Chapter 1

The last time I fought with Quinn, she slammed the door and walked out. The anger was too much for my weak heart, and I passed away right then and there.

She spent the next week traveling with her old flame and his son, claiming she needed to clear her head. Meanwhile, our young daughter stayed home alone, guarding my cold body for seven days and nights.

When Quinn finally remembered us, she found me dead and rotting. Our daughter was pale, skeletal, and on the verge of death.

After realizing what she had done, Quinn broke down, sobbing at my grave while clutching our daughter. But Chloe fought to break free from her arms, hiding behind my tombstone.

She looked at Quinn with wide, tearful eyes and asked, "Who are you? Please don't bother my daddy, okay?"

1

Quinn and I had the worst fight of our lives that night. She swept everything off the table, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Caleb Brooks, stop being so paranoid! There is nothing going on between me and Xavier!" I stared at the floor, silently picking up the new shoes I'd found in her closet.

They were a limited-edition pair, very hard to get, but they weren't my size. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and sighed. "Can you at least be rational for once? Our daughter is watching."

Quinn knocked the shoebox out of my hand. The force was so great that it left a deep red mark on my skin.

"I am sick of this life! Do whatever you want from now on!" She grabbed her coat and stormed out.

The sound of the door slamming echoed through the house, making my ears ring. I sank to the floor, exhausted, trying to clean up the mess she left behind.

My five-year-old daughter, Chloe, ran out of her bedroom. She wrapped her tiny arms around my neck and stroked the red mark on my hand.

"Daddy, does it hurt?" Looking at her watery eyes, my heart ached as I pulled her into a hug.

"Chloe, it's okay. Daddy isn't hurt. I'm just... really tired." I had trusted Quinn for seven years, but she and Xavier Sterling kept pushing my limits.

At this point, I truly didn't have the strength to keep this marriage together anymore. Chloe stood up and took my large hand in her two small ones.

"Chloe will help Daddy to bed. My teacher said if you sleep, you won't be tired anymore." Her sweetness managed to soothe the suffocating gloom in my chest.

I tucked her in and lay down beside her. I patted her back as she told me stories about her day at preschool until she fell asleep.

Quinn never cared about Chloe. Even though she carried her for nine months, Chloe lived like an orphan who happened to have a mother.

Quinn had married me willingly, but she resented me for getting her pregnant. I felt a wave of helplessness wash over me.

Our marriage had always been nothing more than a tool for her to get back at Xavier. I was the fool who believed her lies all those years ago.

Late into the night, Chloe's breathing became deep and steady. My phone buzzed with a message, and I checked it without thinking.

It was a photo from Xavier. In the picture, Quinn was lying on white hotel sheets wearing a piece of sexy lingerie.

There was no caption, but the message was clear. He was claiming what he thought was his.

The blood rushed to my head, and a stabbing pain shot through my heart. I stumbled into the living room, searching for my medicine.

The bottle I usually kept so carefully was nowhere to be found. As I felt the world fading, I suddenly remembered.

It was Quinn. During the fight earlier, she had thrown everything off the table.

The white bottle must have bounced out the open window. Those pills were my lifeline.

When we first got married, I worked myself to the bone to give Quinn a luxury lifestyle. I built a company and made a fortune, but I destroyed my health in the process.

Years of long nights and bad habits led to heart disease. For the rest of my life, I was supposed to survive on those meds.

Quinn knew I was sick, but she only ever called me a pathetic weakling and told me she wished I would just die. By some cruel twist of fate, she had thrown my life away.

My heart stopped so suddenly that before I knew it, I was floating in the air as a ghost. I looked down at my sleeping daughter, my heart breaking even in death.

Dying was a release for me, but she was so small. What was going to happen to her?

The next morning, Chloe woke up on her own. She rubbed her eyes and tried to rest her head on my arm, but I was gone.

Because she lacked a mother's love, she was incredibly clingy with me. Most nights, she couldn't sleep unless she was holding my hand.

I had tried to give her 120% of my heart to make up for Quinn's coldness. I never ignored her calls, and I gave her everything she asked for.

When she couldn't find me, she looked close to tears. She ran through the house with bare feet, calling for me.

Finally, she found me lying on the floor by the sofa. Chloe pressed her small face against my cheek to act cute.

"Daddy, why are you sleeping here? The floor is so cold." She lay on top of me for a long time, but I didn't move to comfort her like I always did.