Introduction

Ava Rodriguez clawed for breath, her chest a suffocating vise.

Her six-year-old, Leo, watched, his face pale with terror.

Anaphylactic shock.

Rapidly worsening.

She choked out her husband Mark's name, begging him to call 911.

"Mommy can't breathe!" Leo cried into the phone.

But Mark, busy "networking" with his mistress Chloe, dismissed it casually as a "panic attack."

Minutes later, he called back: the ambulance he'd supposedly called for Ava was now diverted to Chloe, who had only "tripped" and twisted her ankle.

Ava's world fractured.

Leo, a hero in his small heart, raced out for help, only to be hit by a car.

A sickening thud.

She watched, a ghost in her own tragedy, as paramedics covered his small, broken body.

Her son was gone, because Mark chose Chloe.

Devastation.

Horror.

Guilt.

The image of Leo haunted her, a searing brand.

How could a father, a husband, be so monstrously selfish?

A bitter, consuming regret clawed at her soul.

Chloe. Always Chloe.

Then, Ava's eyes snapped open.

She was on her living room floor.

Leo, alive and well, ran in.

It was a terrifying, impossible second chance.

That catastrophic future would not happen.

She would reclaim her life, protect her son, and make them pay.