Ashes at the Celebration

When I received the news that the kindergarten was on fire, my heart pounded terribly hard. I immediately rushed over.

My daughter, Nina Leif, was inside.

With trembling hands, I called my husband as many times as I could, yet I was unable to reach him.

When I was by the gates of the kindergarten, I was completely baffled.

The entire building was engulfed in flames and thick smoke. The air was hard to breathe in and had a charred smell.

"My child! My child is still inside!" There were parents of the children yelling and wailing outside the gates.

"Nina! Nina!" I waded past through the crowd, searching for Nina in every kid who was rescued out of the kindergarten. My voice trembled. Every step I took felt heavy to me.

At that moment, I saw Samuel Leif. He was the lieutenant of the city's fire department, and also my husband.

I yelled his name in hysterics, shoving people aside to get to him. I grabbed him by his arm. "Honey! Nina! Nina is upstairs in the dance studio!"

Samuel looked at me and frowned in detest. He said impatiently, "Nina isn't in school today."

I suddenly remembered. "No! Honey! She was pretending to be ill today! She said she wanted to learn a dance at school to surprise you! Nina is upstairs! She's in the dance studio!"

I pleaded hard, afraid that he was not going to rescue her. Nina was his daughter. How could he possibly not want to save her?

My pleas became incoherent. The wailings and weepings of the parents around me felt like a knife stabbing into my heart.

I couldn't wait any longer!

Samuel shrugged me off and looked at me coldly. "Enough! Rachel Chapman. You can stop with the act! Nina is only four, stop being a bad influence on her! Can you act like a mother?"

"What do you mean?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"What do I mean? You can stop with the act." Samuel sneered. "You're just trying to stop me from saving Dana's daughter. How cruel can you be?"

I was struck dumb. How could he think I was lying? Why would he think that I want to stop him from saving Dana Sharp's daughter?

Dana was one he truly loved.

He said coldly. "Dana is fragile. If she loses her child, it will destroy her. She won't survive the loss of her child."

He ignored my calls many times just a few moments ago. I thought that the reason I could not reach him was because he was busy putting out the fire at the kindergarten.

Turns out, it was not.

I looked at Samuel in a daze. "Then, what about me? Do you think I will survive this if I lose my daughter?"

Samuel ignored me. He turned and prepared for the rescue. "I asked the principal. Today's Saturday. Only part of the ground floor was open. There is no one upstairs!"

I ran over to him and tugged on his uniform. I snatched his phone and threw it on the ground. "Samuel! Who said that there was no one upstairs? Nina is upstairs! She's your daughter! What can I say to make you believe me?"

He shoved me aside and frowned. "Move out of the way!"

My heart broke into a million pieces. I was so heartbroken I could barely breathe. "Samuel! Why would I joke about our daughter's life?"

I sat on the ground, looking at the flames in despair. All I could think of was Nina.

"Nina! I'll come and save you!" I stood up with difficulty and charged into the fire maniacally.

The smog made me choke. Tears fell from the irritation. My skin burned. Everything was hurting… But I had to do it.

My daughter must be crying and waiting for me! She needed me!

I can't…

"Enough! Stop with the act!" Samuel suddenly appeared and pulled me back. His grip was so strong that it felt like he was going to crush me.