he sent thousands every month for his daughter’s care, then found her digging through a hotel dumpster for food.

Lauren stared at him, her pale green eyes searching his face. She saw the genuine agony in his eyes, the damp wool of his five-thousand-dollar suit soaking in the basement water, and the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"You... you didn't know?" she gasped, her breathing growing rapid and shallow. Her chest heaved heavily as she struggled to pull air into her compromised lungs.

"My mother lied to me," Alexander said, grabbing her limp, icy hand and pressing it to his cheek. "She told me you left. She told me you took a settlement and wanted nothing to do with me. I’ve been sending money to a trust every month thinking it was going to you!"

Lauren let out a faint, shuddering breath. "She... she came to the hospital... three years ago. She said... you approved it. She showed me a signed paper... saying you were divorcing me because of my condition..."

"It was forged!" Alexander shouted softly, kissing her knuckles over and over. "I never signed anything! I never stopped looking for you until she convinced me you were gone!"

Lauren’s lips parted to speak, but suddenly her eyes rolled back. Her body went rigid, and a harsh, wet gasp tore from her throat. Her head fell back against the thin pillow as her chest gave a sudden, violent spasm.

"Mommy!" Sophia shrieked, clutching Lauren's arm. "Mommy, wake up!"

"Lauren!" Alexander surged forward, placing two fingers against her neck. Her pulse was erratic, fluttering like a dying bird's wings before fading into near-nothingness. Her lips were rapidly turning a faint, terrifying shade of blue.

Fluid in the lungs. End-stage heart failure.

Alexander didn't hesitate. He pulled his phone from his pocket, hit speed dial, and placed it to his ear while scooping Lauren’s fragile frame up into his arms. She felt impossibly light, like a bundle of dry leaves.

"Dr. Vance!" Alexander roared into the phone as he carried Lauren toward the basement door. "Get the cardiac intensive care unit at St. Jude’s ready right now! Clear the trauma bay!"

"Mr. Sterling?" the voice on the other end answered in shock. "What's going on?"

"My wife is in acute congestive heart failure!" Alexander yelled, running up the narrow concrete steps into the pouring rain, holding Lauren against his chest while Sophia scrambled up the steps behind him. "If that team isn't waiting at the emergency bay in ten minutes, I will buy your hospital and fire every doctor in the building!"

He threw open the back door of the Bentley, laying Lauren gently across the leather seats. He scooped up Sophia, set her in the front, locked the doors, and slammed his foot onto the accelerator.

The luxury sedan roared through the red lights of the city, tires screaming against the wet asphalt.

In the rearview mirror, Alexander watched his wife’s face. She was slipping away right before his eyes. Three years of medical neglect, three years of living in a damp moldy basement, three years of starving herself so her daughter could eat... all because of his mother's monstrous greed and control.

"Hang on, Lauren," Alexander begged, tears blurring the road ahead. "Please, just hang on. I just found you. Don't leave me now."

In the passenger seat, little Sophia held her plastic bag of bread, staring at her father with wide, tear-filled eyes.

"Is Mommy going to heaven?" Sophia asked quietly.