Chapter 1

My life felt like a dream, a perfect fairytale I never thought possible for a girl like me, Sarah, from a small New England town.

Marrying Ethan, a charismatic and incredibly wealthy tech CEO from San Francisco, had whisked me away from my modest bakery roots.

He was everything, my loving husband, my rock, especially after losing my parents.

My mother died years ago, a routine procedure gone wrong, handled by an intern named Chloe.

My father, heartbroken and trying to sue for malpractice, was financially ruined, a stress that led to his fatal heart attack. Ethan had been my savior through it all, or so I believed.

Now, eight months pregnant with our child, a new terror struck.

One moment I was fine, discussing nursery colors with Ethan, the next, a searing pain ripped through me.

Doctors at the local hospital looked grave, mentioning pre-eclampsia, a placental abruption.

Things were happening too fast, the world blurring.

Ethan was by my side, his face a mask of anguish, but also a strange, steely resolve.

"I'm bringing in someone," he'd said, his voice tight, "the best."

Through the haze of pain and fear, I registered a new figure in the operating room, a woman with cool, assessing eyes.

Ethan introduced her, "This is Dr. Chloe Rinsen, she's going to save you, Sarah."

Chloe, the name echoed, a distant, unpleasant memory I couldn't quite grasp.

The same Chloe who was an intern when my mother died.

Ethan had told me her license was reinstated after years of fighting, that she was a brilliant researcher now.

He said he pulled strings, called in favors, all for me, for our baby.

I clung to that, to him.

The surgery was a blur, a frantic rush.

When I woke, the sharp pain was gone, replaced by a dull ache and an overwhelming emptiness.

Ethan was there, holding my hand, his eyes red.

"You're safe, my love," he whispered, "Chloe saved you, it was a miracle."

Then his voice broke, "But the baby... our baby didn't make it. Chloe did everything she could."

Grief, raw and absolute, consumed me. Our child, gone.

Chloe was hailed as a hero, the media lapped up the story: disgraced doctor makes a miraculous comeback, saving the wife of a tech mogul. Her career was reborn from the ashes of my loss.

Ethan arranged a small, private memorial. He held me as I wept, his grief seemingly mirroring my own.

He told me we would get through this, that Chloe' s intervention was a sign we were meant to overcome.

He even suggested Chloe might be able to help us conceive again when I was stronger.

The thought was a distant comfort, a tiny pinprick of light in an ocean of darkness.

I trusted him, I loved him, he was my fairytale prince.