Chapter 1 A STRANGER IN DISTRESS.

"You-You killed her."

The accusation came so unexpectedly that the young doctor could only stare at the man holding the dead woman in his arms.

For a moment, she wondered if she had heard him correctly. "I... what?"

She had just spent the last few minutes fighting to save a life. Her hands had been busy trying to stop the bleeding, her attention fixed on the woman who had been struggling for every breath. She had barely had time to think about the accident that had brought them there. And now, this man was accusing her of killing her?

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Hours earlier, she had been driving to the hospital for her night shift. It was almost midnight. The roads were relatively quiet, and she had settled into the familiar routine of the journey when her phone rang. She picked it up to answer. But then, in the space of a few seconds, everything changed.

BAM!!!

A trailer slammed into a small Mercedes-Benz ahead of her. The sound of metal colliding cut through the night, followed by the sickening sight of the smaller car veering out of control. She barely had time to react before the Mercedes collided with her own vehicle.

Her heart lurched.

She brought her car to a stop and sat there for a brief moment, trying to process what had happened. Her first instinct was to check herself for injuries. There were none. Her own car jolted from the impact, leaving a deep dent along the front passenger side. She gripped the steering wheel, her heart pounding, then hurried out to assess the damage. But the sight of the overturned Mercedes made her forget about her own car. Its roof was crushed, and its windows were shattered, leaving broken glass scattered across the road.

She approached cautiously, peering through the broken window until she spotted the woman inside, slumped against the damaged seat and covered in blood. The driver's side was badly twisted, so she moved around to the passenger side, where a gap in the wreckage gave her enough room to reach inside.

"Oh, God."

The trailer driver slowed down. For one fleeting moment, she thought he might stop. Instead, he glanced around and sped away.

"Hey! Hey! Stop!"

She watched him disappear into the night, disbelief giving way to anger. He had hit another vehicle and simply driven off. But she couldn't afford to stand there shouting after him. Someone might be hurt.

She rushed towards the overturned Mercedes-Benz.

"Can you hear me?"

She moved closer, trying to assess the woman's condition. As a doctor she knew that the woman lying lifeless was not completely lifeless. Her pulse was still circulating, meaning that she could still be saved. The sight before her was frightening, but she forced herself to focus. Panic wouldn't help either of them. She had to get the woman out. It wasn't easy, but she eventually managed to pull her free. Then she noticed the woman's swollen belly. She was heavily pregnant. For a moment, the doctor looked at her stomach, struggling to take in what that meant. There were two lives at stake. She hurried back to her car for her first-aid kit.

When she returned, she knelt beside the woman and began trying to save her. She worked as quickly as she could, refusing to let the severity of the injuries overwhelm her concentration. "Please, stay with me."

She kept going. She couldn't undo the accident. She couldn't make the bleeding disappear or take away the injuries. But she could try to keep this woman alive. So she tried. And tried. Until there was nothing left she could do.

The woman died.

The doctor stopped. She looked at the woman's face, waiting for a sign that she had somehow been wrong. Her hands remained poised for a moment before she slowly lowered them.

"No..."

The word escaped her before she could stop it. She had tried. God knew she had tried. Yet the woman lay motionless before her, and the child she had been carrying would never get the chance to take a breath.

The doctor swallowed hard, her gaze fixed on the woman. She had seen suffering before. She knew that sometimes, despite everything a person did, the outcome could still be terrible. Knowing that didn't make this any easier.

Suddenly , a car pulled up behind her with a full speed. She turned at the sound. Several men stepped out. But it was the young man in a tuxedo who emerged after them who drew her attention.He didn't rush about or demand to know what had happened. He took in the scene with a single, sweeping glance, his expression unreadable. Then his eyes settled on the woman lying on the ground. Something in his face changed. He moved towards her.

The doctor barely had time to step aside before he pushed past her and dropped to his knees beside the body.

"My love."

He gathered the woman into his arms. For a moment, he simply looked at her face, as though the sight before him were something he refused to accept. His hand moved to her cheek, brushing against it with an almost careful tenderness. "Wake up, darling. I'm right here."

But nothing happened. He touched her face again. "Baby, wake up." His voice remained low, but the words seemed to cost him more with every breath. He drew her closer and rubbed her swollen belly. "Please. Please."

The doctor stood nearby, unable to look away. Only moments ago, she had been trying to save this woman. Now she was watching someone hold her as though letting go would make her death final. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry. That she had tried everything she could. That she hadn't simply stood by and watched his loved one die. But the words remained trapped in her throat. What could she say to a man who had just lost so much?

The young man bowed his head over the woman's face. "Please, my love. Don't do this to me."

The doctor lowered her gaze. She wished she could have done more. She wished the trailer driver had stopped. She wished she had arrived a minute earlier, or that one small thing she had tried might have made a difference. But wishing wouldn't bring the woman back.

A few seconds later, the man lifted his head. His eyes found hers. The grief was still there, but it had hardened into something else. "You-You killed her."

The doctor blinked. For a moment, she couldn't make sense of the words. "What?"

"You killed my wife!."