CHAPTER 1 — The Father Who Chose Wrong
CHAPTER 1 — The Father Who Chose Wrong
Daniel Whitmore stood outside the pediatric ICU for nearly an hour.
He did not knock.
He did not enter.
He simply stared through the glass window at the little boy who had once called him “Daddy” every morning.
Noah lay surrounded by machines.
A breathing tube.
A heart monitor.
Tiny wires covering his fragile body.
And every sound from those machines reminded Daniel of one moment.
The moment he chose.
The moment he told the nurse:
“Take her first.”
He kept replaying it.
Claire’s face.
Her disbelief.
The way she looked at him as if she no longer recognized the man standing in front of her.
“Daniel?”
A voice behind him interrupted his thoughts.
He turned.
It was Vanessa.
The woman he had protected.
The woman whose daughter had received the first room, the first doctor, the first attention.
“She’s asking for you,” Vanessa said softly.
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, he felt nothing.
Not love.
Not guilt.
Only regret.
“My son is in there,” he whispered.
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“Daniel…”
May you like
But he walked away.
For the first time, he walked away from Vanessa.
