Burn Our Relationship to a Crisp

"Ruby, you're looking for Josh, right?" Louis asked. "This address is actually Mrs. Scott's place. I asked him about it, and he said she knows about the fire hazards, so there's no need to worry.

"Let me guess. You two had a fight, so you called in a false alarm, right? Look, Ruby. I'm not trying to lecture you, but sometimes, guys just need space.

"Don't be too controlling. Even if Josh did something wrong, wishing anything bad on Mrs. Scott isn't right—"

I took a deep breath and interrupted his endless rant, "I don't care where Joshua is right now! I need the rest of your team here immediately to put out the fire! Margaret's life is at risk, Louis! This isn't a joke!"

I'd always been nice to these people because of Joshua and had never raised my voice at them.

Louis was shocked by my outburst and started to panic. "Come on, Ruby. You're just calling to find Josh, aren't you?"

"I don't give a damn about Joshua right now! Get over here fast, or Margaret won't make it!"

I heard him rushing to get his team together and finally let out a sigh of relief.

After hanging up, I realized my back was drenched in sweat. I never thought Joshua could be this cold.

His teammates probably knew the address was Margaret's, so they must've reached out to him. But Joshua just told them to stand down without even looking into it.

Did he seriously not care if something happened to Margaret? She was the one who raised him on her own.

Joshua's father, Bernard Scott, was a firefighter, too. He died in his early 30s in a big fire.

Margaret was devastated, but somehow, she found the strength to push through. She opened a small shop and worked day and night to raise Joshua.

Joshua once told me that Margaret was the most important person in the world to him. We weren't dating yet at the time, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was a bit of a "mama's boy".

But once I got to know Margaret, I realized she was the kind of woman everyone would adore. She treated me like her own daughter and never stuck her nose in Joshua's and my business.

Even though Joshua and I had been married for five years and didn't have kids, she never pressured us. Instead, she always told me to relax and let things happen.

Whenever Joshua upset me, Margaret would give him a lecture for me. She cared about me a lot, and of course, I cared about her just as much.

Before things went south between Joshua and me, he used to hold me and say, "Rue, having you and my mom in my life is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

I just couldn't understand how his first love, Sophie, had such a hold on him that he'd ditch his family and even put Margaret's life at risk.

I was still trying to make sense of it when Mrs. Zeller suddenly yelled, "Hey! Look! She's coming out! What's she doing out there?"

I immediately looked up, and what I saw nearly made my heart stop. Margaret must've gotten overwhelmed by the smoke and climbed over the balcony.

Luckily, there was a narrow ledge outside, which was about four inches wide. Somehow, she managed to stand on it, but being 17 stories up, one wrong step could send her falling to her death.

My hands were soaked in sweat.

Suddenly, I got a message on my phone. I checked it, and to my surprise, it was from Margaret.

"It's been forever, Rue, and I still haven't heard any fire trucks. I don't think I can hang on much longer. The pain from the burns is unbearable. I can't even imagine what Bernard went through.

"You've been visiting me all this time, but that useless son of mine, Joshua, barely even stops by. I knew something was going on between you two.

"I actually looked into it. His first love returned, right? You never really talk to me about your problems, sweetheart. If I'd known earlier, I would've taken care of that jerk for you. I felt so bad for you, Rue.

"The fire truck still hasn't arrived, and I'm pretty sure Joshua's behind it. I never thought I'd spend my whole life struggling to survive, only to end up dying because of the son I raised for over 30 years.

"I've saved up some money for you in the bank. The PIN is your birthday. I'm all for you getting a divorce from him. When I'm gone, just bury me next to Bernard.

"Don't bother inviting Joshua to the funeral. I don't want him anywhere near it. Our bond just wasn't meant to last in this life, Rue. It'd be great to see you again if there's life after this."

My eyes went wide as I watched that frail figure leap from the 17th floor.

"Margaret!" I screamed in pain.

At the same time, I could hear the familiar wail of fire sirens.