Chapter 1

I grabbed my phone to call my husband when I was trapped in my car during a massive highway pile-up.

Then an urgent voice rang out:

[Mommy, don't call Daddy!]

I froze. The only other person in the car was my newborn baby. Where was that sound coming from?

Just as I was wondering, the sound rang out again.

[Daddy's assistant told him she's having a mental breakdown. She's on a rooftop, threatening to jump. If Daddy comes for you right now, she'll actually do it!]

My phone connected. Julian's voice came through the speaker.

"Aren't you tired of using the same pathetic excuse? If I show up and find out you're just faking it, Claire, you're finished. I won't let you go!"

[Mommy! Don't let him come!]

I became clear-headed at once.

"I can handle it," I said firmly. "Don't come."

I hung up.

Baby. It's just you and Mommy now.

A second later, something slammed into my rear bumper.

Then another hit. Then another.

My car was sandwiched from both sides. The doors weren't just jammed — they were crushed completely shut.

I pulled my baby tight.

[Mommy, run! Daddy lent this car to his assistant Vanessa. She cracked the fuel line and the chassis and never got it fixed. It's going to explode!]

I grabbed the emergency hammer and swung it at the windshield.

I clutched my baby and crawled out, rolling behind the highway guardrail.

The moment I hit the ground, the screaming started.

"That car's on fire! Get back!"

Flames were already tearing through the undercarriage. Black smoke swallowed the sky.

My whole body screamed in pain. Blood soaked through my clothes from a dozen places at once.

[Mommy... it hurts. Am I going to die?]

My baby's voice was tiny and terrified.

I held her still and pressed her close. I fumbled for my phone with bloody fingers and dialed 911.

"Interstate pile-up, multiple vehicles. I have a baby. We're both bleeding—"

"Ma'am, stay calm. Your exact location?"

I told him. Every word cost me something.

"Copy. Dispatching the nearest unit now. Keep this line open."

My shoulders dropped half an inch in relief.

Then my phone rang again.

"Hello? How far out are—"

"Claire."

Luke. Julian's best friend. Head of local emergency dispatch.

"Julian already called me," he said flatly. "It's a holiday weekend. First responders are slammed. Stop tying up the emergency line."

The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Everything my baby had said — it was all true.

"Luke, listen to me." My voice cracked raw. "My car is actively on fire. It could explode any second. My newborn and I are both injured. Please—"

He actually laughed.

"Give it a rest, Claire. Julian warned me you'd try something like this. We don't have time for your drama. Handle it yourself."

I sat there in the smoke and heat, phone in my bloody hand, flames roaring twenty feet away.

[Mommy!]

I tried to stand. Made it two steps. The world tilted hard and I hit the asphalt, curling my body around my daughter on the way down.

Someone nearby said quietly, "She's losing too much blood. I don't think she's going to—"

No. My baby already had a father who failed her. She was not going to lose her mother too.

I forced myself up, shielding my baby in my arms.

I didn't even make it two steps before my legs gave out and collapsed.