The harsh glare of the surgical lamp stabbed straight into her eyes.
The sharp smell of disinfectant was so strong it felt like it was burning her lungs.
Celeste Morrison, numbed by anesthesia, lay on the icy metal table, completely paralyzed.
She wasn’t here for treatment. She’d been dragged in by force.
The doctor in a white coat, face hidden behind a mask, stood nearby with a scalpel gleaming like ice in his hand.
He was a real doctor—just the kind who took shady jobs in the black market.
"Celeste Morrison, you really are ridiculously naive. But…"
Vivian Morrison stood right beside the table, her voice dripping with fake gentleness.
"Since you’re so dumb, I’ll do you a favor. Let you die knowing the truth."
She looked like a totally different person now, lips curled in a smug little grin that screamed she thought she’d already won.
Celeste burned with rage, every cell wanting to lash out, to scream—but she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.
All she could do was force her eyes open and glare at Vivian with everything she had left.
She had only ever wanted a home, someone who would stay by her side.
To fit into the Morrison Clan, she’d given her heart to everyone—literally and figuratively.
And now? She was lying here waiting to die.
How stupid she had been, treating Vivian as a fragile sister who needed protecting.
She had cared for her without a second thought, to the point she was even willing to give up her own kidney.
"It was me who pushed Mom down the stairs," Vivian said casually, as if she were talking about the weather.
"Dominic Blackwell just happened to show up, so I pinned it on him."
"And you—wow, you really didn’t disappoint. You went after Dominic like a maniac."
Her grin widened, full of twisted triumph.
She wanted to watch Celeste break.
She wanted to see her crushed, suffering, destroyed.
So it was Vivian Morrison who killed her mother.
Every word coming out of Vivian’s mouth felt like another knife sliding straight into Celeste Morrison’s chest. Her whole body felt like it was being torn apart, yet she couldn’t even force out the smallest groan.
"And your brother? He didn’t die because of Dominic Blackwell. He only wanted to take you home. But Dominic wouldn’t agree, and I sure didn’t want you back with the Morrison Clan, so I set him up and lured him out."
"Your brother was always the sharp one, but the moment I tossed out some nonsense about saving you, he bit instantly. Can you imagine it?"
"You’ll never guess—right before he died, he was still worrying about how to protect you. Honestly, that really got under my skin. Even at the very end, he only cared about you."
"As for Dominic Blackwell, of course I shoved the blame onto him. You hated him so much that the second someone whispered his name, you just swallowed the whole story without thinking."
Celeste’s eyes were filled with a despair so deep it felt bottomless, mixed with regret sharp enough to suffocate her.
So her brother died alone out there, all because of Vivian’s scheme.
And Dominic… she had never trusted him. Not even once.
All of this… every twisted mess… was her own doing.
Vivian curled her lips into a smug little smile.
"Oh, right. You must be dying to know why you’re lying here like a lab rat."
"It’s simple—some big-shot decided your heart was worth taking."
"Don’t blame me, I’m just the delivery girl."
"And your kidneys…"
"Well, once your heart is gone you’re dead anyway, so I guess I’ll just take them off your hands. It’s not my fault we’ve got such rare blood types."
Her own kidneys were already failing, and with her blood type, only Celeste’s organs would have the lowest rejection risk.
"If you wanna blame someone, blame Dominic Blackwell. He treasured you so much he wouldn’t even let you donate blood for me, never mind a kidney."
This idiot Celeste had actually agreed back then—yet Dominic refused to let her go.
But honestly, this worked out even better for her. Two organs at once—soon she’d be perfectly healthy again.
Watching the doctor lift out that still‑beating heart, Vivian Morrison’s lips curled into a sharp, vicious smile.
"After you went missing, Dominic Blackwell went nuts looking for you everywhere."
"Tell me, if Dominic saw you like this now, you think he’d completely break?"
No. She didn’t want Dominic Blackwell to see her dying like some abandoned corpse.
Because she knew… he really would fall apart.
She’d spent her whole life trying to please everyone—everyone except him.
To her, Dominic had always been the monster in the dark. She pushed him away, hated him, blamed him for everything that went wrong.
And because of that hate, she’d thrown every dirty trick she could think of at him, destroying him piece by piece, almost driving him insane more than once.
And now?
Now all Celeste Morrison wanted was for Dominic not to find her… not to see her like this.
"Celeste Morrison, in the end, I still win. You’re not taking what should’ve been mine."
"Just lie here and wait to die."
After taking a phone call, Vivian hurried the doctor to finish faster.
Before she left, she glanced back and said, "Good news for you—Dominic Blackwell is already nearby."
In the last flicker of her life, Celeste kept praying in her heart.
Dominic, don’t come. Please, don’t see me like this.
But fate clearly wasn’t listening.
Dominic Blackwell still came.
The man who used to stand untouchable above everyone else, cold and arrogant like a king… now had stubble all over his face and looked frighteningly thin, like he’d been hollowed out.
He held her hand in a death grip, his other hand trembling as it brushed across her cheek.
"Little kitten, don’t be scared. I’m here."
"Little kitten, see? I told you—you can’t get away from me. No matter where you hide, I’ll find you. We’re stuck together forever."
"Little kitten, it’s my fault. I won’t lock you up again, okay? Next time you run… slow down a bit. Wait for me."
Little kitten.
That was the nickname he made just for her.
Since she was young, everyone treated her like some cursed omen.
People avoided her like she carried bad luck in her shadow.
Only Dominic Blackwell never backed away.
He used to joke that even if she really was some monster that ate people, in his eyes she was still just a harmless little kitten.
He even claimed he was a lone star fated for misfortune, perfectly matched with her.
So whenever he pulled her into his arms,
he always liked to murmur that name against her ear—
“little kitten.”
The nickname she once hated so much…
now hit her like a punch straight to the heart, stirring up a tidal wave of longing she couldn’t hold back.
Tears slid quietly from the corner of Celeste Morrison’s eyes.
Fine.
She nodded—she gave in.
She swore she wouldn’t run anymore.
She would stay exactly where she belonged and wait for him, quietly.
Whatever he asked, she’d accept it all without a fight.
If there really was a next life,
she wouldn’t fear his grip anymore—
she’d cling to him even tighter and never let go.