Sadie's POV

I didn’t know when I woke up, just that when I did, all I could hear was the howling wind.

My body ached all over, and I was lying on a freezing metal floor. The biting cold reminded me that I was thousands of feet in the air.

I forced myself to glance outside, only to see pitch black.

At 3,000 meters, even breathing felt like a chore. Just that one glimpse sent me into a full-blown panic. My chest tightened, my vision flickered, hives broke out across my skin, and I couldn’t even feel my legs.

I collapsed onto the floor of the cabin, trembling as I looked around.

There was nothing but a single bottle of water and one parachute.

I checked the time. It was already 9 PM.

Mick should be waking up around now. He must be so scared without me.

But I had no choice.

If I wanted to see my son again, I had to jump.

Hands shaking, I strapped on the parachute and began rehearsing the motion to pull the ripcord over and over, again and again. Yet I couldn’t guarantee I’d even be conscious after jumping. I might pass out the second I leave the aircraft and end up a pile of shattered bones on the ground.

But staying meant death, so jumping gave me a sliver of hope.

And if I didn’t make it, at least I knew my grandmother would take care of Mick.

That thought gave me the courage I needed, and I jumped.

The sheer rush of terror jolted me awake mid-fall, so I managed to pull the chute at just the right time, but everything after that went dark.

When I woke up again, I was surrounded by dense jungle. A group of student hikers had luckily found me. At first, they thought I was some extreme sports enthusiast. Yet I didn’t bother correcting them and just let them help me get back to the city.

The moment sunlight hit my skin, every inch of my body screamed in pain. It felt like my bones had been hammered one by one.

Still, I forced myself toward the hospital.

But the moment I arrived, something felt off.

Everyone looked at me with such pity in their eyes.

I glanced down at myself, torn clothes, bloodstained, and filthy. I looked like a homeless woman. If Mick saw me like this, he’d probably be scared.

As such, I cleaned up in the nearest restroom, just enough not to terrify my own son. Then I hurried to his room, only to find it empty.

My heart skipped a beat.

Maybe they just moved him to a regular room? Maybe he got better?

I quickly dialed his attending physician.

But the silence on the other end of the line made my stomach turn.

Then came his voice, low, hesitant. “Your husband… he didn’t tell you?”

Something in me froze.

“Mick went into cardiac arrest around midnight. He passed away. Your husband said… maybe this was as long as he was meant to live. So he took Mick’s heart and said that the only value your son had left might be to be a match for Jewel,” he explained.

Seeing me stunned, he continued, “I tried calling you, but I couldn’t reach you. And since your husband is listed as Jewel’s legal guardian, and you and your grandmother never officially disclosed your relationship, we had no legal grounds to delay the procedure.”

Each word stabbed me, over and over, every syllable a poisoned blade sinking deep into my chest.

Mick was really gone?

No. No, that couldn’t be. Just yesterday afternoon, he looked at me and told me he loved me. How could he be gone today?

I shoved the door open and ran to the bed, throwing myself onto the sheets, desperate to catch even the faintest trace of his scent.

But there was nothing. Only the cold, sterile smell of disinfectant.

“No. No! I don’t believe this! Where is he?! Where’s my son?! Give me back my child!”

I screamed and screamed, like a woman completely unhinged.

“He’s right here,” a voice said calmly.

I turned and saw Melanie.

She stood there in a white Chanel suit, elegant and polished, like she’d just walked off a runway. In her arms, what looked like a small, decorative box, like an accessory.

“This is his ashes,” she said lightly. “I figured you might want them.”

She then tossed the urn toward me, and I lunged like a rabid animal, tears pouring freely.

But the tears blurred my vision, and I couldn’t see where it landed.

Then I heard the crashing sound of porcelain hitting the floor.

And just like that, in the first light of dawn, Mick’s ashes scattered into the wind.

Sadie's POV

“Aaah!” I completely broke down. My world had shattered, and I was tearing at my own hair like a madwoman.

Behind me, Melanie chuckled cruelly and mockingly.

“Oh, don’t be so devastated,” she said. “I’m already pregnant with Denton’s baby. He hasn’t lost anything.”

She then stepped closer, her heels clicking against the floor like a slow drumbeat on my sanity.

“Trash gets what trash deserves. Just like that little bastard of yours, he ended up exactly how he was meant to. And you? You’ll go out the same way, you crazy woman! Eight hundred people die in London every single night, so your disappearance wouldn't be questionable.”

She paused, grinning wider. “Oh, and your little bastard, he turned out to be just as useless as you. We thought his heart could save Jewel, but the transplant didn’t match. So, I had it tossed out. Like medical waste.”

Her heels clicked again as she turned and walked away, every step echoing in my skull.

“I’m going to kill you!” I screamed. I lunged at her like a wild animal.

But before I could even reach her, a foot slammed into my side and sent me flying.

It was Denton.

“You dare lay a hand on Melanie?” he sneered. “Clearly, I’ve been too soft on you.”

He glanced around the room, and his eyes landed on the ashes spilled on the floor. Then, he smiled.

“You wanted this bastard’s heart so badly, didn’t you?”

Guessing his next move, I shook my head over and over, tears streaming down my face. I could only beg him with my eyes.

Yet he ignored me completely and instructed, “Feed it to the dogs.”

“No! Please, no! I’m begging you, don’t do this!” I dropped to my knees, sobbing, slamming my forehead against the cold tile over and over. Blood poured down my face and mixed with the ashes of my son on the ground.

But it was no use.

Moments later, his men stormed in, grabbed me, and threw me out into the street like trash.

Feeling empty and lost, I wandered like a ghost.

Mick had been my whole world. Without him, I didn’t know who I was or why I was still breathing.

Then, I heard screeching tires, and the next thing I knew, my body soared through the air.

A sickening crack then exploded inside me, and I could feel warm blood gushing from somewhere deep, breaking through barriers like a dam.

Then everything went light. My limbs felt weightless, almost like they weren’t even there.

“Someone call an ambulance! She’s bleeding out!”

They were trying to save me.

But why hadn’t anyone tried to save Mick?

When I woke up in a hospital room, everything was blindingly white, and my body was wrapped in layers of gauze.

A doctor then came in, expression heavy. “Ma’am, I’m sorry. We couldn’t save the baby.”

I smiled faintly, bitterly. “I know. Mick’s gone.”

The doctor hesitated before asking, “Mick? Was that the name you chose for the baby you were carrying?”

His words froze me in place.

I looked up, stunned.

“You were nearly three months along,” he said quietly. “The car accident caused the miscarriage. There weren’t any major fractures, but your body has too many overlapping injuries. We recommend a longer stay for observation.”

Pregnant?

I had been pregnant, and now I wasn’t?

Fate really did have a sick sense of humor.

Then it all came back to me. Three months ago, the night Melanie returned, I had started to suspect their relationship. I drank too much that night, and Denton forced himself on me.

So maybe that child, conceived without love, was never meant to stay.

But Mick… what had he ever done to deserve this?

Three days later, the moment I left the hospital, someone grabbed me and shoved me into the trunk of a car.

After a long, bumpy ride, I was dragged out again.

Then I smelled that familiar jasmine scent, Melanie's perfume.

I tried to run, but two huge men pinned me down.

She smiled sweetly, twirling a glass jar between her fingers.

Inside it floated Mick’s heart.

“I heard you really wanted this?” she said with a smirk. “If you’re willing to play a few games with me, I might just give it back. What do you say?”

Before I could answer, she signaled her men.

They dragged me into a room lined with cameras, flashing lights everywhere.

I wasn’t alone. There were at least a dozen men inside, each of them barely clothed.

Eighteen hours later, I was tossed out like garbage—broken, bleeding, and barely conscious.

Denton yanked me up by my hair and hissed into my ear, “You really are just a whore who’ll sleep with anyone.”

With every ounce of strength left in me, I weakly pushed his hand away and said, "Don't touch me."

But he only scoffed. “Still acting innocent? Let me tell you, I'm gonna sell you to the dirtiest red-light district in the world. For someone like you, that might actually be paradise.”

He then motioned to his men and instructed, “Take her away.”

Suddenly, a deep, unfamiliar voice echoed behind us. “Anyone who touches her dies.”

A tall figure stood in the doorway, blocking the light. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I heard his voice again.

“Come with me.”

I didn’t know who he was.

But in that moment, anyone was better than Denton.