Chapter 2

Everyone froze, and the scene fell into instant silence.

Irwin was shaking with fury, his arms trembling even as he held me.

"Mom, what are you doing now? Mr. Ramirez is here to save Helena's life! Get out of the way!"

But Mom stared daggers at Mr. Ramirez and shrieked, "Who are you? I don't even know you! Why should Helena get in your car? What if you're a human trafficker?"

The second those words left her mouth, we were all stunned. Even Mr. Ramirez looked totally blindsided.

"Rosanna, what are you talking about? It's me, Ronny! I grew up with Tyrone. We just had dinner together last month, don't you remember?"

Dad was also dumbfounded. He rushed forward and grabbed Mom by the arm, his eyes filled with shock and fury.

"Rosanna, have you lost your mind? How could you possibly not know Ronny? He sent gifts when both Helena and Irwin were born. Every holiday, we all had dinner together, and you were there every single time. And now you're saying you don't know him?"

"That's right!" Mom shook off Dad's hand and remained dead set on blocking the car, refusing to budge an inch. "There are plenty of people in this world who look alike, so why should I trust him? What if he's a con man? If anything happens to Helena, can you take responsibility for that?"

Irwin, holding me and watching my breathing grow weaker and weaker, finally broke down completely. He dropped to his knees with a thud in front of Mom, weeping and begging, "Mom, please stop this! Helena's dying!

"Any later and there really won't be any saving her! Mr. Ramirez watched us grow up—he would never hurt us!"

But Mom remained utterly unmoved.

Dad was so furious that he clutched his chest tightly and roared, "Rosanna, how long are you going to keep this up? Helena is our daughter, for crying out loud! And she's dying! Just what on earth are you trying to do?"

"What am I trying to do?" Mom suddenly raised her voice, her tone both aggrieved and venomous. "You should know this is all your fault!"

Dad was instantly stunned. "What does Ronny kindly coming to save Helena have to do with me? What did I even do wrong?"

Under everyone's disbelieving gaze, Mom finally screamed out the truth hysterically.

"Last week was the 20th anniversary of the day we first started making eyes at each other! I gave you two weeks' notice to celebrate it with me, but you completely forgot about it. You didn't even wish me a happy anniversary.

"Tyrone, you've got such a shit memory that you can't even remember a single day that has anything to do with me. Well, now I'm going to show you what happens when you go through life not giving a crap about anything!"

Dad just lost it. "Rosanna, can you be reasonable for once? How many anniversaries do you have to celebrate in a single year? Our wedding anniversary, dating anniversary—you even make us celebrate the anniversary of our first date and the first time we held hands!

"Name one time I didn't take it seriously. Back then, I had just taken over a new project. I was surviving on two hours of sleep a night and was practically running myself into the ground. That's the only reason it slipped my mind!

"But right after, I gave you my debit card to make up for it. So, why do you still have to bring this up now?"

When Mom saw Dad had the audacity to talk back, her anger flared even hotter.

"What gives you the right to yell at me? If you messed up, the right thing to do is to own up to it. Just because I accepted your debit card doesn't mean I forgave you! And you know what else? Back when you married me, you said you loved how romantic I was. Now all of a sudden I'm too much for you?"

Dad knew there was no reasoning with Mom. Seeing me fading in and out of consciousness in Irwin's arms, he was so frantic that he dropped straight to his knees in front of the traffic officers.

"Officers, I promise I'll take the test. But please, can you get my daughter to the hospital first? She drank pesticide by accident and is barely hanging on. If we don't get her there soon, she's not going to make it."

The two traffic officers quickly helped Dad to his feet.

One look at me, barely clinging to life in Irwin's arms, and they hastily briefed the backup officers who'd just freed up to assist. Then, they lifted me into the patrol car.

With sirens blaring every inch of the way, we finally burst through the ER entrance.

I figured once they wheeled me into the trauma bay, I'd be out of the woods. But then, Mom started up again.