Chapter 1

At eight months pregnant, I went to Everett Ford's office to deliver some documents.

Feeling the sweltering 115-degree heat in the office, I was about to turn on the air conditioning when his female secretary stopped me.

"I'm on my period and sensitive to cold. You can't turn that on."

Worried that heatstroke might harm the baby in my belly, I turned on the AC without a word.

That evening, when Everett came home, he immediately interrogated me:

"Nina's on her period. Do you have any idea that by turning on that AC, you caused her so much abdominal pain she ended up in the ICU?"

"Everett, she's just having her period. But I'm eight months pregnant. If I get heatstroke, I could miscarry."

Everett pulled his lips into a smile and nodded.

"You're right."

That night, Everett coaxed me to sleep as usual.

But when I woke up, I found myself inside a freezer with glass walls on all sides.

Outside the freezer, Everett had his arm around Nina Sutton's waist as they both smiled at me.

"Afraid of heatstroke? Today I'll make sure you cool off properly!"

My heart sank. I calmly pulled out my phone and took photos of them one by one.

Then I made a call:

"Dad, I don't want any of these people to see tomorrow's sunrise!"