**Laurel's POV**

"Doctor," I said after being wheeled into the examination room,"do you know who I am?"

I put on my most confident smile.m Laurel Rose, Hollywood star and Blake Parker's fiancée."

The attending physician nodded politely. "Yes, I know. Mr. Parker introduced you moments ago."

My smile faltered. "So..."

I bit my lip and grabbed his hand. "Blake and I are about to get married.

If he discovers I've been lying, everything will fall apart."

"Won't you help me?"

The doctor's expression remained neutral. "How exactly would you like us to help, Miss Rose?"

Seeing his calm response gave me hope. Maybe this nightmare could still be fixed.

I sat up straighter. "Just hide the examination results. Let Blake keep believing I have terminal cancer."

"It doesn't need to be forever. When we're married, I'll figure out how to come clean. No one will question your diagnosis."

I flashed my most dazzling smile. "Once I'm Blake's wife, I can make it worth your while. The hospital's new, right? I could invest $200 million.

How's that sound?"

I let tears pool in my eyes. "I didn't want to lie to him, but I had no choice...Please..."

The doctor exchanged glances with his colleagues.

Another doctor produced paper and pen."Write us a statement, Miss Rose.So we can claim the money after we've done our part."

I froze. The $200 million was just something I'd thrown out. There was no way I could get that kind of money from Blake anytime soon. My first priority would be fixing my family's finances.

But without signing, they might tell Blake everything immediately...

I bit my lip and wrote the statement, cleverly only promising the donation without mentioning why. That way, I could claim it was just charity, not a bribe.

But the doctor seemed satisfied. "Though we've agreed to help, we should still do an examination to make this convincing."

I nodded and cooperated with everything.

Two hours later, I slumped in my wheelchair, acting appropriately weak as the doctor pushed me out.

"How did it go?" Thalia and Olivia rushed forward.

I immediately noticed something was wrong. Blake sat apart from them,legs crossed, watching me with cold eyes.

A chill ran down my spine.

"Blake darling..." I called.

He ignored me, looking at the doctor instead. "What are the results?"

The attending physician cleared his throat. "As we suspected, Miss Rose's late-stage gastric cancer was entirely fabricated."

Lightning struck me. "Doctor, didn't you just - "

He ignored me and handed Blake the report. "Miss Rose is perfectly healthy. Her digestive system shows no signs of disease. Simply put,she's never been ill. The cancer was a complete fabrication."

Silence filled the hallway.

Thalia and Olivia exchanged shocked glances. I slumped in the wheelchair,my body going limp.

∗It′Ss over... Everything is over...*

Just moments ago, I thought I had everything under control. Now I could practically see my future disappearing.

"Additionally," the doctor smiled, pulling out a voice recorder, "I recorded this earlier."

Blake took it, his expression icy as he hit play.

My voice echoed through the empty hallway:

∴Just hide the examination results. Let Blake keep believing I have terminal cancer."*

*"Once I'm Blake's wife. I can make it worth your while."*

*"I could invest $200 million. How's that sound?"*

By the time it finished, Thalia and Olivia looked sick.

I was destroyed. My legs gave out as I crawled from the wheelchair and clung to Blake's leg.

"Blake darling... please... I can explain..."

"Explain what?" Blake looked down coldly. "Did you think I was that easily fooled? Lying about having terminal cancer, making me worry,forcing me to do things I never wanted to do!"

He kicked me away with considerable force. My back slammed against the wall,and I screamed in pain.

I looked up tearfully. "Blake darling... even if I lied, it was because I love you!"

I fought for composure. "You know I've loved you since I rescued you five years ago. I only pretended to be sick to get more of your attention. What's wrong with that?"

′′Isthat so?" Blake interrupted. He crouched beside me. "Five years ago.the person who rescued and cared for me -was it really you, Laurel Rose?"

I froze, breaking into a cold sweat.

*Could he know? No, impossible!*

I grabbed his arm and met his gaze. "Of course it was me. Who else?Blake darling, five years ago, we -"

"Five years ago, we never even metl"

He shook off my hand. "You don't actually think you could deceive me for four years and get away with it forever, do you?"

My face went white.

"Unfortunately, I have a witness," Blake said, clapping his hands. "Bring out the witness."

The sound of wheelchair wheels approached.

I watched in horror as a woman's feet came into view, then her legs, and finally...

Rachel Hayes!

A moving,smiling Rachel Hayes!

She tilted her head. "Long time no see, my dear sister."

I screamed, my face contorting with terror. "You... you... Rachel Hayes!Are you human or ghost?! Weren't you dead?"

Then I realized - if Audrey had survived, how could Rachel be dead?

"Laurel," Rachel's speech was slow from just regaining consciousness."You tried three times but never managed to kill me. Disappointed?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Three times?"

"Yes," Rachel continued slowly. "The first time was four years ago. I discovered she was with you because she'd been impersonating my friend.I wanted her to stop deceiving everyone and return Audrey's identity."

She stared at me. "She invited me to the roof to talk, claiming she wanted to apologize to me and my friend. That day, she stole my phone and

pushed me off the roof."

Rachel wheeled closer. "Dear sister, remember what you said that day?"

As she approached, I screamed in terror, scrambling backward. "Stay away,stay away!"

Rachel's face didn't show an ounce of fear. "You bragged about your perfect plan, remember? How you'd be Blake's savior and wife no matter what."

"You figured once I was dead, nobody could stop you. My friend Audrey wouldn't matter. So you shoved me off that rooftop."

"But surprise - I didn't die." She tapped her fingers on the wheelchair armrest. "Hit some branches on the way down. Broke my fall."

"Second try was in that basement at Twilight," Rachel continued,her speech still slow but deliberate. "Thought I might wake up and tell everyone the truth, right? Wanted to finish what you started."

"Mom walked in just in time."

"Third attempt?" She shrugged. "The car crash last wveek. Bet you didn't expect Audrey to jump out and save us both."

Rachel looked down at me from her wheelchair. "Got evidence of all three tries,by the way. Hope you like prison food."

Each word hit likce a hammer. My ears rang with panic.

I looked at Blake, pure instinct driving me to him for help.

His face might as well have been carved from stone.

Now I understood why he'd kept me so close on the trip here-not because he cared, but because he knew I'd run if given the chance.

*Stupid. I was so stupid.*

My body went numb, lungs refusing to work.

I collapsed fully onto the cold floor. "Blake..."

Then reality hit me. "Mr. Parker... when did you... figure it out?"

Blake barely glanced at me. "What do you think?"