Chapter 1

I was sitting on the floor at 2 a.m. with both of my sick children crying in my arms when I called my husband for help. A woman answered his phone.

My two-year-old daughter had a fever and wouldn’t stop shivering.

My five-year-old son was throwing up every twenty minutes.

I hadn’t slept in almost two days.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy?” my son whispered.

I didn’t know what to tell him.

Michael had texted me hours earlier saying he had to stay late at work.

So I called him.

Once.

Twice.

Five times.

On the sixth call, someone finally answered.

But it wasn’t my husband.

“Hello?”

A woman’s voice.

I froze.

“Who is this?”

She hesitated.

Then I heard music in the background.

“I think you have the wrong number.”

“No,” I said. “That’s my husband’s phone.”

Silence.

My daughter started crying louder against my chest.

The woman suddenly asked, “Your husband?”

“Yes. Michael. Put him on the phone.”

She didn’t answer.

“Please,” I said. “Our kids are sick. I need him home.”

Then I heard her whisper, “Kids?”

My stomach dropped.

“What do you mean, kids?”

She took a breath.

“Michael told me he didn’t have children.”

I couldn’t speak.

Then I heard my husband’s voice somewhere behind her.

“Jessica, who are you talking to?”

The woman went quiet.

I held the phone tighter.

“Michael?” I shouted.

There was a crash on the other end.

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