Chapter 1
The ice-cold husband, famous for having a heart of stone, had secretly been keeping a little lamb in the run-down worker's quarters.
The girl was a mute who picked coal cinders for a living. Her hands were cracked and raw from frostbite, but her smile was like fresh spring snow melting on the ground.
For Edward Grey, a man who'd seen nothing but scheming and power plays his whole life, that smile stirred something new. A want. Not for power. For protection.
He thought he'd hidden her perfectly. But on Christmas Eve, I found them out.
I flipped the table at the family reunion dinner in front of both our families.
Edward didn't even flinch. He just brushed the broth off his wool overcoat and had his assistant hand me divorce papers.
Claire Dawson. Sign it. The two storefronts on Maple Street will be yours.
I tore up the papers. So he turned up the heat.
He cut off the imported meds keeping me alive. He had my younger brother, who was sent to the countryside for labor, arrested on bogus hooliganism charges.
Then he tied up my parents and strapped them to the back of a speeding truck.
Sign the papers, or watch them get thrown off and smashed to pieces. Your choice.
I begged him on my knees in the snow. But the engine roared to life and blood painted the deep white drifts.
No... Mom! Dad!
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I first discovered the mute girl.
This time, I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I made a single call that night to a trucker running black-market goods down south.
But when I actually disappeared Edward lost his damn mind.
I stared at the old almanac hanging on the wall. Christmas Eve was only three days away.
In my last life, right about now, I was running all over the compound, getting everything ready for the Grey family's reunion dinner.
My hands were cracked and bleeding from the cold, but I didn't dare pause for even a moment.
I opened the drawer and fished out the gold bracelet hidden at the very bottom.
Then I went to the post office and sent off a telegram to the southbound black market convoy.
[See you in Wisten in three days. Goods and payment, all settled.]
I tucked the bills I'd gotten for the bracelet and the special pass to Wisten close to my chest, and for the first time in ages, I felt truly alive.
Since I still had three days before I could leave, I couldn't help but want to see the woman who had made Edward bare his soul.
Following the memories from my previous life, I made my way to that rundown courtyard.
Downstairs, by the coal pile, a girl in a floral cotton-padded jacket was crouched down.
She was feeding scraps of bread to a stray cat with her chapped, red hands.
She smiled so brightly, with two faint dimples at the corners of her mouth, her eyes shining clearer than the snow swirling all around.
This was Mia Reid, the mute girl for whom Edward was willing to destroy my entire family.
There was a sudden crash.
The old, battered asbestos roof overhead gave a sharp clatter.
Without thinking, I took a step back.
But Mia, crouched on the ground, darted over without hesitation.
She threw herself over a kid stealing coal, covering him with her own body.
The metal sheet crashed onto her back, blood quickly soaking through her jacket.
I stood there, completely stunned.
In my last life, I'd only ever seen her sheltered by Edward, never like this, so fearless and desperate to protect someone else.
I walked over, pulled out my handkerchief, and pressed it against the wound on her back.
She went pale from the pain, but before worrying about herself, she signed to the terrified kid in her arms, Does it hurt
I noticed her wrists were covered in chilblains and old scars, and there was stubborn coal dust embedded under her nails that just wouldn't come off.
Her hands were nothing like Edward's. His were made for holding a gun, hers for surviving the cold and hardship; but somehow, they seemed to belong together.
She gently pushed away the ration tickets I handed her, the ones meant for a hospital visit, quietly refusing my help.
She shook her head, flashed a bright smile, and signed, I'm okay. Thank you.
Just then, the black pager clipped to her waist started buzzing.
It was the newest Motorola model that almost nobody in the compound could afford one.
Her eyes sparkled, and she completely ignored the pain in her back, limping quickly toward the public phone booth at the entrance of the alley.
I followed after her.
I heard her making urgent, wordless cries into the receiver, her cheeks flushed.
Edward's voice came through the phone, low and magnetic.
Where are you Don't wander off. The roads are slick with snow. I'm coming to pick you up.
It was the same voice that had always given me orders, but now it was gentle, almost coaxing, like he was comforting a child.
The Jeep engine roared into the alley.
Edward barely waited for the Jeep to stop before he threw open the door and leapt out.
He didn't even bother with an umbrella, striding right through the slushy snow.
He shrugged off his heavy military coat and wrapped it around Mia.
What happened to you
Didn't I tell you not to come out here picking coal
You really think I can't take care of you
He sounded annoyed, but his touch was so gentle, like she was made of glass.
I was just a few steps away, but Edward didn't even glance at me; all his attention was on Mia.
He carried Mia over and put her in the front seat, leaving me behind, alone in the snow.