A flicker of disgust crossed his face.

He didn't recognize me.

I hadn't cared about my appearance in years. Ten years had passed. I was no longer the professor people admired—the woman with light in her eyes.

Now I wore a worn-out leather jacket that hadn't been washed in days. Years of cold wind had left my face rough and lined.

Standing next to his tailored suit and polished shoes, I probably looked like dirt.

"So you're the only person who's ever made it through Deadman's Pass unharmed?"

A faint, mocking smile touched his lips.

"Do you know what five million dollars can buy? A hundred lives like yours."

I took another drag from my cigarette.

I didn't answer.

The passenger door opened.

Cassidy stepped out. Her eyes swept over me.

Her expression stayed calm, but the superiority in her voice was impossible to miss.

"My husband may sound harsh, but he's right. You work all year and make what? Twenty, thirty thousand? Five million won't just change your life. It'll put you in a completely different league. Are you really going to keep being stubborn?"

I smiled. "My answer hasn't changed."

"Why?"

"I don't have a reason."

Jayden's patience vanished. His gaze turned cold. "I don't believe that. Everyone has a reason. If you're refusing, it's because my offer isn't high enough."

Cassidy's expression darkened. "Don't get greedy. Greedy people end up with nothing. People like you, trapped in poverty, don't you want status? Success? I can give you all of it. Money. Influence. Power.

"Not just for you. For your husband too. Any position in Aster City—name it. Your children can attend the best schools. Study overseas. I'll pay for their wedding, their future, everything."

I let out a quiet laugh. "Wedding? Children?"

I remembered something Maya once told me.

When she was little, she watched a cartoon where grown-up kids got married and left their parents behind.

She'd cried and buried herself in my arms.

"Mom, I'm never getting married. Then when you and Dad get old, I can stay with you forever."

Someone from the crew answered before I could.

"Her husband cheated on her. Her daughter's dead."

Jayden raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. The look he gave me said everything finally made sense.

"Your husband made the right choice. A woman cold enough to let someone die? Any random woman off the street would be more responsible than you.

"And your daughter died too."

He tilted his head.

"Let me guess. Was it your fault?"

My fists clenched.

I stared at him.

He didn't look away.

Instead, his voice grew even sharper. "When your daughter was dying, were you like this too? Cold. Stubborn. Unable to make a decision? Did your hesitation get her killed?"

"Shut up."

The words scraped out through gritted teeth.

The hatred surging through me was almost impossible to contain.

Cassidy immediately stepped in front of him. "Sorry. My husband is emotional."

Her tone was detached. "But you're a parent too. You should understand how desperate we are."

She checked her watch. "The blizzard arrives in thirty minutes. After that, the rescue becomes even more dangerous. Your life will be at risk too.

"Making us beg once or twice might be smart. Keep pushing, and it becomes stupidity.

"I want you on that road. Now."

When I didn't respond, Jayden suddenly pointed at Wanda. "You can keep refusing. But can you really abandon the people you've spent years with?

"If you offend me, her son will never get a kidney."

His gaze swept across the entire crew.

Cold.

Mocking.

Threatening.

"And unless you can guarantee none of them will ever get sick, no hospital in Aster will treat them.

"And no company will hire them."

Wanda collapsed and crawled toward me.

Her face was pale. She'd cried herself dry.

"Ms. Steele, please. Just say yes. Nobody else will take that road. You're the only one who can. Please have mercy on us."

Faye looked grim. "The Boone family can do everything they're threatening. You..."

I pulled away from her and looked at Wanda and Andy.

For that tiny bit of hope, they'd slapped themselves until their faces were swollen.

"I'll find another way for Andy. But I can't take this job. I can't."

Cassidy stormed over and grabbed my collar.

The slap cracked across my face.

The kindness she'd been pretending to have disappeared instantly.

"We asked every rescue team. Every single one said you're the only person who can drive that road. And now you're telling me no? That's a life. A real life. If you stand there and do nothing, you're a murderer!"

I laughed coldly.

Then I grabbed her hair and slapped her back.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

"You're the murderer!"

Jayden had stayed silent when Cassidy hit me.

The moment I touched her, his face darkened.

His bodyguards rushed forward and slammed me into the snow.

A polished shoe pressed against my face.

"You think you're worthy of hitting my wife? You want to do this the hard way?"

He turned to the bodyguards. "Tie up her friends. Every minute she wastes, throw one of them off the cliff."

I fought against them.

A cold smile touched his lips.

"We'll see."

His foot pressed harder.

I could hear my teeth grinding.

"This place is in the middle of nowhere. Later we'll just say you got buried in the blizzard during the rescue.

"Who's going to know the truth?"

Faye and the others were tied up and dragged to the cliff's edge.

The first person they grabbed was Celine.

Her clothes were drenched with sweat despite the cold.

"Save me! I don't want to die! I haven't even seen my son get married yet!"

My eyes burned.

I stared at them, jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

Then I looked at Jayden.

"Pull them back first."

He immediately lifted his foot.

Then he reached down and helped me up.

A gentle smile appeared on his face.

He even smoothed my collar.

Like he wasn't the same man who'd just shoved my face into the snow.

"Glad you've come to your senses. Bring my daughter back safely. If anything happens to her, my wife and I won't survive it."

I burst out laughing. "Really? Losing a child hurts that much?"

His expression tightened.

"I heard the daughter you had with your ex-wife died too. You didn't seem heartbroken. You remarried right after the divorce. You never even visited your dead daughter. Do you ever think about her? Do you miss her? Have you ever cried for her in the middle of the night?"

His lips trembled.

For a split second, pain flashed across his face.

"You..." His voice faltered. "Who are you? How do you know that? Did we know each other?"

I sneered. "You're so important. How would someone like me know someone like you?"

"Jayden." Cassidy cut in sharply. "How would some poor nobody know us? Stop wasting time. Make her go."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me toward my truck.

"Get in."

When I didn't move, she spun toward the bodyguards.

"Throw Celine off."

"Get in the car!" Faye's voice was raw from screaming. "Are you really going to watch Celine die? She's stood by you for ten years!"

Celine's face was deathly pale. Despair filled her eyes. "Why? At least let me understand before I die!"

I closed my eyes.

My body swayed.

Then I whispered, "Because I won't be able to stop myself from strangling that girl with my own hands... and dying on that road.

"I can save anyone.

"Anyone except her."