Scorching Betrayal

When I was trapped by large columns of fire alongside Reya, my firefighter husband appeared and chose to only rescue her. I got on my knees inside the sea of fire and begged him to save me, too. He jabbed a merciless kick at me. “You are evil through and through, Amaranth. Are you not going to give Reya a chance to live at least? I will never forgive you for starting this fire to kill her!” At this point, his forgiveness no longer mattered. After he rescued his former lover from the scene, I was burned to a crisp alongside the baby inside me. Chapter 1 As I burned to death, my lungs filled with despair. The extreme temperature made red lumps and blisters form across my body, which was curled up towards the end as if I had transformed into a lump of coal. With the gentlest touch, my skin flaked away to expose the lumps of flesh underneath. The state of my body was so horrific that even the firefighters and doctors who arrived at the scene did not dare to approach. They all covered their mouths and noses before beginning to throw up. Even in my death, I was so repulsive to all of them. After that, I followed them as my body was taken to the hospital. As soon as we entered the hospital, I heard a familiar voice calling out. "Reya, tell the doctor if you’re in pain. Don’t exert yourself!" Luther held Reya’s hand tightly as he gestured at the firefighter uniform he was wearing. "I am a firefighter. If anyone knows about the harmful effects of a fire, it’s me! Doctor, you have to conduct a full body examination for her!" He stayed by the bed and refused to leave her side. Standing by the door, his colleagues were trying to get his attention to no avail because he would cut them off each time. "Don't bother the doctor! It doesn’t matter how urgent it is. Everything can wait until after Reya’s full body examination! Nothing is more important than her well-being!" His colleagues exchanged conflicted looks. They wanted to tell him that his wife was dead. However, the only thing on his mind was Reya’s well-being. After what seemed like forever, the doctor concluded the screening process and announced that Reya's condition was stable. Luther heaved a sigh of relief upon receiving the news. That was when he finally noticed his group of colleagues, who were still hesitant to speak. "What are you all doing standing over there? Shouldn’t you be working on the report?" One of them stammered, "Captain, I wanted to… about your wife…" The sheer mention of the word ‘wife’ was enough for him to curl his brows into a stark frown. "Don't you ever tell me about that nasty woman! Our divorce will be finalized soon, and I will have nothing to do with her anymore!" They were stunned by the comment and had no choice but to nod meekly. I felt a teardrop sliding down my cheek toward the corner of my lips. I never knew even souls could feel such a gut-wrenching feeling. Then, the doctor approached Luther. "You should sort out the paperwork to have your lover admitted. It’d be wise to have her admitted for two days for further observation." The doctor seemed to have misinterpreted their relationship. Anyone who witnessed their interaction would be misled into thinking that they were lovers. Little did Luther know, his lover had already passed away in another ward. Her death was so gruesome that everyone was struck with fear at the sheer sight of it. I remember kneeling at his feet and pleading inside the raging furnace back there. "Please, please save me, too. I’m going to die here if you don’t save me, I beg you…" I was wounded, and my feet were still oozing fresh blood. To my horror, the man I had loved for the last decade jabbed a merciless kick at me. "You are evil through and through, Amaranth. Are you not going to give Reya a chance to live at least? I will never forgive you for starting this fire to kill her!" I refused to give up at the time. I tried to crawl to the cabinet to look for the ultrasound report. I wanted to tell him that, regardless of how much he hated me, he must realize that this was his child’s life at stake as well. However, he had picked Reya up and walked away defiantly. The moment he turned around, a large beam fell overhead and slammed against my legs. My harrowing scream was drowned out by the raging crackling of fire. Even my tears evaporated inside the intense heat. All I could do was curl up from the pain and protect my torso. 'I’m sorry for doing this to you, my baby. If your father had not resented me so much, perhaps you would have lived. Unfortunately, your father hates me down to his bones even in my final moments.' Chapter 2 Luther grabbed a hot towel and gently wiped Reya's face with it. Then, he spoke gently, "Don't move. You’re still recovering. Let me take good care of you. When I realized you were trapped in the fire back there, I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I was so scared something would happen to you." Tears began to well up in Reya's eyes again while she whimpered, "Luther, I thought I was going to die when I saw the flames. I remember making one last wish. I wished I could see you one last time." As she leaned her weight against him and spoke tenderly, every word pulled at Luther’s heartstrings. "That was when you burst in out of nowhere like a knight and saved me from death. Luther, I will use the rest of my life to repay you for saving me." Luther smiled faintly. He gently stroked her hair, then produced a golden bracelet. "This is an artifact from the church. It will guarantee your safety for the rest of your life." He then gently tipped her nose and continued with a doting look in his eyes. "The most important thing for you to do now is to focus on your recovery. That’s the best way you can repay me." I felt like crying when I looked at the eye-catching golden bracelet. In the past, I never had to heart to splurge on something so indulgent because I realized how hard he worked. Out of consideration for his finances, I told him he did not have to get me a single piece of jewelry for our wedding. And yet, the jewelry I wanted but never got was looped around Reya’s wrist. She looked at the bracelet with a delighted expression and suddenly gasped. "Oh, I’m sure Amaranth is going to be upset again if she finds out about you buying me something so expensive." She faked concern and held Luther’s hand tightly. "Are you sure she won’t be upset about you spending so much time taking care of me here?" The mention of my name caused Luther’s expression to darken. "Don’t even bring up her name. She knows how much I despise people who play with fire but she did it anyway! You wouldn’t have come this close to losing your life if it wasn’t for her setting the couch on fire with gasoline!" At this point, he clenched his fist tightly and vowed to Reya, "Don’t worry. I won’t let her get away with doing something so wretched! Once I collect evidence of her arson, I will have her sent to jail myself!" Chapter 3 What a sick joke. My beloved husband vowed to have me jailed. I swallowed the shooting pain and watched as he returned to his office to speak to his colleagues. "Where is that woman? I need to settle the score with her." It seemed like it finally occurred to him to look for me, but that was only because he wanted to avenge Reya. His colleague seemed taken aback by this and darted shifting glances at the computer. There was a video playing on the screen. It was footage of my corpse being removed from the scene. The firefighters present at the scene were doubled over and retching while trying to secure whatever belongings I had that could be recovered. Although everything else had been burned to ashes, the skeleton of my diamond wedding ring was still clung to my charred fingerbone. Luther was the one who had put it on my finger. My heart throbbed with pain while I leaned into his ear to remind him, "Look. Look at me. That’s the wedding ring you gave me. Since the moment you put it on, I have never taken it off. I wore it faithfully for five years…" If I could, I would scoop the ashes in the footage and tell him it contained the only ultrasound picture of his child. Unfortunately, all he did was swipe a disinterested glance at the screen before asking which hospital I had been admitted to. It seemed to me like I meant nothing to this man whom I had loved for the last decade. Nothing could describe the immeasurable sadness I felt. His colleague answered nervously, "Haven’t you heard? We couldn’t save her from that fire. She died on the scene…" Luther exploded with rage upon hearing this, "She took you out for lunch a few times, didn’t she? How dare you cover for her with these lies? It doesn’t get any more immature than this!" He became very upset and began to insult me. "How do you expect me to believe that all the firefighters who showed up couldn’t rescue just one person? I can’t believe she would get my colleagues to make up this pathetic lie to fake her death, it’s disgusting!" As much as it hurt me, I was not surprised by his reaction. I understood the nature of his work and never requested to take time out of his hectic schedule. Once, I got into a serious car accident and lost a lot of blood. My father was frantic and told Luther he had to take a day off to visit me at the hospital. After I was attended to in the hospital, I forced myself to get up despite my weakened state so that I could call Luther. Since I did not want to get in the way of his work, I made something up. "Sorry, I missed you and was worried you would be seeing someone else behind my back. That’s why I had my dad test you." Luther was very upset by this and held the incident over my head for a long time after that. His colleagues were frightened by his sharp reaction and decided to keep their mouths shut. When he returned to Reya's ward, he angrily relayed the situation to her. Reya held his hand tenderly and told him what he wanted to hear, "You’re right. There’s no way all those firefighters couldn’t manage to save Amaranth." Luther was glad to hear this and doubled down. "Amaranth crossed the line this time. I’m going to make sure she pays for this!" Reya took Luther's arm and advised him, "Maybe she’s just upset because you rescued me first. I think you should talk to her. She only spilled gasoline on the couch to scare me. I’m sure she didn’t set it on fire intentionally, and she didn’t mean to hurt me." It was a lie. She was the one who injured herself to frame me. She was the one who committed arson. And yet, there was nothing I could do to prove her wrong. Luther became distressed and embraced her tightly. "The only reason she can walk all over you is because you are too gentle for the world." He glowered upon mentioning me. "I know what she’s like. She’s a very jealous person, always suspicious of me and sensitive. I’m sure she has it in her head that you have been trying to seduce me. That’s why she takes it out on you. Just thinking about it makes me angry." Reya made a show of being benevolent. "I have never blamed her for any of that. I just hope she’s fine." Luther sneered, "Oh, I’m sure she’s fine. This is only part of her usual antics. One time, she got her dad to lie to me and tell me she suffered from severe blood loss after a car accident. Thankfully, I found out it was nothing but a lie. I almost missed an important drill because of her!" The sharp spite in his voice made me shiver. If only he had extended a hand toward me that day, that beam would not have collapsed on me, and my child would not have burned to death with me. Chapter 4 My health had been rather unstable over the last few years. A large part of it was because I had been preparing to conceive. I took countless supplements as well as injections so I could become pregnant with Luther’s child. Sometimes, I got emotional and wanted Luther to spend time with me. He would respond by telling me off, "I don’t like it when you put on that pitiful expression to get my attention." He did not seem to feel the same way about Reya doing the same thing. Since she returned to our country, she would call Luther all the time to whine about her body aching. Whenever that happened, Luther would make a point of taking a day off so he could take her to the doctor. At one point, I was upset by this and confronted him about it. He remarked dismissively, "Reya grew up with me and is like a little sister to me. She doesn’t have a family. It’s only right that I should take care of her." One night, after Reya summoned Luther away in the middle of the night again, I decided I could not take it anymore. I confronted her and intended to have a civil conversation with her. Before I could even get a word out, she knelt on the ground and cried. At a loss for what to do, I walked away. When I got home, Luther furiously told me off, "Amaranth, when did you ever turn into such an unruly woman? Can’t you at least tolerate her? She’s a helpless young girl!" He showed me a video on his phone. It was a video from Reya. In the video, she was kneeling on the ground, sobbing hysterically while crying out my name. "Amaranth, you can hit me all you want, but please don’t be angry at Luther…" Luther raised his arm and looked like he was going to hit me as if it was a form of retribution for what I had done to Reya. The blow never came. He kept his hand suspended in the air and cautioned me sternly, "If you ever pick on her and take out your anger on her again, I will divorce you!" When I recalled what happened that day, I could still relive the pain I felt. Now that I have turned into a spirit, there was nothing I could do but watch helplessly as Luther carried Reya into the ward. Chapter 5 I stalked after Luther and watched as he attentively took care of Reya until the doctor permitted her to leave the hospital. Upon returning to Reya’s house, she clung onto him and lamented, "Now that my parents are gone, you’re the only one I can count on, Luther. I’ve had nightmares of being trapped by columns of fire the last two nights. I’m so scared. Could you spend just two more days with me?" Luther requested days off without a second thought. The same man who claimed that my need for affection was getting on his nerves was now displaying endless patience for another woman. The sight of it pained me. Reya relied on him for everything, and he was more than happy to oblige her needs. The pair stayed home for a few days. Then, Luther received a strange call. At first, he assumed it was a call from work. As soon as he picked up the phone, he was assaulted by my father’s furious voice. "My daughter has been lying in the morgue for seven days, but you don’t even care about her! I disown you as a wretched son-in-law!" Luther was furious as well and snapped back at him, "How long are you people going to keep up this song and dance? Have you forgotten that time you told me about the car accident? Is this another one of your antics? "Tell her she can forget about faking her death! Let her know I will not let her get away with it and that I’m going to divorce her!" My father did not expect Luther to snap back at him. He could not believe that the son-in-law whom he had been trying to get in contact with for so many days would say such cruel things to him. "My daughter and I will not let you and the perpetrator get away with it!" Luther thought my father was being ridiculous. He hung up angrily while Reya looked at him with concern. "Luther, did someone make you upset?" Luther pinched his eyebrows and tried to calmly assure her, "Nothing, it’s just Amaranth getting her father to scare me." After that, he chuckled in a baffled manner. "They are a very strange family. What kind of father would make up a story about his daughter being in the morgue? I can’t believe it." Something flickered in Reya’s eyes. "Since Amaranth is being so ridiculous, have you decided you were going to divorce her?" Luther suddenly fell silent. After what seemed like forever, he spoke meekly, "Well, I only said what I said out of anger and thought if I threatened her with divorce, she would behave. We have been married for five years after all…" He brushed at his face and his tone suddenly softened, "Although Amaranth was a little out of line with you, we do usually get along pretty well, and she takes good care of me. My parents and colleagues are very fond of her, too." As it turned out, Luther remembered the good parts of me. Over the last ten years, we had gone from friends to lovers. I forced myself to be strong so I could become a safe harbor for him. Whenever he came home tired from work, I would greet him with food fresh from the stove. I would listen to him rant about work and massage him in the bath. I would also buy gifts for his colleagues and invite them to dinner at our place to help him build rapport with them. Whenever he was busy with work, I would attend to his parents for him. When his parents became sick and bedridden, I would be with them throughout the day and look after them as if they were my parents. However, I soon realized that I was not stirred by the emotive look in his eyes. If anything, I think he was only lamenting not having me around as a helper anymore. When Luther began to go on about the things he appreciated about me, Reya’s expression dropped. "Luther…" Before she could continue, the front door of her house was suddenly thrown open with a powerful kick. I turned in the direction of the commotion and spotted Luther’s father storming into the house. "You little brat!" He grabbed a cup and flung it in Luther’s direction without warning. "Now I understand why Amaranth died without anyone to save her! How dare you spend time with this wretched vixen when something so terrible has happened to your wife?" Luther seemed taken aback by this. When he came to, he grabbed his father and asked, "Why are you playing into Amaranth’s lie? There’s no end to this woman’s nonsense. I…" His father slapped him straight across the face with his hands trembling the entire time. "Nonsense? You’re the one who is being nonsensical! Don't you know your wife is dead? You were the one who abandoned her in the fire and were responsible for her burning to death!"