Too Late, Hubby: You're Dead To Me

A semi-truck came barreling down the highway and slammed straight into Sarah Huntley. The brutal impact knocked everything around her into darkness.

Pain ripped through her entire body. Gasoline filled the car with a sharp, sickening smell, and she soon caught sight of flames nearby. The vehicle could explode at any second.

Sarah struggled to open the door, but the crash had crushed it into the frame. She pushed it again and again, yet it refused to move.

Her hands shook as she fumbled for her phone and called her husband, Shawn Harrison.

The phone kept ringing until his cold voice finally came through. "What do you want now?"

"Shawn, I need help. I was driving to the hospital to see my mother when a truck crashed into me."

Shawn cut her off before she could say anything else, "Sarah, haven't you caused enough problems already?"

Soft ballroom music played in the background as he went on. "You've been arguing with me ever since Lindsay planned this celebration. Now you're even telling me you got into a car accident? If you don't want to come, just say so."

"I'm telling you the truth, Shawn. I..."

"Shawn." A woman's voice sounded over the phone. "Don't be so hard on Sarah. It's only a small celebration. If she's busy, she doesn't need to come."

"Okay." Shawn's tone immediately softened. "Your grandfather's here. Let's go say hello to him first."

The call ended right after that.

Fire climbed higher around the car, and waves of heat pressed in on Sarah. The pain in her leg grew so intense that she nearly passed out.

Hopelessness settled over her.

She screamed for help until her throat hurt and her mind started slipping away.

Just as Sarah thought she was going to die, someone forced the damaged door open. A tall figure bent down and reached into the car.

"Shawn..." Sarah murmured. She only managed to catch a blurry glimpse of the person who rescued her before everything went black.

By the time Sarah came to again, she was lying in a hospital bed.

Every part of her body hurt, and she did not even have enough strength to open her eyes. Even so, she could hear two nurses talking close by.

"No one even knows what happened to Mrs. Harrison. She came in covered in injuries, but Mr. Harrison still went to celebrate another woman's success."

"I heard he spent a fortune on Ms. Wright's next production last night. He even gave her a diamond necklace that used to belong to Estoria's royal family. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she was the one married to him."

"What was the point of marrying a rich man if he didn't even love you? She got hurt this badly, and he still couldn't be bothered to show up. That's just sad."

Sarah waited until the nurses had left before she finally opened her eyes. Tears ran quietly down her cheeks.

She had first met Shawn in Jovaria.

Sarah had gone to a friend's birthday party when a sudden case of gastroenteritis left her doubled over in pain and covered in cold sweat. Shawn had been the one who drove her to the hospital.

After that night, Sarah exchanged contact information with him because she wanted the chance to thank him properly.

They had only known each other for three days before they started dating.

Her father had been completely against the relationship. Shawn was five years older than Sarah, and once they married, he would take her to Tolent-a place she had never lived, far from everyone and everything she knew. Her father worried that Sarah would only end up suffering if she chose to follow him there.

None of his warnings changed Sarah's mind. She had already decided that Shawn was the man she wanted to marry.

Shawn promised Sarah's father that he would take care of her for the rest of his life. To prove how serious he was, he even transferred thirty percent of his company to her without asking her for anything in return.

They got married after Sarah graduated, and she followed him back to Tolent.

The two of them bought their own house in Laurel Bay. Sarah never had to deal with the kind of difficult mother-in-law she had always heard people complain about. Shawn continued to spoil her just as much as he had while they were dating. Whenever his family pressured them about having children, he stood up for her. He also supported her decision to build her own business and never hesitated to give her all the support she needed.

For a long time, Sarah truly believed their life would stay that way. Everything began to change after Shawn's car accident. Not long afterward, everyone learned that Lindsay Wright-the woman that was caught in the accident with Shawn-was actually the Wright family's long-lost granddaughter.

Years ago, enemies of the Wright family had kidnapped Renee Wright, Lindsay's mother, and Renee had later vanished without a trace. Her parents spent years searching and eventually found Lindsay, but by then, Renee had already passed away. Unable to get their daughter back, the old couple gave Lindsay all the love they had never gotten the chance to give Renee.

Shawn's mother, Paula Harrison, had once been Renee's closest friend. Lindsay had also saved Shawn's life during the accident, which only made Paula grow even more attached to her.

After that, Shawn only appeared to spend more time at work and attend more social events. Other than that, Sarah hadn't noticed anything particularly strange.

Three months ago, Sarah's father, who worked as a college professor, had been falsely accused of academic fraud and having sexually assaulted a student. He took his own life before he had the chance to prove his innocence. The news devastated Sarah's mother so badly that she fell into a coma and never woke up.

As the pressure from the public and the Harrison family continued to grow, Shawn began acting differently.

He still treated Sarah as though he loved her and made sure she had everything she needed, but something about him no longer felt right.

She kept finding traces of another woman's perfume on his clothes and lipsticks on the floor of his car. He had also stopped touching her completely. Those signs had already given her the answer.

Sarah should have realized it much sooner. Shawn hadn't loved her for a long time.

In his eyes, whether she lived or died wasn't nearly as important as Lindsay's celebration.

After seven years together, Sarah knew their marriage had already come to an end.

"Oh, you're awake." A doctor walked into the room and pulled Sarah out of her thoughts.

Sarah quickly wiped the tears from her face. The sadness in her eyes had faded, leaving only emptiness behind.

Once the doctor finished examining her, his expression turned serious. "Mrs. Harrison, you were hurt pretty badly, and you've also got a mild concussion. We need to keep you here for observation. You should call a family member or a friend and ask them to stay with you."

A family member?

A bitter ache filled Sarah's chest. Her own family had already been torn apart, and Lindsay was the only person Shawn seemed to care about anymore. He probably wouldn't even care if his own wife lived or died.

Sarah was reaching for her phone to call one of her close friends when the door suddenly opened again.

A caregiver stepped into the room. "Ms. Huntley, I've been assigned to take care of you."

Sarah paused and looked at the caregiver, completely confused.

After giving a few final instructions, the doctor left the room.

Sarah was alone with the caregiver now.

She looked at the woman and asked weakly, "Who asked you to come take care of me?"

The caregiver shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know. The home care agency sent me here. Whoever hired me just said to make sure you're taken care of. They didn't give me a name."

Sarah frowned as she immediately thought of the stranger who had pulled her from the wreck.

No one else had known how bad her situation was.

Ever since Sarah moved to Tolent, Shawn had always been the only one who would do anything for her. So who could her mysterious savior be?

The more she thought about it, the worse her headache became, so Sarah decided to leave the questions alone for now. Once she had recovered, she would find the person who saved her and thank him herself.

A week later, Sarah was finally cleared to leave the hospital.

As she stepped out of her room, two familiar figures caught her attention at the other end of the hallway.

She could recognize Shawn from behind without even trying.

He stayed close to Lindsay as he helped her walk, carefully supporting her along the way. Every now and then, he leaned toward her and spoke quietly into her ear. Anyone looking at them could see how close they were.