Chapter 1

The sudden ringing of my phone in the dead of night startled me awake. Groggily, I answered without even asking who it was, only to hear a serious voice on the line.

“Hello, this is the local police. Are you Nora?” Although I didn’t know what had happened, the mention of the police made me respond immediately.

Once I confirmed my identity, the officer continued, “Your husband, Ethan, encountered an issue while driving and collided with a large truck. His condition is critical, and as a family member, you should get to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, I sat bolt upright in bed.

What baffled me was that Ethan had supposedly left town on business three days ago, so how could he have had a car accident here in the middle of the night?

But given the urgency, I couldn’t dwell on it.

I quickly hung up and dashed out of the house as fast as I could.

The normally short twenty-minute drive felt like an eternity as anxiety nearly brought me to tears.