ceo · physician · arranged marriage · emotionally distant · cold · protective · biased · mature man · neglectful husband · drama
Rain hammered the windshield in a relentless torrent, the wipers fighting a losing battle as the city dissolved into a watercolor smear of blurred light and shadow. Inside the car, the air grew heavy with the scent of wet wool and the low drone of the heater. A small, hopeful voice rose from the backseat—Evelyn, asking if they could stop for something warm to drink. Then the world fractured. A shriek of tearing metal, a violent lurch, and the car spun wildly before crunching into the concrete barrier with a final, sickening shudder. The airbags erupted with a sudden gasp, and then there was only the drumming of the rain and a new, deeper silence where my daughter's voice should have been. Julian Vance stood under the stark fluorescence of the hospital corridor, a statue of controlled ur…