Chapter 1

After my husband's obsession with his first love sent me into a heart attack, our daughter ran to him in tears, begging him to bring me back.

My husband, David Carter, let out a cold snort, jabbed a finger at her, and snapped, "You've turned into your mother—lying and putting on an act."

Our daughter, Emily, dropped to her knees and begged, but David grabbed her by the throat and hissed, "If you ever talk nonsense about Vanessa again, I'll throw you and your mother into a mental hospital."

Sobbing uncontrollably, Emily clutched at Vanessa's sleeve, bowed her head, and cried, "Please! Please ask my dad to bring my mom back."

*****

Hearing Emily's hoarse, trembling voice, something inside me lurched awake.

My dying mind snapped into clarity, and before I understood what was happening, I had slipped out of my own body and drifted to her side.

Vanessa Brooks—David's so-called first love—watched Emily kneel and put on a show of surprise.

She smiled, "Sweetie, why are you kneeling to me? I don't even know where your mom went."

Then she added, in that sugar-coated, passive-aggressive tone she loved, "Your mom is really irresponsible. Throwing a tantrum and running away from home just to get back at your dad? And using you to lie to him, too."

She sighed like she genuinely pitied us, "No wonder your dad's upset. A woman like that doesn't deserve to be your mother."

Her words snapped something inside Emily.

Emily shouted, "Don't talk about my mom like that! She didn't run away!

"She was still in the hospital yesterday, but after you visited her, she just disappeared—"

Before she could finish, David's hand came down with a sharp crack. He slapped her across the face. Not hard enough to knock her down, but hard enough to stun her.

"Try saying that nonsense again," he barked. "Vanessa doesn't even know your mother. Your attitude is getting worse every day."

Emily froze, eyes wide, cheek burning.

And the pain slammed into me so hard I cried—though no one could see the tears.

It was the first time David had ever laid a hand on our daughter.

And he did it to defend another woman.

My sweet Emily, I'm sorry.

I should have protected you.

If I could've held her, I would've told her a thousand times that none of this was her fault.

If I still had a body, I would've shielded her, taken that slap for her.

But all I could do was stand beside her, helpless, watching David's hand pass straight through me before landing on her face.

"Sophia has always been dramatic," he said, his voice cold. "Threatening me with divorce every time she doesn't get her way. Now she's pretending to be dead? She's insane.

"And look what she's turned Emily into. When she gets back, I'm going to make her answer for this."

Vanessa slipped her arm through his and cooed, "She only acts like this because she loves you too much. I get it. But as a mother, she shouldn't behave this way.

"If it were me, I'd raise our daughter properly. I'd never let her dabble in this kind of nonsense."

David let out a long, heavy sigh. "I know. You'd be the best mother in the world."

Vanessa sniffed and turned away, as if trying to hold back tears. "Don't say that. Emily's mom loves you so much. I don't want to hurt her."

The more she acted, the more David melted.

He put his arm around her shoulders, offering her a promise he'd never given me.

"Sophia destroyed this family with her behavior," he said. "This isn't your fault. When she comes back, I'll make sure she understands what she's done.

"She doesn't deserve me, and she doesn't deserve to be Emily's mother."

His words drained the color from Emily's face.

She sobbed, "Dad, you don't want Mom anymore?"

But David didn't even look at her.

He and Vanessa stood there, wrapped up in each other, right in front of our daughter.

Emily pressed a hand against her swollen cheek. Even though she was terrified, she still stood up for me.

"I don't want you to be my mom," she snapped at Vanessa. "My mom is the best mom in the world."

She pushed herself up from the ground, shaking but determined.

This was the same little girl who used to scream at the sight of an earthworm.

Yet in that moment, for my sake, she became a superhero.

Emily rushed toward Vanessa and slammed her tiny fist into her stomach with everything she had.

She cried, "This is all your fault! You're a horrible woman! You're nothing but a lying home-wrecker!

"If you hadn't gone after my dad, my mom wouldn't be missing. It's all because of you!"

She grabbed at Vanessa, crying and screaming, completely losing control.

Her heartbreak cut straight through me.

Ever since Vanessa came back to the country, David's heart had stopped belonging to me or to Emily.

But I swallowed all of it. Every fear, every insecurity, every lonely night—I kept it from Emily.

I wanted her childhood to be bright and peaceful. I wanted her to grow up without knowing what it felt like to be betrayed.

But this little girl—my sweet, thoughtful daughter—had seen everything.

She understood more than I ever wanted her to.

She just didn't know one thing: I was locked in a storage room only one wall away from her.

My body was weak, my limbs numb. I was barely hanging on, one shaky breath at a time, hovering on the edge of death.

And right as I felt myself slipping into despair, I heard her voice—panicked, desperate.

She was running up and down the hallway outside, pleading with anyone she saw.

"Please, I can't find my mom. Please help me look for her.

"My mom is still sick. I have to take her to the doctor."

The thought of her tiny body dragging itself around the hospital for me and the fear she must have felt waking up and finding me gone, my scalp tingled, and my heart twisted so hard I couldn't breathe.

Not long before that day, David and I had a terrible fight.

Emily had been sick, burning with fever, and he still insisted on going to Vanessa. I lost control for the first time in years.

He stormed out and didn't return, choosing to stay with her overnight.

While he was gone, Vanessa sent me photos—her and David together, smiling, touching. It was the kind of proof I never wanted to see.

I didn't want to believe he was cheating.

But my rage and heartbreak triggered a heart attack.

But Emily noticed something was wrong in time. She pushed herself as hard as she could to get the neighbors' attention, and they rushed me to the hospital.

The doctors saved my life, but I fell into a coma.