Ashes of Betrayal

On my son’s birthday, my husband had asked his first love to pick our son up from our home.

While I stubbornly refused to let him go, a huge fire broke out in the hallway during our standoff.

I was struck by falling debris, and blood started streaming from my head. However, my son was unharmed as he lay beneath me.

My husband, who was a firefighter, came forward to rescue us. But he handed the only gas mask he had to his first love.

“Miss Leia has a weaker constitution. Dad, please get her out first. Mom, wait for the other firefighters to save you!”

I watched them leave with a faint, bitter smile.

It appeared that they had both forgotten about my severe asthma and the fact that I would die without a gas mask.

…

Through the blaze, I watched helplessly as my husband ran outside with another woman in his arms.

My son, whom I had risked my life to bring into the world, was so attentive toward Leia Scott. He would support her from time to time because he was worried that she might fall.

They never looked back at me.

I was engulfed in profound sadness. I was family, but they abandoned me without a second thought in that life-and-death situation.

Just half an hour ago, Leia had knocked on our door to take my son out for his birthday.

I rejected her offer, but James heard of the commotion while he was doing his homework. He stormed out of his room and knocked me out of his way. He then took her hand and headed toward the door blissfully.

I was deeply hurt, and I tried to stop them.

However, my son bit me on the arm and looked at me with resentment.

“Why can’t I go with Miss Leia?

“If it weren’t for you, Miss Leia would’ve been my mom. How I wish that you were dead!”

He must have hated me so much that he left a bleeding bite wound on my arm.

During the standoff, a fire broke out in the hallway.

We were trapped and waiting anxiously to be rescued.

My son did not even look at me. Instead, he stayed by Leia’s side and comforted her like an adult. “Miss Leia, don’t be scared. You’re important to Dad, so he’ll come to your rescue right away.”

My heart shattered. It had been seven years—this amount of time should have been enough to make even the most stubborn of people develop feelings for someone else.

Yet, he never did; all he had for me was hatred.

On top of that, his reasons for hating me were ridiculous. It was because I would not buy him expensive toys or let him play on his phone without finishing his homework.

The biggest reason was my refusal to allow Leia to be his mother.

Even so, when I noticed the slab that was about to fall, I rushed forward without hesitation to