Blizzard, First Love and a Wife Who Finally Snaps novel Chapter 1

“Save the one on the left.”

Hearing the man’s unhesitating voice, Isabel Hayes’s face turned deathly pale.

“Mr. Blackwell...” the rescue captain began, trying to gently persuade him. “Did you not hear what I just said? There’s another person on the right. If we save the one on the left, the central slab will collapse onto the person on the right...”

“Will she die?” the man’s voice was cold, devoid of any warmth.

“Well...” The rescue captain, a professional to his core, hesitated. Adrian Blackwell was a man of immense power in Westbridge; he couldn't be offended. “She won’t die, no, but she might lose her right hand...”

“Then save the one on the left,” Adrian stated flatly. “I’ll provide a generous compensation.”

Isabel’s heart shattered into a million pieces.

On the fifteenth of every month, as her mother-in-law Mrs. Blackwell demanded, she came to Holy Trinity Cathedral to pray for her husband and son. The forecast had called for a blizzard, and she hadn't planned on coming.

But Mrs. Blackwell had her bodyguards escort her here. Just as she finished her prayers, the blizzard raged, and the cathedral collapsed, burying her in the rubble.

Coincidentally, Adrian’s old flame, Selena, had just returned to the country and was buried alongside her.

Isabel had called him again and again, and he had rejected her calls every single time. Before her phone died, she received a terse, two-word reply: [In a meeting].

But when Selena Moore called him from beside her, he answered instantly. The moment he heard Selena was trapped, he scrambled a helicopter. His eyes were only for Selena; he didn’t even glance to the right. And when the rescue team proposed that saving the person on the right wouldn't affect the one on the left, he still insisted on saving the left side first.

“Adrian...” Isabel’s eyes, red-rimmed, lifted to meet his. Her fingernails dug into her palms, her body trembling. “Do you have any idea how important my right hand is to me?”

Adrian gave her a single, emotionless look, as if he either didn't recognize her voice or simply didn't care. He addressed only the rescue captain. “If you can’t do it, I’ll do it myself.”

“Mommy, are you awake?” Hearing her son’s voice, Isabel froze for a moment before her near-hysterical emotions slowly began to settle. Wiping away her tears, she saw Oliver Blackwell sitting at the coffee table. He was looking at her, his large eyes full of childish innocence.

Isabel sniffled and immediately got out of bed, went to his side, and hugged him with her one good arm. She had given up all hope for Adrian. With no other family, her son was the only person in the world with whom she shared a blood connection.

She sought comfort from him. “Henry, do you know what happened? Mommy was just in a very dangerous situation. My right hand...”

“Mommy,” Oliver struggled, pushing her away. “Don’t touch me. You made me mess up my drawing.”

Only then did Isabel notice he was drawing a good luck charm. A warmth spread through her heart. “Henry, did you know Mommy was in danger, so you’re drawing a good luck charm to protect me?”

“No,” Oliver said. “It’s for Auntie Selena. She just got back to the country and ran into danger. Our guardian angels must not know her yet, so I have to give her a good luck charm. That way, they’ll protect her too.”