I stopped to help a woman who was dy//ing on the side of the road and lost my job because I arrived late, but when I returned to collect my things from my desk, my entire life was about to change.

Part 1 — The Morning Everything Fell Apart

“What the hell do you mean you were helping somebody?”

Gavin’s furious voice echoed through the agency, silencing even the interns working near the photocopier.

I stood in front of him with my laptop bag hanging from one shoulder. My tie was crooked, and I was still struggling to breathe normally after rushing inside from the parking lot.

Behind him, the conference room was deserted.

Our prospective clients had already departed.

The presentation I’d spent much of the previous night preparing remained on the large monitor, its polished slides looking painfully out of place in the suddenly empty room.

“I had an emergency,” I said, struggling to catch my breath. “A woman collapsed on the side of the road. She grabbed her chest and went down. I couldn’t just leave her there.”

Gavin stared at me as though my explanation made absolutely no sense.