Chapter 1

Leon's POV

I returned to stand outside the ER doors and clasped my hands tightly together.

Even the toughest man crumbled when consumed by terror. In that moment, all I could do was pray and beg the heavens to spare my son, Noel Russell.

As for my wife, Allison Strong, I didn't care about her anymore.

Noel was still so young. He could barely speak in full sentences, and I hadn't had the chance to take him out and see the world.

Overwhelmed with guilt, I slapped myself hard across the face, over and over.

Why had I gotten drowsy? Why had I been so careless? Why hadn't I checked the rearview mirror?

The crushing exhaustion from work had long been replaced by overwhelming fear. Why did fate have to be so cruel and force me to nearly kill my son?

When the lights above the ER clicked off, the doctor stepped out, his scrubs stained with blood.

"The boy has multiple fractures, and a broken rib punctured his heart. After the surgery, he's going straight to the ICU for observation. You should prepare yourself for the worst."

My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor, my body slamming hard against the wall.

…

When I woke up, Allison was sitting by my bed. She looked worried, and the moment she saw me open my eyes, she quickly poured me a glass of water.

Still, she didn't say a word.

I was too exhausted to care or push for answers. Honestly, it didn't even matter anymore.

We used to fantasize about the day she would finally get her voice back, dreaming about how happy our little family of three would be. But now, I knew she just didn't want to talk to us.

My heart was dead and still as I said, "Let's get a divorce, Allison. You were right three years ago. You're a burden, and I despise you."

Allison froze. Her mouth fell open, but no sound came out. All she could do was frantically shake her hand and type out a message on her phone.

"I'm devastated about what happened to Noel too. We need to get through this together."

Tears welled up in my eyes at the mention of Noel. How was I supposed to trust her and convince myself that the voice I had heard was just a hallucination?

While I was losing my mind with fear over losing Noel, she had walked away, navigated through the crowd, and perfectly called out the name of the man she had never truly gotten over—her first love, Clarence Welch.

Even now, how much longer was she going to lie to me?

I refused to talk to her for another second and walked out of the room to stand before the ICU glass windows, looking at Noel.

"This is all my fault," I said. "Give me one more chance, Noel. I'll take you away from here. We don't need your mommy anymore."