Chapter 1 - The Smallest Saviors
The heavy thud of tiny sneakers stopped right beside his ear.
Two five-year-old girls stood there, their eyes wide with terror as they looked at the dying billionaire.
One of them immediately dropped her torn, safety-pinned backpack onto the concrete.
She fell to her knees, grabbed Ethan’s trembling hand, and began to scream at the top of her lungs.
Her piercing voice shattered the apathy of the crowded park, forcing the bustling world to finally stop.
Strangers who had ignored him just seconds ago suddenly rushed forward with cell phones pressed to their ears.
The distant wail of an ambulance siren cut through the haze of Ethan’s fading consciousness.
He felt the little girl squeeze his fingers one last time before everything went completely black.
Eleven days later, Ethan sat upright in a private hospital suite that looked more like a luxury penthouse.
He had survived the massive heart attack, much to the surprise of his top surgeons.
His trusted right-hand man, Daniel Mercer, stood at the foot of the bed with a clipboard.
Ethan demanded that Daniel find the woman who was raising those two brave little girls.
Daniel sighed, warning Ethan that people like that were usually just looking for a massive payout.
Ethan did not care about the money.
He knew he owed his very existence to those tiny, worn-out shoes.
The heavy oak door of the hospital room slowly clicked open.
A young woman in a faded denim jacket walked in, holding the hands of the twin girls.
Ethan opened his mouth to express his gratitude.
But all the breath instantly vanished from his lungs.
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Resting against the woman's collarbone was a small, intricately engraved silver compass.
It was the exact same compass he had given to the only woman he ever loved thirty years ago.
