Chapter 1

My daughter, Nora Moretti, died in the hallway of Greyhaven Medical Center.

She was only four years old. Her little face was burning with fever, her fingers clinging desperately to my shirt, her voice barely a whisper, as fragile as wet paper.

"Mommy, is Daddy here?" she asked.

I didn't answer. Before she died, I called her father, Lucas Moretti, twenty-seven times.

The first call went unanswered.

On the ninth call, his secretary said he was busy.

By the seventeenth call, I was on my knees at the ER billing desk, begging them to treat Nora right away. The nurse leaned in and whispered that all my accounts were frozen, including Nora's medical trust.

On the twenty-seventh call, Lucas finally answered.

Through the phone, I could hear music, glasses clinking, and a woman's sultry laugh at his side.

"Elena Moretti, you'd better have a damn good reason for calling." Lucas's voice was icy, without a trace of warmth.

I held Nora in my arms. Her forehead was burning so hot that it scared me. Her breaths were getting fainter and fainter, barely there.

"Lucas, you need to unfreeze the accounts," I said, trying not to let my voice shake. "Nora has to get into the ER now. Her lung infection is getting worse, and the doctors said if we wait any longer, she might not make it."

There was a brief silence on the other end. Then I heard Sophie Lambert's voice. "Oh, it's about the kid again? She always uses her kid as an excuse."

Lucas didn't bother to shut her up. He asked, "Where are you?"

"Greyhaven Medical Center," I replied.

"I had told you freezing the accounts was a lesson for you." There wasn't a single trace of emotion in his tone. "You went behind my back to dig into Blackhaven's books, and you tried to mess with the Moretti Family's safe. Elena, you crossed the line."

"That's because there's something wrong with the books!" I almost lost control of my voice. "This isn't the time for that. Nora can't hold on much longer if we don't do something."

"Enough," He interrupted me. "Nora was perfectly fine last week. Stop acting to drag me home. Tonight's Sophie's birthday. I'm not leaving because of your drama."

I looked down at my daughter in my arms. She was too weak to cry. She looked up at me with those wet, pleading eyes, as if she was still hoping for an answer that would never come.

"She's your daughter," I said.

Lucas was silent for a moment. For a second, I almost thought he might soften. But he said, "Then let the doctors save her."

"The accounts are frozen," I shouted.

"That's your problem."

I heard Sophie sigh softly by his side and said, "Lucas, don't be mad. She wants you to come back."

However, Lucas's voice grew colder. "Elena, if you keep dragging the kid into your lies, my lawyer will drop the divorce papers on your desk tomorrow."

Lucas hung up on me. I stared at the screen as it went dark, and suddenly, everything around me went silent.

The doctors rushed over, nurses wheeled in the crash cart, and the lights in the hallway were so blinding.

Someone took Nora from my arms. Her tiny hand slipped off my shirt. I tried to follow, but a nurse stopped me at the ER doors. Then, the doors closed.

I stood there in the hallway, with the feverish warmth of Nora's forehead still clinging to my hands.

An hour later, the doctor came out. He took off his mask, unable to meet my eyes. "Mrs. Moretti, I'm sorry."

I didn't cry. It wasn't because I didn't want to. In that moment, I felt like there was nothing left inside me. My voice, tears, and breath all stayed behind that door, and they would never come back.

The nurse pushed the door open. A white sheet covered Nora's tiny body on the gurney. Her little hand was sticking out, and the blue ribbon I tied on her wrist that morning was still there.

She'd insisted on wearing it before we left the house. She said she wanted to show Daddy she could tie a bow by herself when he came home.

I walked over, crouched down by the gurney, and held her tiny hand in my palm. Her hand was already cold.