"It hurts..." Emma Stevens was lifted up onto a stretcher. Falling debris had injured her back, the tips of her hair had been singed, and angry blisters covered the back of her hand. Just ten minutes before, she had charged into the blazing fire and rescued a pregnant woman from the brink of death. After getting the pregnant woman into a firefighter's hands, she had collapsed a mere three steps away from the exit. Lying on the stretcher now, she pulled out her phone with what little strength remained and dialed a number. The screen was cracked like a spiderweb, and her trembling hand brought it to her ear. The phone continued to ring, yet nobody picked up. "It hurts... Austin... please save me..." Emma murmured. At that moment, a black Porsche Cayenne came speeding toward the scene and slammed on its brakes near the edge of the fire. The vehicle's door swung open. Amid the bustling crowd, she caught sight of a tall, commanding man making his way toward her. The man was Austin Edwards, her husband. Dressed in a custom-tailored black suit, he had a sharply defined, chilly face and an air about him that discouraged anyone from approaching. He was normally so distant and impossible to approach, but now he had his brows drawn tightly together. Never before had she seen such deep worry on his face. Emma's pain had been unbearable and her nerves strained to the limit. Yet seeing him immediately relieved much of her tension. He had finally come. Surely, his concern for her had sent him rushing here directly from his office. A medic approached her just then. "Ma'am, have you managed to reach your family?" "Yes. My husband is here..." Emma intended to continue, only for the rest of her words to stick in her throat. Austin, however, was not coming toward her. Instead, he was striding in another direction entirely. Someone was gently helping a woman away from the crowd. The woman's face had gone pale, and she swayed on her feet. Judging by her belly, she was around six months pregnant. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as soon as she spotted Austin. "Austin... you've finally come. I was terrified something might happen to the baby..." With just a few hurried steps, Austin reached the woman and gathered her into his embrace. "There's no need to be scared, Sadie. I'm here now. How do you feel?" His low voice sounded tender, in a way Emma had never heard him speak to her before. To Emma, it felt as though the entire world had gone quiet. She seemed incapable of hearing anything at all. The only thing she could concentrate on was the sight of the pair embracing each other. Austin kept the pregnant woman in his arms, comforting her, without casting so much as a single momentary glance in his wife's direction. That same pregnant woman was the one Emma had put her own life at risk to rescue from the flames moments ago. "Austin, it hurts so bad," Sadie Watson whimpered sweetly, nestling against him. Austin draped his suit jacket over her shoulders. His voice was filled with unmistakably doting affection when he reassured her. "There, there. I'm here now." A cold sensation spread through Emma as she remained on the stretcher. The terrible pain in her back grew more intense by the second. Her clothing clung to the skin that had been burned, making every breath she took agonizing. Sweat had formed on the visibly worried medic's forehead. "Hold on, ma'am. There are too many victims. Another ambulance will be here any moment." "Austin... why..." Emma murmured. The woman for whom she had nearly sacrificed her life turned out to be her own husband's mistress. Just at that moment, an approaching ambulance siren became audible. "Quick, get her inside!" the medic called out. As Emma was being wheeled into the ambulance, her final glimpse outside was of Austin carrying Sadie away in his arms. He had apparently failed to hear her cry out for him. Then again, perhaps he heard her and deliberately paid no attention. The ambulance doors swung shut. Once inside, the medic gently took hold of her freezing hand. "Stay with us, ma'am! We'll reach the hospital soon!" Emma was so devastated that she longed to weep, yet her eyes remained painfully dry. She couldn't shed even one tear. As soon as they reached the hospital, she abruptly found herself struggling to breathe. The doctor's face grew tense. "Get the operating room ready. Right now!" he shouted. "We can't afford to wait!" They wheeled Emma straight into the operating room. Her thoughts gradually became hazy as the anesthetic began to work. Overhead, the bright surgical lights illuminated her. Just before her eyes finally shut and she lost consciousness, an unexpected thought came to her. Suppose Austin learned that the woman pregnant with his child was the very person she had nearly died rescuing from the fire. What would he say then? Would he offer her his thanks? Or would he refuse to give her even a single glance? At that moment, Emma understood that even the searing burns on her back were nowhere near as painful as the emptiness aching inside her chest.

It was the pain that brought Emma back to consciousness. She flexed her fingers. A cast encased her left arm, ointment coated the back of her hand, and dark red blood was already showing through the fresh gauze. Waves of dull, persistent pain kept spreading across her back, where she had only recently undergone both debridement and skin grafting. Her eyes remained on the ceiling as her mind went completely blank. A nurse came into the room to change her bandages and paused for a moment, surprised to find Emma conscious. "You've finally woken up. Your blood pressure was already dangerously low when you were brought here. The doctor said even another ten minutes of delay would have cost you your life." Emma offered no response. She remained still in bed, staring at the ceiling with an empty, distant look. A single question occupied every corner of her mind. Had Austin been there to see her? Once she had finished changing all the dressings, the nurse spoke to Emma in a soft voice. "Ma'am, please try to get in touch with your family as soon as possible. Given the extent of your injuries, you'll still need someone to look after you for a while." Hearing that, Emma slowly tightened her fingers into her palms. She realized she'd been hoping for too much. Austin had never come to see her. Once the nurse left, Emma overheard her exchanging gossip in hushed voices with other nurses. "Have you heard who's staying in the VIP room next door?" "Who is it?" "It's Austin Edwards' wife. Apparently, she's already six months pregnant, and he's completely beside himself with worry. You really should have seen his face when they brought her in. He went completely pale and almost kicked down the emergency room doors." "Wow! What a wonderful husband he is." "Exactly. He's stayed right by her side the entire time. They've arranged a VIP suite, private nursing care twenty-four hours a day, and three separate ventilators on standby. Even the hospital director visited her personally twice. And all of that was because she'd inhaled a little smoke." "She really is one fortunate woman." Emma's fingernails pressed into her palms through the gauze wrapped around them. Austin was staying in the room right next door, but he hadn't visited her even once. At that moment, someone pushed open the door. A man dressed in a black suit entered with a briefcase in hand. "Ms. Stevens, my name is Marc Davis. I'm an attorney." He shut the door behind him and put on a practiced, carefully professional smile. "The lady next door feels sorry for you and is deeply grateful that you saved her life. She would like you to accept this check for $500, 000." Emma looked down toward the check in front of her. Austin's signature appeared on the check itself. Her fingers tightened abruptly into a firm grip. "She is Mr. Edwards' wife. Since you saved her life, he is grateful to you as well." When Emma made no attempt to accept it, Marc continued, "Please take it. Mr. Edwards specifically wants you to have it." Emma glanced up and asked in a hoarse voice, "That's what Mr. Edwards wants?" "That's correct." "Did those words come directly from him?" The way she stared at him caught Marc off guard for a moment. Then he gave a dismissive scoff. "From the way you're speaking, you'd think you knew Mr. Edwards quite well." As Emma looked at him, the entire situation suddenly seemed absurd to her. She had saved the life of Austin's mistress. In return, he had dispatched his lawyer with $500, 000 as a gesture of thanks. He hadn't even bothered to come himself. Nor had he asked her whether her injuries were serious. She raised her head and spoke in an even, steady voice. "I'm not accepting it." Marc scowled. "But, Ms. Stevens, the $500, 000..." "I've already told you. I won't accept it." Marc watched her for two seconds. Once he saw how firmly she'd made up her mind, he tucked away the check, retrieved his briefcase, and departed. The door closed behind him, leaving the hospital room silent once more. Emma leaned back to rest against the headboard. The movement strained the wounds on her back, and the resulting pain made her entire body tremble. When she shut her eyes, memories from three years earlier suddenly returned. During that car accident, she had pushed Austin out of harm's way, and the impact had left her nearly deaf in her left ear. Holding her in his arms, he'd asked in a shaking voice, "Emma, have you lost your mind?" She'd lain in his embrace, her ears still ringing, yet she had smiled anyway. "I'm just glad you're all right." Afterward, he had taken her as his wife. To her, that marriage had seemed like the start of their love story. But during all three years of their marriage, he had remained courteous yet distant. Even sharing intimacy with her had felt like an obligation he needed to fulfill. She had told herself that emotional distance was simply part of his nature. She'd believed that if they spent enough time together, she would eventually be able to soften his cold demeanor. Now she understood how mistaken she'd been. He was capable of tenderness, of worrying deeply, and of feeling pain on someone else's behalf. The only difference was that he'd never directed any of those feelings toward her. A full week later, Emma woke up and stared at the calendar on her phone, her entire body suddenly going rigid. She had already spent such a long time in the hospital. Throughout her entire stay, Austin hadn't sent a single message or made one phone call. A rueful little smile crossed her face. Just as she prepared to set her phone aside, a sudden commotion arose at the other end of the hallway. "Mrs. Edwards, please slow down and be careful on the steps." "Sadie, are you still in pain? Would you like me to carry you?" Emma's whole body stiffened. Through the narrow opening of her hospital room door, Emma spotted Austin down the hallway. He was holding Sadie by the shoulders and leaning toward her to ask whether her stomach still hurt. There was extraordinary tenderness on his face. Emma had never seen that particular side of him before. With a coy pout, Sadie nestled against his chest. "Austin, I'm fine now. There's no need to be so worried." "You're pregnant. How could I possibly stop worrying?" Emma drew herself into a ball. The movement pulled painfully at the burns on her back, leaving her trembling from head to toe. She abruptly found herself recalling just how many times she'd called him on the day of the fire. Not once had he picked up her calls. Yet all it took was one phone call from Sadie to make him abandon everything and hurry straight to her side. The difference between being loved and being unloved had never seemed more obvious. For three years, she'd held on to a marriage that had no affection. It was finally time for that marriage to end. Emma took out her phone and held her fingers poised over the screen. Then, slowly and deliberately, she entered her message one word at a time. "Austin, I want us to get a divorce." Before hitting send, however, she reconsidered it and deleted the message. She would tell him face to face. Emma placed her phone down, opened her laptop, and signed into an account she hadn't accessed in three years. Emma typed a brief, single line, "I'm back."

When Emma was finally cleared to leave the hospital, she took care of every discharge form herself. Then she hailed a taxi and headed home. The familiar scent of wood filled the living room as she entered. By the window, Austin stood with his back turned, phone to his ear. His words came in a soft murmur, warm and patient, almost as though he were comforting the person on the other end. When his head tilted to one side, she saw a slight smile lingering on his lips. The sight brought Emma to an abrupt halt. For a few seconds, she could only stand there, looking at him in a daze. Every movement still sent pain through her body. Even speaking felt like too much effort, let alone lowering herself to ask why he'd gone all these days without so much as a single call or message. What was the point anymore? She headed for the stairs, intending to gather her things and leave. Before she could get far, Austin called after her, "Where on earth have you been? You haven't come home in days." Not a hint of worry softened his words. All she heard was blame. Emma halted in her tracks, though she made no move to face him. Austin moved directly in front of her, cutting off her way. "Is this about me not answering your texts? Is that why you're upset?" So he had read every message she'd sent. Ignoring her had been a choice. Her fingers curled tightly against her palms, but not a trace of emotion slipped into her reply. "Not at all." A crease formed between Austin's brows. Clearly convinced she was giving him the silent treatment, he forced himself to explain. "Look, I've had a lot going on lately. One of my friends got into an accident, and I've been busy taking care of things." One of his friends? Who else could it be but Sadie? Of course. He had come prepared with the perfect excuse. Emma let her eyes fall, her lashes quivering almost imperceptibly. "I get it. This friend of yours must mean an awful lot to you." Without another word, she slipped past him and started climbing the staircase. Austin's expression darkened. "What's gotten into you today? Why do you keep throwing these little digs at me? I already told you what happened, didn't I? So what's with the attitude?" The attitude? The accusation was so ridiculous that Emma nearly burst out laughing. She had come dangerously close to losing her life while saving his mistress. Yet somehow, he had the nerve to act as though she were being petty? Her head snapped up, her eyes finding the face she knew so well. Strangely, everything she'd once cared about suddenly seemed meaningless. For a moment, Emma kept her mouth shut. Then, in a low but unmistakably steady voice, she said, "Austin, I want a divorce." For a split second, Austin looked genuinely stunned. Then his gaze hardened as he studied her expression. "Quit this nonsense, Emma. You think threatening divorce is going to scare me?" She had no patience left for another argument. "This isn't some empty threat. I mean it." With that, she brushed past him and made her way upstairs. "Have you even considered what your life would look like without me, Emma? You've spent years depending on me for everything." Her steps came to a halt halfway up. Austin's voice lost its edge when he saw her reaction. "Forget it. We'll act like this conversation never happened. Just go get some sleep." But Emma hadn't missed the brief flash of disdain in his gaze. Her fingernails bit into her palms, yet her determination remained unshaken. "What I do with my life from here on out has nothing to do with you. I'll get the divorce papers ready as soon as I can. All I'm asking is that you sign them." A frown creased Austin's forehead. He was about to respond when his phone suddenly buzzed. One look at the caller ID, and the tension vanished from his face. He picked up immediately. "Sadie?" A trembling voice, thick with tears, greeted him. "Austin, my stomach is killing me... Can you please come? I'm really scared..." Panic flashed across his features. "Don't move around, okay? I'm coming right now." Ending the call, he spoke to Emma, already in a rush. "Something's come up. I have to go. We can finish this conversation when I get back." Within seconds, the front door slammed shut. Not once had he bothered to look her way before leaving. From the driveway came the rumble of a car engine. Moments later, even that sound disappeared down the road. Emma clutched the stair railing, her fingers tightening around it. She had just told him she wanted a divorce. Yet he hadn't even tried to talk her out of it. Instead, he had rushed off to console another woman without a second thought. That night passed without Austin returning home. By the following morning, Emma was ready to leave. With the divorce papers left behind, she picked up her suitcase and headed for the door. Each movement made her burns throb. She clenched her jaw and kept going, forcing herself forward one painful step at a time until she passed the front gate. No sooner had she reached the street than her phone vibrated. Emma took the call, and her best friend, Melanie Foster, greeted her from the other end. "Emmy, are you seriously making your comeback? It's about time! That bastard Austin was never worth all the love you gave him." For the past several days, Melanie had been overseas on business. The moment word reached her about everything Emma had been through, she had been desperate to catch the first flight home. "Does that man even realize how much he owes you? Remember when his tech company was about to go belly-up because they couldn't get their core system working? You're a freaking computer genius, and you handed over the rights to your one-of-a-kind patent just to bail him out! Without you, Edwards Group wouldn't even be around today! And that wasn't the only time! Whenever he ran into something he couldn't solve, you were always the one cleaning up his mess behind the scenes. You gave him everything and didn't even expect anything back! And this is how he treats you? That scumbag doesn't have a heart!" Just thinking about it made Melanie's blood boil. Finally, she snapped, "Emmy, you need to dump his ass and get that divorce!" "That's exactly what I'm doing, Melly. I've already had the divorce papers prepared, and nothing's going to make me back out now. I'm taking back everything that belongs to me, too. After everything I've worked for, there's no way I'm letting those people keep making money off my efforts." A fierce resolve burned in Emma's eyes, stronger than anything she'd felt before. Beauty had never been all she had to offer. Her true passion lay in programming, exploring artificial intelligence, and creating video games. At just eighteen, she'd already earned a place among the key members of the Apex Alliance, a prestigious international organization made up of the world's top tech minds. Yet once Austin became her husband, she'd tucked away her extraordinary talents without a second thought, perfectly happy to devote herself to being his wife. Emma pushed those thoughts aside and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Melly, remember that big investor you told me about? The one who's been trying to get his hands on the game I created?" "Of course, but I thought you said—" "I'm ready to sell." For a second, Melanie was too stunned to respond. Then realization hit, and excitement spilled into her voice. "Emmy! Does that mean you've finally changed your mind?" Not a trace of emotion crossed Emma's face as she glanced back at the house she had lived in for three years. "Yeah. I've made up my mind. Everything that belongs to me, I'm getting it back. Piece by piece. And I won't let Austin off the hook for a single thing he owes me."