Chapter 2

My daughter, Lily, had a sudden heart attack. She was lying in the ICU, clinging to life. By some miracle, the hospital had just found a matching donor heart. But when I rushed to the billing department, my card was declined.

I suddenly remembered that a few weeks ago, my husband, Ethan, had asked for this card. He told me his stocks were doing amazing and he wanted to transfer the profits into my account. I had believed him. Now, I realized the terrifying truth.

With trembling hands, I called his phone over and over. On the fifteenth try, he finally picked up. His voice was dripping with impatience.

"Chloe, are you kidding me right now? Stop annoying me. I'm analyzing the market with Clara."

Clara Jenkins was Ethan’s high school sweetheart—the one that got away. She had recently returned to the country, claiming she was launching a startup, and had been sweet-talking Ethan into buying her company's stock.

Brainwashed, Ethan had gone completely mad. He invested all our savings, and now, he had even stolen our daughter's life-saving medical fund.

"Did you take Lily’s medical money?!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. "Transfer it back to me right now! Lily had a heart attack. She's dying!"

"Ethan, honey," Clara’s fake, sweet voice drifted through the speaker. "How can your wife be so cruel? Using her own daughter’s life to blackmail you for money?"

Her words instantly wiped away whatever hesitation Ethan had left. He snapped at me, his voice freezing cold.

"Chloe, it’s just $250,000! Do you really have to be this pathetic to get it back? You're my wife. What's wrong with me using your money for a bit?"

"Are you just jealous because I'm with Clara? I've told you a thousand times, this is a business partnership! Stop acting like a crazy, hysterical bitch!"

I looked through the glass window. Inside the ICU, Lily’s heart monitor was slowing down. My heart felt like it was being ripped out.

"Ethan, I am not joking! Lily is really dying!"

"You're hopeless! I don't have time for your drama."

In the background, Clara chimed in again. "Ethan, don't be too mad. It's normal for your wife to be desperate for money. After all, she's just a low-level clerk. She's never seen real money."

That comment poked right at Ethan's hidden insecurity about my background. He sighed.

"Yeah. She's completely useless compared to you. Let's ignore her and get back to work."

Ethan hung up on me. As the line went dead, the heart monitor flatlined. A sharp, continuous beep filled the room.

Maybe she heard her father's words. Maybe her little heart just gave up.

I stood there, frozen. The nurses pushed me aside as they rushed in. My eyes were completely blank as I watched them wheel my little girl into the emergency operating room.

Every minute of that surgery felt like a slow death. When the doctor finally walked out, his face pale and apologetic, he told me they couldn't save her. I couldn't breathe. The world spun, and I collapsed onto the cold hospital floor.