I Lost My Genius Surgeon Wife

the McConnell estate. Justine Ward stood at the very edge of the massive koi pond. The pond was framed

ed just out of reach among the expensive orange and white koi fish. Seven-year-old Leo McConnell had thrown it in th

ace of the water. The cold immediately se

tly onto the grass. The young boy's eyes gleamed with a malicious, excited

her leather boots slipping

hard hands directly into the center of Justine's

ed Justine's precarious balance.

ace of a nearby marble cherub statue. The stone offered no grip. Her nails ma

r down. Justine h

rees. It swallowed her whole, rushing into her ears and nose, instantly numbing her skin. The heavy fabri

ically hurt. She kicked her legs, her boots sinking into the thick, foul-smelling mud at the

he gasped violently, sucking

eyes and matting her hair to her cheeks. Her teeth

with a numb, shaking hand. She l

d over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he let out a loud, triumphant

the estate's ground-floor

people made in a year. As a prominent United States Congressman representing Virginia, Carl's appearance was

oward the edge of the marble. "Carl," she gasped,

He completely ignored Justine's outstretched

embrace. His hands frantically checked Leo's expensive cashmere

vanished. The boy buried his face into Carl

a small finger at Justine, who was still struggling to stay afloat.

to Justine. The look in his eyes was not c

d to heave her body weight up, but the soaked dress was too heavy. Her ar

and, expecting him to rea

at his expensive, handmade Italian leather shoes, e

"You are a grown woman, Justine! Throwing a tantrum and trying to drag a seven-year-ol

r hands stopped g

e absolute ice that injected itself directly into he

o tell him to look at the security cameras. But she looked at Carl. She saw the way his large ha

died in

ross the yard. Justine's body

emptiness. She stopped fighting the water. She let her arms drop, allowing the freezing water to rise over her collarbones. But as the icy darkness threatened to pull her under completely, a new, razor-sharp thought pierced th

e. He took it as an

atened, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low re

rapidly dying in her eyes. She bit down on the inside of her lower lip. S

look at Carl

is side had textured stone steps built into the water. She grabbed the rough stone, ignoring

he pristine lawn. She was barefoot, having lost her boots in the mud. Her thin body

g so pathetic yet so stubbornly silent, sent a s

ide door of the estate. "Go to your room and stay

er her head in apol

or exactly three seconds. Her eyes were completely dead. There was no anger, no sadne

tighten. A strange, unfamiliar sense of being deeply offende

rned her b

avily across the grass. She left a trail of muddy water with every barefoot step. She di

reached up and violently yanked at his perfect silk tie, trying to loosen the sudden restriction aroun

of the estate. She let the heavy door slam shut behind her, locking the freezin