Second Chance: Reborn as the Villainess

The first thing Katrina Donovan understood that night was this-

Felix Clarke had never loved her.

"Doctor, prepare for surgery. I want everything foolproof."

Rachel's voice drifted lightly through the darkness, calm and elegant, as if she were discussing a dinner reservation instead of a life.

"I've searched a long time for this heart," she added, a faint smile curving her lips. "Now it's finally time to harvest it."

A shrill scream ripped through the closed-down medical wing, echoing against the hollow walls.

"Ah-!"

The sound tore into the night, sharp and desperate against the suffocating silence.

Katrina's wrists strained against the restraints binding her to the stretcher. Cold metal bit into her skin. The sharp scent of rust and disinfectant filled the air, turning her stomach.

Her heart pounded violently in her chest.

Her heart.

The one they wanted to rip out.

"Rachel... what are you doing?!" Katrina's voice trembled, fury burning in her crimson eyes. "What are you trying to do to me?!"

Rachel stepped forward from the shadows.

Under the dim light, her face looked delicate, almost fragile-the kind of woman others instinctively wanted to protect.

But her eyes were cold.

Mocking.

"Trying to do?" Rachel tilted her head slightly. "Kate, don't make it sound so dramatic. You should feel honored."

Honored?

A dull ache spread from Katrina's chest outward, as if invisible claws were tearing through her ribs. For the first time in her life, true fear coiled around her spine.

She suddenly turned toward the man standing beside Rachel.

Toward the man she had trusted more than anyone.

"Felix!" Her voice cracked. "Hurry-stop her! She's gone insane! Stop her!"

For a moment, he didn't move.

Then-

"Heh."

A low, cold laugh slipped from his lips.

The gentle, refined expression Felix had always worn-the mask that had fooled her for years-shattered completely. What replaced it was something ruthless. Detached.

Almost disgusted.

"Kate," he said calmly, "give it up. This is fate."

Fate?

Her fingers curled tightly into her palms.

"Even if you die," Felix continued, his tone disturbingly reasonable, "your heart can still be preserved. And with your status, being able to donate your heart to Miss Sterling is the greatest honor of your life."

The words struck harder than any blade.

Katrina stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.

Strange.

Terrifying.

Was this really the childhood sweetheart who had held her hands beneath the summer sun and promised to protect her forever?

The man who had sworn, over and over again, that he loved her?

Not only had he deceived her feelings-

He wanted her dead.

He wanted to carve out her heart and offer it to that vile woman as a gift.

Heh... Felix Clarke. I trusted you so completely.

A bitter laugh rose in her throat but never escaped. Grief flooded her chest, heavy and suffocating. All these years... she had been blind.

Blind enough to fall in love with a man like him.

Resolve surged through her veins.