When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed, the scent of antiseptic thick in the air.

Jackson sat nearby, staring at his phone. He wore his slim-framed glasses, his long lashes casting shadows over his perfectly sculpted face.

This was the man I had once fallen for, the man I had abandoned everything for—despite my parents' disapproval, I had chased after him all the way from Los Angeles to this small town.

I had once been the most cherished daughter of a family of scholars, yet now, my own daughter was gone, abandoned and alone.

"Where is Mona? How is she?"

Jackson rubbed his hands...