“Why wasn’t this slut the one who got burned?”
“Let the heroine take the child. She’s the only one who deserves her.”
“Slut! Slut! Slut! Die! Die! Die!!”
Ethan kicked me to the ground, laughing cruelly.
He wrapped a hand around my throat and dragged me toward Claire.
“It’s over, Rachel. No one’s going to believe a word you say.”
“Go thank Claire.”
“Once she’s officially honored as a national hero, maybe I’ll let you visit your daughter in the hospital.”
I stared at him, stunned.
“You did all this… just to get Claire promoted?”
“Ethan, that’s your own daughter!!”
He scoffed. “Rachel, you really think I married you because I liked you?”
“Who’d want a cripple with a burnt leg who can’t even walk right? I needed your spot. And thanks to you, Claire got into the fire department.”
His words chilled me to the bone.
The marriage I thought was real had been a scam from day one.
Ethan was never my savior.
He had always been after my title, my credentials, my place.
I looked up at him in horror as he dragged me, step by step, toward Claire.
My hands and knees scraped the ground, leaving a trail of blood.
Claire stood tall, looking pristine in her uniform, makeup flawless.
“Did you think there wouldn’t be a day of reckoning, Senior?” she said with a smirk.
“You enjoyed being the official girlfriend for so long, didn’t you?”
“Five years ago, Ethan called me. You just happened to be in the way.”
I remembered it clearly.
Five years ago, she came to stay with me while I was prepping for the firefighter exams.
She said she wanted to sign up with me, said it would be meaningful if we joined together.
But she used my identity and tried to steal my scores.
I reported her and ended up taking the only female firefighter position.
I fought on the front lines, in blazing fires, just to be worthy of Ethan.
But now, I finally understood—whether in marriage or my career—I had just been a pawn.
Ethan had been paving the road for Claire all along.
“Kneel. Bang your head ten times,” Claire said with a smirk. “Then I might let you see your daughter up close.”
She clung to Ethan’s arm, smug and self-satisfied.
In her arms, my daughter’s face had turned purple. She could barely breathe.
My heart shattered again. But this time, I laughed.
“You really think I don’t have evidence? You’re murderers. Both of you!”
Ethan’s face darkened.
Claire’s expression twisted. Furious, she slapped me hard.
“Stop talking nonsense!” she hissed.
“We saved her, you’re the one who locked her up!”
The ring on her finger sliced my face open.
The crowd exploded again, throwing stones and garbage.
“Claire’s a hero! You’re a monster!”
I was beaten bloody, but I still managed to pull up the video on my phone and held it up.
“Ethan,” I said through clenched teeth, “how long has it been since you actually went home?”
