Chapter 1

My best friend and I married the Kane brothers.

She married the younger one, a brilliant surgeon. I married the older, a decorated firefighter.

Five years into our marriages, my best friend and I were volunteering in a remote village when an earthquake hit.

My son was buried under the rubble. Her daughter was knocked unconscious.

With all communication down, I begged a rescue worker to get a message to my husband.

But all I got back was a helpless shake of the head.

"Mr. Kane told me to tell you to stop making trouble. He's busy taking care of a Miss Croft. He doesn't have time for you."

My best friend finally managed to get a call through to her husband.

But he was impatient. "I'm just helping Cora with a scratch! Can't you stop overreacting and listening to every crazy thing Aurora says?"

My son's body was never found. Her daughter died without a doctor to treat her.

The day our children died, a part of us died too.

"Please, save my son! He's still trapped under the rocks!"

When the volunteers arrived, I was already clawing at the collapsed debris with my bare hands.

My hands were raw and bleeding, but I couldn't feel the pain.

All I could think about was finding my son.

"We'll do our best," a volunteer said, joining the search. But we couldn't find a trace of him.

"Don't panic. I heard the fire department from Crestfall is on their way. They'll find him."

Hearing that, a surge of hope shot through me. "My husband is a firefighter in Crestfall. He'll be here."

I clung to that thought like a lifeline, pinning all my hopes on my husband, Kaelen Kane.

He was the best firefighter on his team. With him here, my son's chances would be so much better.

When the volunteer was about to leave for a break, I grabbed her arm.

"When the firefighters get here, can you please give a message to their captain? Tell him that Carter is trapped under the rocks. Tell him to come quickly."

I clasped my hands, begging her.

She returned a short while later, her face grim. She couldn't look me in the eye, but she relayed Kaelen's message.

"Mr. Kane's exact words were: 'Stop making trouble. I'm busy taking care of a Miss Croft right now. I don't have time for you.'"

My heart went cold.

I never thought that at a time like this, my child's father would accuse me of "making trouble."

"But... what about my Carter?" My voice was choked with sobs.

"Carter, hang on. Mommy will get you out."

I didn't rest, didn't eat. My entire world had shrunk to the pile of rubble that held my son.

He was only four. How could he endure this?

"Talia! Wake up!"

On the other side of the collapsed site, my best friend, Elara, had just pulled her daughter from the debris.

But Talia had a nasty head wound. The blood had already dried.

No matter how much Elara called her name, Talia didn't respond.

"Find Jasper! He's a doctor! He'll know what to do!" I screamed at her.

"Right, call Jasper... Jasper will save her."

Elara fumbled for her phone, but there was no signal. The earthquake had knocked out all the cell towers.

Volunteers carefully placed Talia on a stretcher.

A medic on site sighed. "The girl's injuries are too severe. Dr. Kane is probably the only one who can save her now."

Elara cried out in despair. "Jasper, I know you're here with the rescue teams! Why aren't you here for your own daughter?"

"Where are you?"

Tears streamed down my face. I went back to digging through the rubble, my movements numb and mechanical.

"Yeah, where are you two?"

My son was missing, her daughter was dying, and their fathers were with another woman, tending to her minor scrapes.

They had abandoned their own children for a woman who was barely even hurt.