CHAPTER 1: The Night She Lost Everything
Snow drifted silently across the apartment balcony as Emily wrapped both arms around her swollen belly, trying to calm the tiny kicks inside her.
Eight months pregnant.
Alone.
Terrified.
Just hours earlier, she had decorated the nursery, believing her husband Ryan would finally come home early to celebrate their baby's upcoming arrival.
Instead, the front door slammed open.
Ryan staggered inside, smelling of expensive perfume that definitely wasn't hers.
"You've been calling me all night?" he snapped.
Emily forced a smile despite the tears in her eyes.
"I was worried... the baby hasn't been moving much. I thought maybe we should go to the hospital."
Ryan didn't even look at her stomach.
"You always have another excuse to control me."
His cold voice echoed through the apartment.
Emily froze.
This wasn't the man she had married.
Not the man who once promised to protect her forever.
"I just need you tonight," she whispered.
Ryan laughed.
"You need me? All you've done is ruin my life."
Those words cut deeper than any knife.
Emily stared at him in disbelief.
"What... did you just say?"
Ryan stepped closer, his face full of anger.
"I never wanted this baby."
The room went silent.
Emily felt as if the ground disappeared beneath her feet.
"You told me you dreamed of being a father."
"I lied."
One word.
One devastating word.
Then he grabbed her suitcase from the bedroom.
He threw clothes inside without folding anything.
Baby clothes.
Ultrasound photos.
Their wedding album.
Everything landed in a pile.
"What are you doing?"
"You heard me."
Ryan dragged the suitcase toward the front door.
"You need to leave."
Emily gasped.
"It's below freezing outside!"
"Not my problem."
"I'm carrying your child!"
Ryan opened the apartment door anyway.
"I said... get out."
Emily burst into tears.
She reached for his arm.
"Please... at least let me stay until morning."
Ryan shoved her hand away.
"You should've thought about that before becoming my burden."
Then...
He pushed her outside.
Barefoot.
Pregnant.
Into the freezing winter night.
The apartment door slammed shut behind her.
Emily collapsed against the hallway wall, shaking violently.
She cried until she could barely breathe.
Then...
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
With trembling fingers, she answered.
A calm elderly voice spoke only one sentence.
May you like
"Miss Emily... we've been searching for you for twenty-six years."
Her heart stopped.
