The blinding white of the hospital ceiling. My ears registered the monotonous beep of a machine, my body a dull ache radiating from my chest, but my mind was replaying a lifetime. A lifetime I didn't swerve, didn't fight, a life where I gave everything for her, for Sarah Miller. I saw myself hollowed out, unfulfilled, alone, a footnote in her brilliant biography, my own child a ghost. Then the blinding clarity: this wasn't just a brush with death, it was a preview of the life I was about to lose myself in. My gaze drifted-Sarah, impeccable as always, on her phone, brow furrowed. And next to her, Alex, murmuring, his hand on her arm, a gesture far too familiar. They were a perfect, closed circuit. I was the outsider. A cold certainty settled in my chest, more real than the pain from my injuries: I would not let that life happen. My hands trembled, not from weakness, but from a newfound resolve. I called my boss. "Mike! I heard about the accident. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" "I'm okay, Mark," I said, my voice raspy. "But I'm calling to resign." "Resign? Mike, what are you talking about? You're our top young talent. We were just about to put you on the downtown high-rise project." "I don't want the high-rise," I said, with surprising strength. "I want the sustainable community project. The one in Oak Creek. I know it's a pay cut. I know it's in the middle of nowhere. I'll take it. I need to do it." A weight I hadn't realized I was carrying lifted from my shoulders. It felt incredible. This was my second chance. My life wasn't going to be a footnote in Sarah Miller's biography. It was going to be my own story. Starting now.
The blinding white of the hospital ceiling.
My ears registered the monotonous beep of a machine, my body a dull ache radiating from my chest, but my mind was replaying a lifetime.
A lifetime I didn't swerve, didn't fight, a life where I gave everything for her, for Sarah Miller.
I saw myself hollowed out, unfulfilled, alone, a footnote in her brilliant biography, my own child a ghost.
Then the blinding clarity: this wasn't just a brush with death, it was a preview of the life I was about to lose myself in.
My gaze drifted-Sarah, impeccable as always, on her phone, brow furrowed.
And next to her, Alex, murmuring, his hand on her arm, a gesture far too familiar.
They were a perfect, closed circuit.
I was the outsider.
A cold certainty settled in my chest, more real than the pain from my injuries: I would not let that life happen.
My hands trembled, not from weakness, but from a newfound resolve.
I called my boss.
"Mike! I heard about the accident. Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"I'm okay, Mark," I said, my voice raspy. "But I'm calling to resign."
"Resign? Mike, what are you talking about? You're our top young talent. We were just about to put you on the downtown high-rise project."
"I don't want the high-rise," I said, with surprising strength. "I want the sustainable community project. The one in Oak Creek. I know it's a pay cut. I know it's in the middle of nowhere. I'll take it. I need to do it."
A weight I hadn't realized I was carrying lifted from my shoulders.
It felt incredible.
This was my second chance.
My life wasn't going to be a footnote in Sarah Miller's biography.
It was going to be my own story.
Starting now.
Introduction
04/07/2025
Chapter 1
04/07/2025
Chapter 2
04/07/2025
Chapter 3
04/07/2025
Chapter 4
04/07/2025
Chapter 5
04/07/2025
Chapter 6
04/07/2025
Chapter 7
04/07/2025
Chapter 8
04/07/2025
Chapter 9
04/07/2025
Chapter 10
04/07/2025
Chapter 11
04/07/2025
Chapter 12
04/07/2025
Chapter 13
04/07/2025
Chapter 14
04/07/2025
Chapter 15
04/07/2025
Chapter 16
04/07/2025
Chapter 17
04/07/2025
Chapter 18
04/07/2025
Chapter 19
04/07/2025
Chapter 20
04/07/2025
Chapter 21
04/07/2025
Chapter 22
04/07/2025
Chapter 23
04/07/2025
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