David didn't waste another second arguing on the shattered patio threshold.

He lunged forward, sliding his broad hands under Leo's small frame and pulling his son against his heavy winter parka.

The moment David’s warm gloves touched Leo’s jacket, he felt the icy chill radiating straight through the child’s clothes.

"His skin is freezing, Elena," David whispered in genuine horror, his voice cracking as he held his son’s trembling face against his collar.

"Because he was out here in a snowdrift while your wife admired herself in the hallway mirror!" Elena snapped, her hands hovering protectively over Leo’s back.

David turned toward the open patio doorway, his face twisted in raw, unbridled fury.

"Get out of the way, Chloe," David growled, stepping past the jagged frame into the warm kitchen.

Chloe stepped back onto the hardwood floor, smoothing down the front of her expensive white coat, her expression shifting into an annoyed frown.

"David, don't bring all that dirty snow and broken glass onto the imported floorboards," Chloe complained, stepping around a puddle of melting slush. "Just put him in the downstairs powder room to warm up while we call the glazier."

David stopped dead in the center of the kitchen island.

He slowly turned around to look at his wife, his chest heaving beneath his unzipped parka.

"Our four-year-old child was locked in sub-zero snow with no boots, Chloe," David said in a low, terrifyingly calm voice that chilled the heated room. "And you are worried about the floorboards?"

"He was outside for less than three minutes!" Chloe raised her voice defensively, her cheeks flushing with irritation. "You cater to every single whine that comes out of that boy's mouth! If he isn't disciplined now, he will grow up completely spoiled just like his mother!"

Elena stepped through the ruined sliding door into the house, paying no attention to the glass beneath her boots.

She walked straight to the kitchen counter, seized a clean, dry wool throw blanket from the barstool, and wrapped it tightly around Leo’s trembling legs.

"He’s running a severe chill, David," Elena said, her voice steady and clinical as she placed two fingers against Leo’s neck. "His pulse is racing and his capillary refill is delayed. We need an ambulance right now."

Chloe scoffed loudly, throwing her hands up in theatrical exasperation.

"An ambulance? For a five-minute tantrum in the yard? You are making an absolute spectacle of yourself, Elena, just to humiliate me before our anniversary dinner!"

David took his phone from his coat pocket with a shaking hand and dialed emergency dispatch.

"This is David Miller at fourteen Meadowbrook Ridge," he spoke into the receiver, keeping his eyes locked onto Chloe's face. "I need an emergency paramedic unit immediately. My four-year-old son has been exposed to sub-zero temperatures and is exhibiting acute signs of secondary hypothermia."

He lowered the phone, his gaze boring into Chloe like twin daggers of ice.

"The police are already en route with the squad, Chloe," David said. "And you will stand right there until they arrive."