My Baby, My Strength, Our Future

My husband, Holden, stood safe on the highway, directing the rescue – but not for me. He was

ybach, leg pinned. The cliff loo

dics past me to Giana, his "most valu

e car slid. My baby barely viable. Holden off

lie. Rage fueled me: how coul

cessory. I flicked his card away, shielded

pte

se

ragging me back to the waking world. I forced my eyes open, instantly assaulted by the

the crushed backseat of the Maybach, the Pacific Coast Highw

passenger seat in front of me. A sharp, blinding agony ripped through my shin,

ing windshield, whipping across my face and mingl

's seat, my vision swimming. The airbags hung like deflate

e, desperate rasp. The dark, cramped space of the crushed car triggered a visceral panic, the sound of the rain morphing into the ro

The harsh, pulsing glare of red and blue police lights sl

wipe the sticky blood from my eyelashes. I peered throu

on the solid asphalt of the highway, was Holden. His custom suit was barely wr

tion. A weak, trembling smile touched the corners of my bloo

draulic rescue shears sprinted past him, heading s

ath. He didn't point toward the crushed back half of the car wher

ing to stone. My gaze followed the line of his e

utching her forehead, letting out soft, delicate so

ain, asking Holden if there were any oth

s a Wall Street venture capitalist to his core; in a crisis, he instinctively protected h

splitting mechanical whine, the heavy metal

me, but a thick, warm mouthful of blood surged up my

ed helplessly as Holden shrugged off his

as pried open. The paramedics reached in, carefully lifting G

d his dry, warm jacket tightly around Gian

hands gripping the wet fabric of his dr

damp hair. He kept his arm wrapped securely around her waist, es

walked away, Holden never once turned his head to lo

f the Maybach shifted. The rear tires slid backward in the thick mu

My heart plummeted into an abyss far deeper and colde

My hands, slick with my own blood, shook violently

vience, of bending over backward to earn his love, all reduc

wn my cheeks, running into my mouth. It tasted lik

e a silent, venomous oath to the dark sky: if I survived this ni

d loss finally drained the last drops of oxygen from my bra

ver need y