Chapter 1

The earthquake hit without warning.

My daughter, Callie Cross, and a Pomeranian were trapped on opposite sides of a fallen concrete slab.

Lisa Hutchinson, the best friend of my husband's late first love, Phyllis Boyd, cried out, "That's Phyllis's favorite dog. She raised it like her own child!"

I begged my husband, Hadley Cross, to save our daughter first.

But he crouched on the other side of the slab, stroking the dog's head, his Adam's apple bobbing as he struggled to speak.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally said, "If Phyllis found out the dog was gone, she wouldn't be able to rest in peace..."

*****

I was in the kitchen, slicing tomatoes when the earthquake hit.

Hadley was in the living room, watching cartoons with Callie, while Lisa had just rung the doorbell with the Pomeranian in tow.

The first tremor made the knife slip from my hand, and I instinctively called out Hadley's name.

The sound of the concrete slab crashing down was like a thunderclap.

When I snapped back to reality, I realized Callie and I were trapped on the kitchen side, while Hadley and Lisa were stranded in the living room.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Callie sobbed, her cries stabbing straight into my heart.

I reached out blindly for Callie's shaking hand, the dust choking us with every breath.

"Hadley. Callie's here!" I yelled, slamming my fists against the rubble blocking us.

Lisa's panicked scream pierced through from the other side. "Priscilla's pinned under it!"

The dog let out a heart-wrenching howl.

I screamed, my nails digging into the concrete debris, "Hadley, save Callie first. She's pinned on her right side!"

Hadley's face appeared at the gap, pale as a ghost.

Lisa clung to his arm, choking on sobs. "That's Phyllis's favorite dog. She raised it like her child!"

My blood ran cold. Phyllis was Hadley's first love, who had passed away five years ago.

I shouted, my voice rough and desperate, "Hadley, that's our daughter!"

On the other side of the slab, Hadley crouched beside the dog, his hands shaking.

He stroked the dog's head, then pulled back, swallowing hard. After a long, painful silence, he finally forced out, "If Phyllis saw her dog gone, she wouldn't be able to rest in peace..."

In that moment, my whole world split in two.

I yelled, grabbing a broken tile and hurling it through the gap, "Are you fucking insane? Callie's bleeding!"

Hadley turned a blind eye to my desperate cries, focusing instead on working with Lisa to clear the debris crushing the dog's paw.

Callie's cries grew fainter by the second, and I frantically clawed at the concrete with my bare hands until my nails split and bled.

When the rescue team finally broke through, Priscilla darted out, tail wagging, completely unharmed.

But Callie lay slumped like a discarded ragdoll in a pool of blood.

With the ambulance's blue lights flashing, I saw Hadley clutching the dog, Lisa draped against his shoulder.

They didn't even look at Callie.

The stench of disinfectant in the hospital made me want to throw up.

Callie had been in the ER for three hours already, and there was still dried cement dust stuck under my nails from the earthquake.

Hadley stood at the far end of the hallway, his white shirt stained with blood, clutching the Pomeranian to his chest.

"Are you happy now, Hadley?" My voice was so hoarse it barely sounded like mine. "You threw away our daughter's life for a damn dog."

Hadley's throat worked as he looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

Lisa suddenly jumped up from the bench, tears streaming like broken pearls. "Harmony, you can't say that. Priscilla means everything to Hadley..."

I snapped, slamming her medical chart against the wall, "Is the dog important enough to just give up on Callie? She's your daughter!"

The nurses at the station gave us uneasy, sidelong glances.

Hadley finally rasped out, his voice rough. "Callie'll be okay."

"What makes you so sure?" I shot back, grabbing his collar and catching a strong whiff of Lisa's perfume on him. "You haven't even looked at her once!"

The dog whimpered, and Hadley reflexively tightened his hold, shielding it closer to his chest.

That small gesture cut deeper than anything he could have said.

The ER doors suddenly flew open, and a doctor in green scrubs stepped out, his eyes tired and shadowed above his mask.

"Are you family for Callie Cross?" he asked.

I surged forward, so numb with fear that I didn't even register my knee slamming into the metal chair.

The doctor removed his mask, his voice grim. "Your daughter's right leg has a comminuted fracture, her spleen is ruptured, and there's bleeding in her brain."

My vision began to swim.

"She needs emergency surgery right now, but..." The doctor glanced at Hadley, tension thick in the air. "Her chances aren't even forty percent."