The storm roared on, snow slowly burying me as each breath burned colder than the last. I wasn’t thinking about myself anymore.
I was fighting for my son.
Then I heard voices above the wind.
Michael hadn’t left.
He was still there—with **Ashley**, his so-called executive assistant.
“Is she dead?” Ashley asked impatiently.
Michael let out a quiet chuckle.
“For fifty million dollars… she better be.”
That was when I understood the truth. This wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t rage.
It was planned.
The hiking trip. The isolated mountain. The massive life insurance policy. Even my pregnancy had been factored in—because the payout would be higher if both I and the baby died.
Ashley shivered. “Let’s go back. I’m freezing.”
And just like that, they walked away, leaving me broken on the ledge as if I were already gone.
For nearly two hours, I lay there between life and death.
The cold sank deeper into my body with every passing minute. Darkness pulled at my vision, tempting me to give in. But every time I started slipping away, I felt a faint movement beneath my hands.
My baby was still alive.
That tiny reminder kept me breathing.
Then, suddenly, a searchlight cut through the blizzard.
The roar of helicopter blades shook the mountain as snow swirled violently around me. I thought rescue teams had finally arrived.
But instead, a black helicopter hovered above the cliff.