Chapter 2

I woke the next morning with Emma's birthday decorations still hanging limply from the ceiling. The apartment was quiet except for the soft patter of tiny feet as Emma got ready for daycare. James hadn't come home last night—again. After his friends left, he'd mumbled something about a "client dinner" and disappeared, leaving me to clean up the mess from the party alone.

As I helped Emma into her favorite purple jacket, I tried to ignore the hollow ache in my chest. "You're going to have so much fun today," I told her, forcing brightness into my voice. "And when you get home, we can play with all your new toys."

She nodded solemnly, her dark eyes—so like her father's—watching me with an awareness that broke my heart. At three, she already knew how to read the tension in my shoulders, the forced smile that never quite reached my eyes.

"Will Daddy be home tonight?" she asked as I zipped up her jacket.

"I don't know, sweetie," I answered honestly. "But I'll be here. I'm always here."

After dropping Emma at Little Sprouts Daycare, I stopped by the grocery store, determined to cook a proper dinner whether James showed up or not. Emma and I would have a nice evening together.

I was chopping vegetables when my phone rang. Susan Miller—the daycare director. My heart stuttered before she even spoke.

"Mrs. Carter?" Her voice was tight with urgency. "It's Emma. She collapsed during outdoor playtime. She's having trouble breathing—the paramedics are taking her to Chicago Children's Hospital right now."

The knife clattered to the floor. "What? What happened? Is she—"

"They think it might be her heart," Susan said, her voice cracking. "She was playing one minute and on the ground the next. She kept asking for you before she lost consciousness."

The world tilted sideways. Emma's heart. My baby. Asking for me while I wasn't there.

"I'm coming right now," I gasped, already grabbing my keys. "Tell her I'm coming!"

I remembered Emma's emergency inhaler—the one the pediatrician had prescribed for her occasional wheezing. It was in her bedroom. I had to get it before rushing to the hospital.

I flew down to the parking garage, hands shaking so badly I could barely start the car. The seven-minute drive home felt like an eternity, my mind racing with terrifying possibilities. Heart attack? In a three-year-old? It had to be something else. It had to be.

When I reached our apartment building, I sprinted through the lobby, ignoring the doorman's greeting. At our door, I fumbled with my key card, swiping it frantically against the electronic lock.

The light flashed red. Access denied.

I tried again. Red. Again. Red.

"No, no, no," I whispered, panic rising in my throat. I pressed my finger against the biometric scanner. Nothing.

The realization hit me like a physical blow. James had remotely deactivated my access. He'd done this before when we fought—his way of reminding me that everything, even my ability to enter my own home, was under his control.

I pounded on the door, knowing no one was inside to hear. "Please," I sobbed, sliding down against the cool wood. "My baby needs me."

With trembling fingers, I called James. One ring. Two. Three. Then, finally, he picked up.

"What?" His voice was clipped, annoyed at the interruption.

"James, it's Emma—she's been taken to the hospital! Something's wrong with her heart. I need to get her inhaler, but the locks—"

In the background, I heard a woman's soft laughter, then the rustle of fabric as James presumably moved away from whoever was with him.

"Rachel." His voice dropped to that condescending tone I'd grown to hate. "This has to stop. These... dramatic performances whenever you want attention."

"What? No! Call Susan at Little Sprouts if you don't believe me! Emma's being rushed to Chicago Children's right now!"

"Right," he said dryly. "Just like last month when you 'fell' and needed me to come home immediately? Or the time before that when you were 'sick'?"

"I never—" But he was already talking over me.

"I'm in the middle of an important meeting. I can't keep doing this. Find someone else to manipulate."

"James, please!" I was screaming now, not caring who heard. "Our daughter could be dying!"

"Goodbye, Rachel."

The line went dead, leaving me alone in the hallway, locked out of my home while my daughter fought for her life without me.