When my husband’s family was caught in a massive pileup on the highway, he was at the beach with the woman he had loved before me—and this time, instead of begging him to come home, I let him go.
Chapter 1
The last thing I remembered before waking was cold ocean water, my little daughter screaming somewhere beyond my reach, and Ryan’s voice telling me that everything was my fault.
Then I opened my eyes.
Sunlight streamed through the bedroom curtains.
For several terrible seconds, I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed my arms, my shoulders, my face, expecting injuries that weren’t there. My skin was whole. The ocean was gone.
“Mommy?”
A small warm body climbed onto the bed.
Mia.
I stared at my four-year-old daughter until her face blurred through my tears.
“Mommy, why are you crying?”
I pulled her against me.
In the life I remembered, Mia had died because Ryan wanted to punish me for the death of Serena Winter, his first love. Years earlier, I had stopped him from meeting Serena at the beach because his parents and younger sister had been caught in a highway disaster. Ryan came with me to the hospital instead.
That afternoon, Serena went swimming alone.
A sudden current carried her out.
She drowned.
Ryan told me it wasn’t my fault. He held me while I blamed myself. He stayed married to me, raised Mia beside me, and waited.
Then, on our anniversary years later, he finally revealed what he had carried inside all that time.
Hatred.
He blamed me for Serena’s death.
I died knowing the man I had spent years trying to love had never forgiven me.
Now Mia was alive in my arms.
I reached for my phone.
The date stopped my heart.
September 14.
The day of the interstate pileup.
I remembered everything.
Ryan’s father, Richard, his mother, Eleanor, and his eighteen-year-old sister, Sophie, would leave that morning to shop for my birthday. Their Mercedes would become trapped in one of the worst highway collisions our state had seen in decades.
In my previous life, I had stopped Ryan from going to the beach with Serena. He had mobilized his company’s employees as emergency blood donors, and his family survived.
This time, I understood something I hadn’t understood then.
Saving Ryan from his own choices had only postponed the price.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Ryan entered carrying a small velvet jewelry box.
The box was unmistakable.
A month earlier, I had admired a silver-and-diamond necklace at a charity auction. Ryan later bought it. Sophie secretly told me she’d seen the receipt and was certain it was going to be my birthday gift.
I had spent days imagining him fastening it around my neck.
Now Ryan saw me looking.
His expression hardened.
He slipped the box into his jacket.
“I have plans.”
I almost laughed.
The necklace had never been mine.
“Okay.”
He frowned.
Usually, I questioned him. Usually, the mention of unexplained plans led to an argument because I already knew Serena was back in town.
“I won’t be home tonight,” he added. “Don’t call unless somebody is dying.”
My phone rang.
Sophie.
The timing was exact.
I answered.
At first there was only traffic noise and someone crying.
Then Sophie’s voice came through, weak and frightened.
“Lily?”
“Sophie?”
“We crashed. Dad can’t—Mom’s bleeding. I can’t move my legs.”
Every hair on my arms rose.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know. Interstate—”
A violent sound came through the line.
Then nothing.
“Sophie!”
The call ended.
Ryan laughed under his breath.
I slowly turned toward him.
“What?”
“You’re really doing this today?”
“Doing what?”
“Getting my family involved because you don’t want me leaving.”
I stared at him.
He honestly believed Sophie had participated in some elaborate performance for my benefit.
“Your sister just called from the crash.”
“Mia’s standing right there. Don’t make scenes.”
Mia frowned.
“Daddy, Aunt Sophie sounded scared.”
Ryan’s irritation deepened.
“Stay out of this.”
Mia moved closer to me.
In the life I remembered, I had spent almost an hour blocking Ryan from leaving. His parents eventually called him from the ambulance. Only then had he believed me.
Not this time.
I lifted Mia into my arms.
“Go.”
Ryan hesitated.
“What?”
“You heard me. Go meet Serena.”
His face revealed more than he realized.
A flicker of surprise.
Then relief.
“You’re finally acting rational.”
He walked toward the door.
“Ryan.”
He looked back.
“Your parents and Sophie really have been in an accident.”
He rolled his eyes.
“It’ll be all over the news soon.”
“I’m not falling for this.”
“I know.”
That was the difference.
I knew.
After the door closed, I called 911, then City Medical Center.
My family had built Lewis Pharmaceuticals over three generations. Even though I had handed most executive control to Ryan after our marriage, I still knew every hospital director in the region.
“Dr. Crawford,” I said when the hospital administrator answered. “There’s about to be a major trauma surge from Interstate 80. Check your blood reserves now.”
“Lily?”
“Please trust me.”
Within minutes, emergency dispatch confirmed a multi-vehicle collision.
I called the Larson Group’s human resources director.
“Notify every employee who is medically eligible to donate blood. Anyone who volunteers gets an additional twenty percent year-end bonus from my family trust.”
“Yes, Mrs. Larson.”
I dressed, called our nanny, kissed Mia, and left.
Halfway to the hospital, my phone rang.
Derek Cole, Ryan’s vice president.
His tone was almost contemptuous.
“Lily, whatever fight you’re having with Ryan, don’t involve the company.”
I gripped the steering wheel.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ryan said you’re pretending his family was in an accident to keep him from meeting someone.”
“It happened.”
“Come on.”
“Turn on the news.”
Silence.
I heard typing.
Then Derek stopped breathing.
“Oh, God.”
“Now call every employee.”
“I will.”
Another pause.
“Lily, Ryan specifically ordered me not to.”
“His family is bleeding.”
“I understand.”
“Then choose who you work for as a human being.”
I hung up.
At City Medical, ambulances were arriving faster than trauma bays could open.
I found Sophie first.
She was conscious, barely.
Her body was covered in blankets while doctors moved around her.
I saw her bracelet.
A little silver star I had given her for graduation.
“Sophie!”
Her eyes found me.
“Lily?”
“I’m here.”
“Mom?”
“They’re bringing her in.”
“Ryan?”
I couldn’t answer.
A trauma surgeon approached.
“Are you family?”
“Yes.”
“We need blood type and medical history immediately.”
I gave him everything.
He listened, then said, “We’re already running low. This accident involved dozens of vehicles.”
“I have donors coming.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Find more.”
I called Ryan’s aunt Helen, who owned a private surgical clinic.
“Helen, I need your stored blood inventory transferred to City Medical immediately.”
“What happened?”
“Richard, Eleanor, and Sophie were in the interstate pileup.”
Her response stunned me.
“Lily, stop.”
“What?”
“Ryan called. He said you’re trying to manipulate him again.”
My stomach turned cold.
“Helen, I’m standing outside Sophie’s trauma room.”
“Ryan said they’re at home.”
“They’re not.”
“Lily—”
“I will video call you.”
She hung up.
That was when I understood what Ryan had done.
He hadn’t simply abandoned his family.
He had convinced everyone else not to help them.
Then a police officer approached me.
“Mrs. Larson?”
“Yes?”
“We inspected your in-laws’ vehicle.”
His expression made my heart slow.
“The brake line wasn’t damaged in the collision.”
He lowered his voice.
“It was cut.”
