Chapter 3

It wasn't until the wail of the ambulance sirens drew near that I finally let go of my fading consciousness and blacked out.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital room.

"You're awake?" Ethan sat by the bedside, a cigarette between his fingers.

I turned my back to him. The wound on my body still throbbed with sharp pain.

Ethan let out a cold sneer. "Was that really necessary? Don't you love acting tough?"

"Back then, you drank yourself into gastric bleeding for me and the company, and you still dragged yourself to work. You barely lost a little blood just now. Why are you acting so fragile?"

Those words felt like ten thousand silver needles piercing straight through the softest spot in my heart.

Back then, I thought love was bigger than heaven and earth. I was willing to do any foolish thing for it.

Now, nothing was left. The stubborn pride of my youth had vanished with it.

Glancing at the wall clock ticking past five, I got out of bed.

It was time for Mia's preschool to let out.

Ethan blocked the doorway. "Stay in bed. I already had Chloe go look after Mia."

The sentence felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

"What did you say?"

Ethan frowned, as if finding my reaction absurdly dramatic. "Can't Chloe handle one kid? That's not what you should be worrying about. You should worry about Mia misbehaving and hurting Chloe."

Right as he finished speaking, Ethan's phone rang.

"Mr. Mitchell, we have an emergency!"

"The Vance family kidnapped both Miss Moore and little Mia!"

The words struck like a thunderclap, leaving my ears ringing.

The Vance family—a name that made everyone in the city tremble with fear.

Chloe had crossed them once before.

Ethan had spent three million and willingly handed over a major project I had spent six months securing just to get Chloe out safely.

Ethan's hand shook as he gripped the phone. "Send everyone over right now and protect Chloe! What do they want this time? Whatever it is, I'll give it!"

"Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Vance said he only wants you to come."

With that, the line went dead.

Without a second of hesitation, Ethan grabbed my wrist with his massive hand and dragged me out.

What normally took an hour's drive from the hospital to the mountain cliffs on the outskirts took Ethan barely thirty minutes with the gas pedal pressed to the floor.

Chloe and Mia were both bound in thick ropes, suspended over the sheer edge of the cliff, their mouths stuffed with cloth.

"Mr. Mitchell, our boss said you have to pick one."

A man in a sharp black suit stepped forward. He held a knife, poised right between the two ropes holding Chloe and Mia.

"Tell Vance that if he lets Chloe go right now, we can talk!"

"The last incident was settled! What the hell does he want with Chloe now?"

"What's with sending an assistant? Tell him to get his ass out here!"

Ethan roared.

The assistant wore an earpiece, calmly repeating the words coming through the line:

"Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Vance says you haven't offended him. He's just been bored lately and wanted to have some fun."

"Pick one. As long as you name one, I guarantee the person you choose will walk away unharmed. As for the one you don't..."

He tapped the blade against the rope. The outcome couldn't have been clearer.

"I pick Chloe! Let Chloe go right now!" Ethan yelled.

The moment Chloe's name left his lips, Mia froze.

She hadn't shed a single tear until that moment. But hearing his choice, tears fell from her eyes like broken pearls, streaming down her cheeks.

She cried as hard and desperately as the day she was born.

"Save Mia, I beg you! I'll die in Chloe's place!"

I fell to my knees with a sickening thud.

My daughter was my absolute bottom line. I had put my life on the line to bring her into this world.

"Mr. Mitchell, your time is up," the assistant reminded him.

"Save Chloe."

Even with me begging on my knees, Ethan didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second when he spoke her name.

The ropes binding Chloe were untied in a few swift motions, but the assistant made no move to cut the rope holding Mia.

In the next second, Chloe lunged forward, snatching the rope suspended over the edge toward Mia.

"Mia!"

Ethan bolted toward the child, but it was already too late.

Without a moment's hesitation, I scrambled to my feet and launched myself toward the edge of the cliff, catching Mia in my arms just as the rope snapped.

I had never felt as useless as I did in that single breath.

Baby, the bottom is going to hurt so much. Mommy will cushion your fall.

The jagged rocks were unforgiving. Every collision brought tearing, blinding agony.

Before the final trace of consciousness faded into black,

the last thing I heard was Ethan's frantic scream tearing through the wind:

"Gia!"