Chapter 1

My sister, Mia, was trapped in a remote, snow-covered mountain, caught in an unexpected blizzard during her hike.

I immediately called my husband, Ryan, who was the captain of the local search and rescue team and knew that mountain like the back of his hand.

Ryan got the call and instantly rallied his team, preparing to deploy.

But just as they were about to head out, he answered a phone call. He abruptly ordered the entire team to stand down, then jumped into his truck and sped down the mountain himself.

I ran after the truck, stumbling and falling in the snow, watching helplessly as his vehicle vanished around the bend.

“Ryan, the blizzard’s about to seal off the mountain!”

“If you don’t go now, Mia will die! Please, I’m begging you, come back and save her!”

But all he left me with was: “Stand by.”

I waited for three agonizing hours until I saw him on the local news channel.

Ryan was carefully prying a diamond bracelet, frozen solid to the icy railing of a scenic overlook, from a pampered heiress's wrist. The heiress, Valerie, batting her eyelashes at the camera, played up her 'terrified ordeal' with a simpering mix of fear and exaggerated relief.

“Thank goodness for Captain Ryan,” she gushed. “Otherwise, my necklace would have been ruined!”

So, as my sister’s life ticked away, his more urgent priority was rescuing a rich socialite’s priceless jewelry.

But what he didn't know was that Mia had braved that storm-ravaged mountain not for adventure, but for him. She was there to retrieve a cherished heirloom from his mentor, lost years ago on that very mountain.

And when Mia’s body was finally found, frozen solid in the raging blizzard, it would be the avalanche that buried not just her, but every shred of his life as he knew it.