste of copper flooded my mouth. She shielded Lucas, glaring at me. "You dare touch him in front of me? I regret ever taking in a viper like you!"

Helena stepped in too, pushing me back. "Adrian! Are you insane? It was just a servant! Arlo chose to do that. Its not Lucass fault!"

I stared at them. My tears had run dry. My heart didn't even feel pain anymorejust a cold, empty void.

Before they could react, I scrambled onto the windowsill.

Helenas face finally changed. "Adrian! What are you doing?"

Isabelle panicked, lunging toward me. "Addy, stop! Don't be stupid!"

Lucas stood back, sneering. "Are you still falling for this? Hes just trying to guilt-trip you because he knows you care. He doesn't have the guts to jump."

I looked at the three of themtheir fear, their arrogance, their lies. I smiled.

[3 2... 1]

I opened my arms and let myself fall backward into the sky. The wind roared in my ears, punctuated by a single, soul-shattering scream from above.

"NO!!!"