Chapter 1: A Second Chance

In the dimly lit room of st Andrews street, the air was thick with desperation. Lexie stood on a rickety stool, gripping a coarse hemp rope that hung from the ceiling beam. Tears streamed down her face, her voice trembling with emotion.

“This house isn’t just four walls,” she choked out. “It’s Amanda’s lifeline.”

Below her, a little girl with wide, tear-filled eyes frantically tugged at the sleeve of a man sprawled on the floor.

“Daddy, wake up! Mommy—she’s going to—” Amanda’s voice cracked, her tiny hands slapping at his face in panic.

Sawyer groaned, his head pounding as he forced his eyes open. The world around him spun, his senses struggling to adjust. Then, as he took in the surroundings—the cracked round table, the damp walls covered in moss, the faint scent of soap lingering in the air—his heart clenched.

It was this place. This moment.

His gaze landed on the three tattooed men standing nearby, their sneering faces illuminated by the dim light. Then, his eyes locked onto Lexie, her fragile frame swaying precariously as she prepared to step off the stool.

His breath caught. Lexie.

His wife. The woman who had died twenty years ago.

A sob racked his chest as he turned to the little girl clutching him. Amanda. His daughter. The child he had lost too soon.

The memories came rushing back like a cruel tide—his gambling debts, the threats from debt collectors, the day Lexie ended her life to protect Amanda’s future. And Amanda… she had followed soon after, her frail body unable to endure the weight of poverty and sickness.

He had spent the next two decades clawing his way out of the abyss. From a desperate, grieving man, he had become the CEO of the world’s largest healthcare corporation, amassing wealth beyond imagination. But no amount of money could bring them back.

Yet, here he was.

Was this real? Had he been given another chance?

The sharp voice of Grayson, the debt collector, snapped him back to the present.

“You’re playing tough?” Grayson scoffed, arms crossed. “Fine. If you hang yourself today, I’ll consider the debt cleared.”

Sawyer’s blood ran cold as Lexie turned, her tear-filled eyes meeting Amanda’s one last time.

“Amanda, listen to your father…”

Then she kicked the stool away.

Sawyer lunged.

“LEXIE!”

His arms wrapped around her, hoisting her up just before the rope could steal her breath. He ripped the noose from her neck, his hands trembling as he cradled her in his arms.

Tears poured down his face as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I won’t let you go. Not again.”

Lexie coughed violently, gasping for air as she clung to him. “The house… we can’t lose it. Amanda needs her surgery…”

Sawyer’s hands clenched into fists. Amanda’s congenital heart disease. The reason Lexie had fought so hard, even in her last moments.

He had been too weak before. Too blind. But not this time.

Sawyer stood, his posture straightening, his gaze locking onto Grayson with a chilling intensity.

“You want the house?” His voice was low, dangerous. “Fine. I’ll sell it to you. Thirty thousand, plus the gambling debts—consider it settled.”

Grayson frowned. “Thirty thousand? This place will be worth ten times that when it’s relocated.”

“Take it or leave it.” Sawyer’s tone was sharp.

The debt collector weighed his options before finally nodding. “Fine. One stroke, and we’re even.”

One of his men pulled out a wad of cash, slamming it onto the table. Sawyer reached for the property deed—only for Lexie to block his path.

“No!” She grabbed his arm, her eyes blazing with fury. “Sawyer, this house is about to be relocated. If you sell it now, Amanda will lose her chance at surgery!”

Sawyer gently held her trembling hands. “Trust me, Lexie. This house won’t be demolished anytime soon. I’ll find another way.”

A sharp slap echoed through the room.

Lexie’s palm stung, her tears falling freely as she glared at him. “You’re lying. You have no plan—just empty promises. Amanda is your daughter! Do you want to watch her die?”

Sawyer swallowed the pain, his face burning from her strike. He deserved it.

He had failed them once.

He wouldn’t fail them again.

Lexie pointed to the rope still hanging from the beam, her voice unyielding.

“If you sign that deed… I will die right here, right now.”

Sawyer looked at her—the woman he had lost, the daughter he had mourned—and made a vow.

This time, he would change everything.