Chapter 1

When our daughter died in the earthquake, my wife was off visiting her high school sweetheart.

I asked her to attend Chloe's funeral, but she looked at me with disgust, her voice dripping with disdain.

"Can you stop being ridiculous? David and his daughter are injured and need someone to care for them."

She didn't seem to realize that David and Emily only had minor injuries, while my daughter was gone forever.

Later, after we divorced, she finally understood—without me, she was nothing.

"Dad, I'm so cold."

Chloe trembled in my arms, her whole body shaking.

The fierce winter wind howled through the broken walls. I reached out as best I could, trying to share whatever warmth I had left with her.

"Don't worry, Chloe. Daddy's here."

"Mom’s outside. She’ll be here soon to save us."

When the earthquake hit, Chloe and I were home. The sudden collapse trapped us under the rubble, with my legs pinned beneath a slab of concrete, leaving me immobile.

Luckily, my wife, Sarah, was in Bristol, safe from the disaster. I was certain she'd come back to rescue us soon.

"Dad, my leg hurts."

I looked down and saw a dark stain of blood spreading beneath her. I hadn’t noticed it earlier, but Chloe's injuries were far worse than mine.

My heart clenched painfully, and tears began to fall.

"Chloe, hold Daddy's hand. Just hang on a little longer, okay?"

Even though she was in pain, my sweet girl nodded in agreement. She'd always been so well-behaved, even now.

We waited in the freezing rubble for what felt like hours, until I was nearly at the point of collapse. Then, at last, I heard footsteps above us.

It was Sarah. She had finally come with help.

Hope surged in my chest. I shouted with all my remaining strength.

"Sarah, we’re here!"

Chloe heard her too, her tiny voice calling out in excitement.

"Mom! Mom, Chloe’s here!"

"Mom, please come save us!"

I reached out, weakly tapping a pipe beside me, trying to make as much noise as possible. My heart pounded with relief—Chloe was going to be saved.

But to my horror, the footsteps paused only briefly above us, then moved away, fading into the distance.

I froze.

I couldn’t believe that Sarah had mistaken our house, or that she hadn’t heard our desperate cries.

No, there was only one explanation. She was going to the house behind ours—to save David, her high school sweetheart.

It was so cold that my tears froze almost instantly on my cheeks.

I held Chloe tightly, doing my best to keep my voice steady.

"Chloe, hang in there just a little longer. Mom… Mom will come back for us."

In the darkness, Chloe’s quiet sobs broke the silence.

"Dad, you're lying, aren’t you?"

"Mom’s not coming to save us. She’s saving David instead."

No child should ever have to bear such a truth. I pulled her closer, holding her shivering body against mine.

"Dad, did I do something wrong?"

"Why doesn’t Mom ever smile at me? Does she not like me?"

"But why… why doesn’t she love me?"

As she spoke, I felt her little body grow colder and colder.

In that moment, the pain in my legs no longer mattered. All I cared about was keeping my daughter alive.

Unable to move my arms, I began banging my head against the pipe, over and over. Blood streamed down my face, but the only sound in the icy night was the dull thudding of my futile efforts.

Sarah never came back.

Chloe was gone.

The vibrant little girl who once danced around and called me "Daddy" had died, right there, when her mother abandoned us.

When I felt her body go completely cold, my world went dark.

All my hope, all my effort, had been in vain. Sarah had chosen David Campbell over our daughter, and Chloe had paid the price.

I slumped over and blacked out.