Anna's POV

"You're marrying Sebastian Foster tomorrow, Anna. Wipe that look off your face."

My stepmother, Vanessa Bennett, tossed a wedding dress onto my bed so carelessly that the veil slid onto the floor, and she didn't even bother to pick it up.

"Marry him? He's been in a coma for six months, and the doctors don't think he'll make it to Christmas!"

"That's why the Fosters are paying so much," she said, inspecting her nails as casually as if we were discussing the weather. "Their money saves your father's company. You finally get to be useful for once."

"If you're so desperate for their money, why not send Chloe?"

Her smile vanished instantly. "My daughter deserves a real husband, while you should be thankful anyone is willing to take you."

"I'm not doing it, Vanessa. You can't make me."

She held up her phone. "One call, and your father loses his treatment tonight. Want to test me?"

My throat burned as I thought about Dad lying in that hospital bed. She'd bullied me for years, and I'd swallowed every insult for his sake, but I'd never imagined she would use his life as a weapon.

"You're a monster. One day you'll pay for this."

"Maybe," she said sweetly on her way out, "but tomorrow, you're the one paying."

* * *

The moment the door closed, I called Ethan Foster, my boyfriend of three years, who also happened to be Sebastian's nephew. I kept telling myself he would fix this, because he was the only person in my life who had ever really cared about me.

When he didn't pick up, I grabbed my keys and drove straight to the Lexington Hotel, where his family was preparing the wedding. As I hurried down the quiet hallway, I heard Chloe laughing behind a half-open lounge door.

"Your poor girlfriend is probably crying at home, waiting for her prince to rescue her!"

"Let her cry," Ethan said. "She's marrying my uncle tomorrow whether she likes it or not."

Ethan's voice stopped me in my tracks. I'd have recognized it anywhere.

"Won't you miss her even a little?" Chloe teased.

"Miss what? Three years together, and she still acts like sex is a crime. I have needs, Chloe. Needs she couldn't care less about."

"Lucky for you, I've been taking care of those needs for two years."

"And you're damn good at it, sweetheart."

My mind spun as I did the math. He'd been sleeping with my stepsister for almost our entire relationship, while he kissed my forehead and told me he respected my choices.

I shoved the door open so hard that it banged against the wall, and I found Chloe straddling his lap with her lipstick smeared across his open collar.

"Wow. Don't let me interrupt. You two look busy."

Ethan didn't even flinch. He frowned as if I were the one who'd done something wrong.

"Anna, what are you doing here?"

"Seriously? You're sleeping with my sister, and that's your first question?"

"Don't make a scene," he sighed, buttoning his shirt slowly. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? You've been cheating on me for two years!"

"And you've been making me wait for three!" he snapped. "What was I supposed to do, live like a monk while you played the perfect little virgin?"

His words hurt more than a slap would have. I'd told him on our very first date that I wanted to wait, and he had smiled and promised me he understood.

Chloe slid off his lap and smoothed her dress with a smug little smile. "Honestly, Anna, if you'd been a real woman, he wouldn't have needed me."

"A real woman? Sleeping with your sister's boyfriend doesn't make you one, Chloe. It makes you trashy. And from what I hear, everyone at the country club knows it."

Her face turned bright red, but Ethan stepped between us before she could answer.

"Enough. This works out for everyone. My uncle's never waking up. You marry him, inherit his fortune when he dies, and come back to me."

"And what happens to Chloe?"

"That's not your problem."

"So I'm supposed to marry your uncle, steal his money for you, and wait in line while you keep sleeping with my sister?"

He smirked. "See? You're smarter than you look."

My hand moved before I could think, and the slap cracked across his face so loudly that Chloe gasped.

He seized my wrist hard enough to hurt. "You'll regret that, Anna. Give it a month married to a vegetable, and you'll come crawling back, begging me to take you."

I yanked my hand free, even though my whole body was shaking. "Then let's wait and see which one of us ends up begging."

* * *

The next morning, I walked down the aisle alone while the guests whispered about the poor bride who had married a dying man, and I slid the ring onto my own finger because there was no groom to do it for me.

That night, a driver dropped me at Sebastian's mansion in the hills, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson, led me upstairs before quietly leaving me at the door of the master bedroom.

When I stepped inside, the man on the huge bed made me forget to breathe for a second. Even after six months in a coma, Sebastian Foster looked nothing like a dying man, with his sharp jaw, his broad shoulders, and the hard muscles showing beneath his thin shirt.

People said he'd once run the business world so ruthlessly that even senators were afraid to cross him, and now he couldn't even open his eyes to see the stranger he'd married.

I sat down beside him and nervously took his hand, which felt surprisingly warm in mine.

"Hi, Sebastian. I'm Anna. Your new wife." I gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry about all this. I doubt you wanted this marriage any more than I did."

I felt a little silly talking to a man who might not hear me, but once I started, the words kept coming.

"I'm not after your money. I promise I'll take care of you for as long as you need me. No one's going to hurt you while I'm here."

Just as I let go, I felt his fingers twitch against mine, and my heart jumped.

"Sebastian? Can you hear me?"

Before I could lean closer, the door swung open behind me, and Ethan strolled in, loosening his tie as though he owned the place.

"Hey, baby, did you miss me? I couldn't let you spend your wedding night all alone."

"Get out, Ethan. I'm your aunt now, remember? Show some respect."

He laughed and locked the door. "Aunt? Come on, Anna. You're a married woman now. No more excuses."

"Excuses? Your uncle is lying right there!"

"So what? He can't see, he can't hear, and he definitely won't care." He grabbed my waist and pulled me hard against him. "Let's finish what you've been making me wait three years for."

My skin crawled when his breath touched my neck, and I shoved him so hard that he stumbled into the dresser.

"Touch me again, and I'll scream until the whole house wakes up."

"Scream all you want. Nobody here takes orders from you." His expression twisted. "My family paid for this marriage, Anna. They own you now. Which means I do, too."

"Your family? You don't own a damn thing, Ethan. That's why you need me to steal your uncle's money for you!"

Ethan lunged at me, his face flushed with rage. Halfway across the room, he stopped dead, his eyes fixed on something behind me.

"U-Uncle Sebastian?"

I spun around, and my heart nearly stopped.