Chapter 1

1

"The patient is in critical condition. Her sudden asthma attack has led to heart failure. Didn't you say you had the emergency medication? We need it within the hour!"

The lead doctor stepped out of the ICU, his face pale with urgency.

"You're Macy's mother, right? Have you reached your husband for the medicine?"

My hands shook as I gripped my phone. My lips trembled when I finally spoke.

"I'm trying, doctor! Please, save my daughter. I'll make sure he gets here as soon as possible!"

One hour. I only had one hour.

Panic surged through me. I collapsed onto the hospital floor, redialing my husband Caleb's number over and over.

Today was the first day of the SATs. Caleb had actually taken the morning off to drive Macy to the testing center.

But on the way, his phone rang with an emergency from work. He forced us out of the car in the middle of nowhere.

We couldn't catch a cab. We had to run all the way, only to be barred from entering because we were too late.

Macy's future was crushed by that single phone call. The shock triggered a massive asthma attack, and she was rushed straight to the ICU.

The only thing that could save her was the new specialized drug developed by Caleb's pharmaceutical company. He was the only one who could get it.

I was frantic. Every time I called Caleb, he hung up on me. Finally, I called his secretary, Sutton.

"Sutton? Where is Caleb? Put him on the phone right now!"

"Mr. Miller, it's your wife again..." Sutton's voice was sickeningly sweet.

Caleb's voice came through, dripping with annoyance. "Is she still at it? I just dropped them off, for God's sake. Tell Leona I'll deal with her tonight."

I paced the hallway, screaming into the phone before he could disconnect. "Caleb! Macy had an attack! She's in the ICU and it's critical! You need to..."

The line went dead.

I tried again, but he had turned off his phone. I called Sutton dozens of times until she finally picked up.

"I'm so sorry, Leona. I took my baby for a walk today and he got hit by a car. I was so worried about internal bleeding, so I had to call Caleb."

Her "baby" was her dog.

Caleb's "work emergency" was taking Sutton's dog to the vet.

"You know Caleb and I raised this dog together nineteen years ago. It's natural for him to be worried."

I screamed into the receiver. "Sutton! I don't have time for this! Put Caleb on! Macy is running out of time!"

"Don't talk to me like that. Caleb and I are just friends now. Even if you hate me, don't use your daughter's life as a sick joke." Sutton began to sob.

My head spun with rage. Then I heard Caleb's muffled, angry voice in the background.

"Leona, you're becoming pathetic. You'd lie about our daughter dying just to get me to come back?"

"Caleb, I'm begging you. Bring the medicine to the hospital. Macy is..."

I looked at the clock on the wall and broke down.

Ten minutes left. The roads were blocked for the exams. Even if he left now, he wouldn't make it.

The line clicked shut again. Caleb wasn't coming. He had just signed his own daughter's death warrant.

I stood outside the ICU, watching through the glass. My daughter was hooked up to tubes, her eyes closed tight.

Clutched in her hand was a plane ticket.

Before we left this morning, she had whispered to me. "Mom, I bought tickets for next week. After the SATs, I'm taking you abroad. We're leaving Dad forever, okay?"

Tears streamed down my face.

I watched the monitor. The rhythmic beeping slowly smoothed out into a flat, silent line. My despair turned into a cold, dead calm.

I nodded silently to her.

"Macy, I promise you. In seven days, I'm leaving Caleb Miller forever."