Chapter 1

Just because I refused to give my only hand warmer to my husband's first love's child.

My husband threw me out of the car right after my surgery.

On a highway in minus twenty degrees, I froze until my body went rigid and my wounds tore open.

But my husband's first love sat in the passenger seat, enjoying the heater and posting on social media.

The photo showed her child playing with my life-saving medication, with the caption:

"His godfather still loves him the most."

I desperately pounded on the car window begging for help, but my husband locked the doors and sneered at me through the glass.

"Didn't you say adults need to learn patience?"

"Then stay out here and reflect. When you learn not to argue with children, then you can get back in."

Just as I was losing consciousness, a convoy of luxury cars pulled up in front of me.

Outside the car window, the highway stretched endlessly through white emptiness.

Inside, the heater was blasting, but I still felt cold.

The heart surgery I'd had half a month ago had already drained all my energy.

When I was discharged, the surgeon had warned me repeatedly in front of Ethan that I absolutely could not get cold.

Ethan had listened so carefully then, even gripping the doctor's hand and promising to take good care of me.

But now, I was curled up in a corner of the back seat.

My hand clutched the last hand warmer—my lifeline.

It was my only source of heat in this whole car.

"I want that! I want that warm thing!"

A shrill wail shattered the car's silence.

In the passenger seat, Lauren's spoiled brat Jason was pointing at my hand warmer, kicking and throwing a tantrum.

He was wearing a thick down jacket, and his neck was covered in sweat from overheating.

Lauren turned around, looking at me with a troubled expression.

"Hope, look how much Jason's crying. He's sweating all over. The heater's on full blast, and with all this fussing, he'll catch a cold from going back and forth between hot and cold."

"Can you just let him play with the hand warmer for a bit to calm him down?"

I glanced at the sweat on the child's face, pulled my coat tighter, and shook my head, my face pale.

"No. I just had surgery. My wound still hurts, and I'm cold too."

It was the truth.

The ten-inch incision on my chest was aching from the cold.

Ever since we got in the car, Ethan had adjusted all the vents toward the front to accommodate Lauren and the child.

By comparison, the back seat felt like an icebox. I pressed the hand warmer closer to my chest.

When Jason heard my refusal, he cried even harder.

He even grabbed his toy and hurled it at me viciously.

"No! I want it! Mean lady! Stingy! I'll tell my godfather to kill you!"

The hard plastic corner hit me right on the temple.

"Ah—" I gasped in pain, my body lurching forward.

"Screech—!"

Ethan, who was driving, slammed on the brakes.

The momentum threw me hard against the seat in front.

My barely healed chest wound tore open instantly, the pain nearly making me pass out.

I thought Ethan was worried about me.

But the next second, he turned around.

Those eyes that once looked at me with affection were now filled with nothing but impatience and disgust.

"Hope, do you have any compassion at all?"

"Jason's only five years old. You're the adult here. Why are you arguing with a child? Will it kill you to give him that cheap hand warmer?"

"It's just one hand warmer. How much could it cost? If you're that stingy, I'll buy you a whole box when we get home, okay?"

I clutched my wound in pain, unable to believe this was the man I once loved.

Three years ago, I was the cherished daughter of the Walker family.

For him, I broke ties with my family and lived in a basement apartment, eating instant noodles with him.

Back then, he said, "Hope, I will never let you down in this lifetime."

"Ethan, I'm a patient. I just came out of surgery."

My voice trembled as I pointed to my chest.

"The doctor said I absolutely cannot get cold. Only the front of this car has heat. Are you trying to kill me?"

Ethan let out a cold laugh, his eyes full of mockery.

"Enough. Stop pretending."

"You're not usually this delicate. How come you start having all these issues the moment Lauren gets in the car? Cold, pain, everything."

"You just want me to kick them out, don't you? Hope, how can you be so petty?"

"Lauren's a single mom raising a kid. It's not easy. Can't you be more understanding?"

Lauren quickly grabbed Ethan's sleeve, her voice breaking.

"Ethan, don't blame Hope. It's all my fault."

"I shouldn't have asked to ride with you back home. I definitely shouldn't have brought Jason."

"Jason, stop crying. This lady is delicate. That hand warmer is her lifeline. We don't deserve to use it."

This retreat-to-advance tactic completely ignited Ethan's anger.

He looked at Lauren's aggrieved expression with such heartache, then turned to me with even more vicious eyes.

He yanked off his seatbelt and pointed at the door, shouting at me.

"Hope, either give Jason the hand warmer, or get the hell out of my car right now!"

"There's no room in this car for a cold-blooded person like you!"

I looked at his resolute face, my heart sinking deeper and deeper.

"Ethan, what did you say?"

"I said, get out!"

With that, he unlocked all the doors.