Chapter 2

I ran out of the hospital like a woman possessed and took a cab straight to the Alexander Group headquarters.

The security guards blocked me hard at the entrance, refusing to let me into the lobby.

I didn't hesitate. I dropped to my knees on the cold marble floor.

I pressed my forehead against the stone and cried out, my voice already broken and hoarse.

"Please , tell Alexander that my daughter is dying. He's the only one who can save her!"

Employees gathered around, pointing and murmuring. The whispers pricked like needles.

I didn't care. When your daughter's life is on the line, dignity means nothing.

The elevator chimed. Alexander walked out , tailored designer suit, sharp cold eyes, the kind of presence that warns people to stay back.

Sophie was on his arm. She was holding a little boy named Leandro and smiling like she'd already won.

She was the first love he had never stopped loving. Leandro was another man's son that Alexander treated as his own.

When he saw me kneeling on the floor, Alexander's face tightened with something between irritation and disgust.

"Jones, are you here to make a scene again? Don't embarrass me in front of everyone."

I scrambled to my feet and lunged toward him. I grabbed his wrist and dug my nails into his skin.

"Alexander, Charlotte has gone into shock. She's dying. You're the only one who can save her. Come to the hospital with me , please!"

Sophie tugged softly at his arm, her eyes welling up, the picture of fragile innocence.

"Alexander, Leandro turns five today. You promised you'd take him to the amusement park. Don't break your promise."

"Charlotte just has an allergic reaction. Kids aren't that delicate. Let the doctors handle it."

The triumph hidden in her eyes wasn't hard to see at all.

Alexander wrenched his arm free and shoved me. I hit the ground hard, scraping my knees until they bled.

"Leandro's birthday only comes once a year. Charlotte's little issue is not my problem."

"Don't bother me about Charlotte again."

Little issue?

This was a lethal allergy that could kill her in minutes.

That was his own daughter.

I lay on the floor and watched him walk away with his arm around someone else. His back was a wall of finality.

Eight years of love. Five years of marriage. And none of it could compete with one pout from his first love.

My Charlotte was lying in the ICU, dying. And her father was celebrating another child's birthday.

I went back to the hospital and stayed planted outside the ICU, refusing to move an inch.

At one in the morning, the resuscitation room doors swung open. The doctor's face was drained of color.

"We brought her back , for now. But she could go into shock again at any moment. If Alexander doesn't come, there will be nothing more we can do!"

I crouched in the corner and called him over and over.

Instant hang-up. Switched off. No response on Instagram.

His housekeeper told me he had taken Sophie to his private island and left strict instructions not to be disturbed.

I waited outside the estate from the middle of the night until morning.

My knees went numb. My head swam. All I got was Sophie's Instagram update.

Alexander was holding Leandro in his arms, cutting into a strawberry cake, his face soft with a warmth I hadn't seen in years.

The caption read: With you two, life is everything.

His comment: I'll be here for you both, always. My Sophie. My Leandro.

A strawberry cake.

Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice.

He knew. He knew that one bite of strawberry could kill Charlotte.

He wasn't too busy. He simply had no desire to save her.

He had never, in his heart, considered that little girl his daughter.