CHAPTER 3 – Plan B
Ryan stared at Emma, his hands shaking around the envelope.
For the first time in weeks, hope appeared in his eyes.
“You found this doctor… for me?” he whispered.
Emma nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“I was scared, Ryan. I knew something was wrong. You thought leaving would protect me, but losing you without knowing the truth would have destroyed me.”
Ryan broke.
Right there in the middle of the airport, he dropped his bag and pulled Emma into his arms.
“I didn’t want you to watch me die,” he cried.
Emma pressed his hand against her pregnant belly.
“Then fight to live.”
The baby kicked.
Ryan gasped.
For one beautiful second, the whole world disappeared.
But across the terminal, the woman in sunglasses watched them with cold eyes.
Her name was Vanessa.
And Ryan had no idea she had been following him for months.
She wasn’t his lover.
She wasn’t an old friend.
She was the insurance agent who helped him create the five-million-dollar policy.
But she had changed one thing Ryan never noticed.
If Ryan died before the baby was born…
Emma would not receive the money.
Vanessa would.
Ryan had signed the final page without reading the small print.
And now, Emma had ruined everything by giving him hope.
Vanessa walked into the restroom, locked herself in a stall, and made one call.
“They’re leaving the airport together,” she said quietly. “The treatment can’t happen.”
A man’s voice answered, “Then make sure he never reaches the hospital.”
That night, Emma drove Ryan home.
For the first time in days, they laughed. They cried. They planned.
Ryan promised he would attend every appointment.
Emma promised she would never let him suffer alone.
But as their car turned onto the bridge outside the city…
Headlights appeared behind them.
Fast.
Too fast.
Ryan looked in the side mirror.
“Emma…”
“What?”
“Don’t slow down.”
The black SUV slammed into them from behind.
Emma screamed.
Ryan grabbed the wheel just before their car crashed through the bridge railing.
Metal twisted.
Glass exploded.
And as the car hung halfway over the edge…
Emma looked down and saw the river waiting beneath them.
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Then Ryan whispered the words that broke her soul:
“Save the baby… not me.”
