Chapter 1 Stop

At twenty-seven years old, Sara made many mistakes, most of them for love. She crawled and dug so deep for love that it became impossible to see an exit, a way to undo the impulsive and wicked deeds she had committed. Did she regret them? Normally, the answer would be a cheerful and confident "No," but on that day, the "Yes" tore her heart apart, much like Rodrigo Montenegro, her beloved and idolized husband, had just done.

Clutching her black purse close to her slender body covered by a red dress, she stepped out of the elevator with brisk strides, the thin heels echoing through her husband's company parking lot. Near her Red Corvette, parked in a privileged spot close to the elevators, she pressed the button to unlock the vehicle and disarm the alarm. They were among the few perks gained from marrying the insensitive Montenegro, something she would exchange without a second thought for a place in his heart.

She got into the car, slamming the door with excessive force, and after tossing her purse onto the seat beside her, fastened her seatbelt and slumped against the seat. She took a deep breath and rubbed her fingers against her eyes, trying to calm herself and dry the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. It was in vain, the only result was smudging her always perfect makeup, staining her face and hands.

She couldn't bear her empty life anymore, her frigid marriage, loving without being loved in return. She didn't want to live like this anymore.

Giving up on controlling the tears and needing to escape from what caused her suffering-the beloved man-she started the car. She sped out onto the rain-soaked streets, rain that had been falling since morning. With her vision blurred by crying, she saw the road as a smeared canvas, the lights and cars all hazy.

"Creep... How could you...?" she mumbled, fiercely pounding her right hand on the steering wheel, feeling her throat sore and her heart shattered.

She felt lost, her emotions out of control. Above all, she felt betrayed and abandoned.

Her phone rang from inside her purse. She knew who it was, and she wouldn't answer under any circumstances.

"Bastard... Who does he think he is...?"

She didn't deserve such disrespect, especially not from the person who made her give up her dreams, to whom she had dedicated every second of her life since meeting him. Rodrigo, the love of her life, had taken possession of her heart, manipulated it, and now-when he was all she had in the world-he had taken him out of her chest and trampled him mercilessly.

The cell phone's ring persisted, infuriating her. The bastard knew how to be persistent when he wanted to be.

Nervously, she gripped the steering wheel with her left hand and used her right hand to open her purse, rummaging through its contents in search of the device. She grabbed the rectangular object and looked at the screen, searching for the name confirming the caller. Tears blurred her vision, leaving her with no choice but to answer. Upon doing so, she immediately recognized the deep voice.

"Sara, the doorman said you left at high speed. What are you planning? To kill yourself?"

"Oh, you'd love that... Then you'd be rid of me..." she mocked furiously, her voice pained and her soul shattered.

With her sight clouded by tears and her senses unsteady, she pressed hard on the accelerator. It hurt so much to love him, to envision a lifetime of happiness by his side in her mind, and realize it would never come true. He would never love and desire her the way he loved and desired the other.

"Don't speak nonsense and don't be reckless. Come back so we can talk."

They always followed the same script. He hurt her with his lack of love and then claimed she was irrational. This time she wouldn't obey him, wouldn't swallow her pride and self-respect to appease him. She would never kneel again, begging for forgiveness and a chance to prove she could be enough.

"Reckless... Nonsense...?" She laughed bitterly, her fingers tightening on the steering wheel, her foot pressing even harder on the accelerator. "I did everything to please you... I abandoned my dreams for the sake of loving you... And look how you thanked me... And I'm the reckless one...?" She screamed with all the strength she had left, her voice piercing through her tears. "You're no good... Loving you is the biggest mistake of my life..."

"Screaming won't solve our problems, it just annoys me, Sara."

She laughed hysterically, taking her other hand off the wheel to rub her eyes and wipe away the tears clouding her vision.

"Everything annoys you," she retorted, tired of being blamed as the problem in their relationship, tired of fighting for that marriage. "Nothing makes you happy... I'm tired of trying... I wish I'd never fallen in love with a self-centered, heartless person..." Feeling the car veer to the side and hearing the loud honk of the vehicle behind hers, she returned her free hand to the wheel, still unable to see anything ahead of her. She had given everything to Rodrigo, and in return, received nothing. "If I could, I'd erase the past few years and wipe you from my heart forever..."

She hadn't even finished unloading all her anger and frustration when, as she drove over a puddle of water, the car skidded. Letting go of the cellphone, Sara tightly gripped the steering wheel and slammed hard on the brakes, which turned out to be a mistake. The car pitched forward, flipped several times, and at high speed, violently collided with a wall, the terrifying crash rising above the noise of the rain and the other cars braking to avoid colliding with the out-of-control vehicle.

Upon impact, she instantly lost consciousness, her head falling forward, blood streaming down her face, her body trapped in the wreckage. She didn't see the cars slowing down and stopping around the accident, she didn't hear the people screaming as they tried to wake her up, nor the sirens. She also didn't hear the voice, always cold and composed, on the other side of the phone, thrown out of the vehicle during the crash, raising its volume and showing, for the first time in ten years, concern for her.

"Sara, what was that noise? What happened? Sara, please respond!"