Max Childs arrived back in his hometown under a gray, overcast sky that seemed to mirror the storm brewing in his heart. The flight home had been a blur of anger and anticipation. As he drove through familiar streets, memories of growing up with Erica surfaced—a childhood filled with laughter and shared secrets. The thought of her lying in a hospital bed because of Brad’s brutality filled him with a simmering rage.
He pulled into the hospital parking lot, his mind a battlefield of emotions. Inside, the sterile smell of antiseptic hit him as he approached the nurse’s station. “I’m here for Erica Childs,” he said, his voice steady but edged with urgency.
