The night before I gave birth, I overheard my husband secretly offer the doctor $500,000 to make sure I died during delivery so he could start a new life with his five-month-pregnant mistress. I pretended to be asleep—but by the next day, his plan had completely backfired.

Do exactly what hospital security and law enforcement instruct when they reach you.

I responded.

Daniel is here.

He thinks I’m asleep.

Laura wrote back.

Understood.

Keep your phone hidden.

Do not confront him.

I turned the screen off.

Then waited.

At five twenty, Daniel woke.

He stretched in the reclining chair near the window.

Then he smiled at me.

“Morning.”

I opened my eyes slowly.

“Morning.”

“How do you feel?”

“Terrible.”

He laughed.

“Almost there.”

Almost dead, I thought.

Instead, I smiled faintly.

“Almost.”

He walked to the bathroom.

I heard the shower.

My heart pounded.

I checked my phone.

One new message from Laura.

Detective will enter with hospital administrator around 6:10.

Act normal.

I looked at the clock.

Forty-eight minutes.

The longest forty-eight minutes of my life.

Daniel came out wearing a white shirt and dark trousers.

He looked like a man preparing for a business meeting.