Chapter 1

R&D had reached the final step, and they were critically short of the special refrigerated materials.

The whole company was scrambling to help, but my wife bent the rules for her own reasons. She abandoned a truckload of materials and used the refrigerated truck to haul the bodies of her childhood sweetheart's parents, who had fallen to their deaths.

"They died such a wrongful death. They came here so happy, just for a trip, and they slipped and fell and died. I have to bring them home to rest!"

I tried everything to stop her, told her this was an accident, that there was no way to prevent it.

And the whole company was waiting on this truckload of materials. She had to deliver it on time. She absolutely could not haul it across state lines and leak the company's core secrets.

But she didn't care about any of it. She even used the baby in her belly to threaten me.

"I'll tell you the truth. I'm pregnant. If you stop me, I'll abort the baby and divorce you!"

I froze, my heart dead as ash, and watched her force her way through the checkpoint and drive off.

Later, I didn't want her or the child, and I agreed to the divorce too. But then she was the one who regretted it…

……

The rain came down in sheets.

The black sky hung there like a bottomless pit, pouring without pause, without rest.

Just like my mood, heavy and with nowhere to go.

Everyone in the company was on edge.

R&D had reached the last critical moment. Everything, all the work and research every single person had poured in, hinged on this final step.

I couldn't imagine how furious they would be if they found out what Sharon Rodriguez had done.

Tearing her apart wouldn't be enough.

Not one person in this company would go along with her recklessness.

I prayed with everything I had that Sharon wouldn't actually do this.

Five minutes later, the materials truck she was driving rolled slowly toward me and stopped. She'd handed off the load. It had reached my checkpoint, and from here it was my responsibility.

I rushed over like a madman and yanked the door open.

But when I got it open, there was nothing inside. Just two bodies.

"Where are the materials? Where are they?"

I was frantic.

Sharon, though, was perfectly calm. She even held out the materials form for me to sign.

"I can't get the materials to you right now. They're still back at the last checkpoint. I'll find a driver to bring them over tomorrow."

She glanced at the bodies in the refrigerated truck, her face set like she was ready to face anything.

"Didn't I already tell you? I have to take George James's parents back home."

"They died such a wrongful death. They came here so happy, just for a trip, and they slipped and fell and died. I have to bring them home to rest! Open the checkpoint, quick, and let my truck through."

I honestly doubted I'd heard her right.

"What?"

The entire company was waiting on her materials, and she was throwing away everyone's hard work for these two bodies?

And if this batch of materials didn't arrive today, R&D would very likely fail.

Tens of millions in research costs, all down the drain. There was no way she could ever cover that.

"Are you out of your mind, Sharon? This is serious. All those people are waiting on your materials, and you dumped them at the last checkpoint for two dead bodies?"

"What do you mean, just two dead bodies? They're people too! And they're George's parents. Have you thought about how much pain George is in?"

I hadn't.

And I couldn't care less to.

I knew Sharon and George were close, that they'd grown up together as childhood sweethearts, that they knew each other's families. Their bond ran deep, sure.

But this was the worst possible moment. This was no time for her to let her feelings run the show.

"Sharon, calm down. These people are already dead. They're already just two bodies, so what more can be done? But every living person in this company is waiting on your materials!"

"If the materials don't get there now, R&D is one final, critical step away from finishing. If it fails, do you have any idea what you'll be on the hook for?"

"Sharon, please don't do something rash. Get the bodies out now, send the truck to be decontaminated, and bring the materials over. I can cover for you a few more hours."

I'd made it as serious as I could, so anxious I nearly bit through my own tongue several times.

This whole thing was like a bomb that could go off anytime, anywhere, and every nerve in my head was pulled tight.

I was terrified someone would find out, so I'd deliberately sent the others away, my mind racing through where I could possibly put these two bodies.

But Sharon wasn't grateful in the slightest.

She threw my hand off hard, more resolute than anything.

"I don't care. Worst case, I pay up and go to prison!"

She looked me dead in the eye, the warning in it unmistakable.

"Preston Fisher, don't get in my way. I'm going to do this no matter what."

"Sharon, listen to me…"

"Stop talking! I'll tell you the truth. I'm pregnant. If you stop me, I'll abort the baby and divorce you!"