The bomb strapped to me wasn’t powerful, but its shrapnel still tore into my skin.
Agony burst across my body like a thousand arrows hitting at once.
Ryan lunged-not to protect me, but to shield Hailey.
“Natalie, who told you to grab Hailey by the throat? Are you out of your mind?”
A tiny sliver of metal had grazed Hailey’s cheek-barely a scratch-yet Ryan’s brows knitted in
deep concern.
It was the same look he’d worn weeks ago when I’d cut my finger in the kitchen.
He was just as tense, carefully pressing a bandage onto my skin.
“If I can’t even protect my own wife from getting hurt, then what am I living for? From now on,
let me handle it.”
Now, he gave that same tenderness to her.
I stood there covered in blood, my heart being carved apart piece by piece.
The scene blurred before my eyes, and darkness swallowed me whole.
When I woke again, I was lying in a hospital bed.
“Natalie, do you have any idea that because of your tantrum, Hailey injured her hand in the
blast? That could affect her future as a bomb technician!” Ryan’s voice was sharp, scolding.
I ignored his tirade, scanning the room for my phone.
The countdown had only three hours left.
Panic surged through me. I grabbed Ryan’s arms and shook him.
“There are only three hours left! You can’t just sit here and watch our daughter die!”
He shoved me away, his expression twisting with disgust. He still believed there were four hours remaining-plenty of time for him to handle the bomb.
Chapter 2
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“You want to see her early? Fine. Give Hailey a skin graft from your hand, call it making
amends.”
The moment he said it, I thrust my hands out without hesitation, my voice shaking with
desperate joy.
“Take as much as you want-just save her an hour earlier!”
Ryan frowned at my frantic expression, but said nothing.
To keep the skin fresh, he ordered the doctors not to use anesthesia.
Tears streamed down my face, not from the pain, but because my eyes were locked on the
clock.
Every passing minute felt like an eternity.
When the graft was done, I didn’t even wait for the doctors to dress my wounds.
I clutched Ryan’s sleeve, blood dripping onto his arm.
“Now can we go save her? If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late!”
He pulled back from me with a look of distaste, wiping the blood from his skin as if it were
dirt.
“If we show up early, it’ll prove Hailey’s timing was wrong. How’s she supposed to have a
career after that-let alone win the award?”
“You can’t even wait a little? With a mother who spoils her that much, maybe our daughter’s already suffocated.”
Then he flicked a glance to the doctor. The man stepped toward me, syringe in hand.
“I think you need to calm down.”
“No-!”
I barely had time to struggle before my eyelids crashed shut.
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I didn’t know how long I was out before the deafening sound of an explosion on my phone jolted me awake.
Chapter 2
