I clutched my phone tightly, the one that still held the photos Claire had sent me that morning.

In them, she and Ethan were wrapped around each other in front of a hotel’s floor-to-ceiling windows, kissing like no one was watching.

My heart ached.

I turned to look at my daughter, sleeping soundly in the bedroom.

For a moment, I hesitated—but in the end, I made up my mind.

I was ready to give up on everything. On myself.

What I didn’t expect… was that the house would be set on fire just after I left.

Ethan finished inspecting the damage and, finding nothing useful, sneered as he tossed my disability work permit at my feet.

“You really don’t need to earn these pathetic dollars. It’s not worth the shame.”

“Enough already. If it weren’t for Claire stepping in this time, your daughter would’ve died crying. Go thank her properly. Got it?”

He pretended to help me up, putting on a show of concern, but the smug look in his eyes betrayed him.

I wiped my tears and shoved him away with all my strength.

“I don’t need your fake kindness.”

“My daughter is mine. We’re getting divorced!”

Our argument drew a crowd.

Ethan’s expression darkened, but he held his tongue—for now.

After all, Claire was still being interviewed nearby.

Gathering my things, I limped over toward Claire under the harsh flashes of media cameras.

Everyone stared, confused, whispering.

Before I could even open my mouth, she stepped forward holding my unconscious, burned daughter in her arms and smiled sweetly.

“You all don’t know yet,” she said with a soft, concerned voice, “but this is the mother who left her child alone at home and almost let her burn to death.”

“You don’t need to thank me specially. Even if the mother was negligent, as a firefighter, I was just doing my job.”

I was stunned.

This woman… how could she be so shameless?

The moment her words landed, the crowd turned on me.

“God, she actually showed up? After nearly burning her own kid to death?”

“She should just disappear! What’s the point of pretending to care now?”

“If that were my child, I’d slap myself and beg for forgiveness in front of the real hero!”

“She’s the wife of the fire chief, right? With zero fire safety awareness. What a disgrace!”

Some even started demanding I give up custody.

“Let the heroine raise her. That baby doesn’t deserve this kind of mother.”

And right there, in front of the cameras, Claire pretended to act humble.

“Please, everyone. Don’t say that. Blood is thicker than water. Even if Rachel is out partying every day and leaves her daughter home alone, she’s still the child’s biological mom.”

She even squeezed out a few fake tears and held my daughter tighter.

The poor girl was only three years old, burned and barely conscious.

Ethan stepped behind her, looking grim.

“Rachel, come here and thank her. Now.”

“She saved our daughter’s life. Even kneeling wouldn’t be too much. It’s the least you can do to redeem for what you did.”

People nodded in agreement.

The live stream camera zoomed in on my face, waiting for a dramatic display of guilt and submission.

But I only gritted my teeth and glared at the two of them.

In Claire’s arms, I saw my daughter’s eyes rolling back, she was dying.

I didn’t care about the cameras anymore. I rushed forward, desperate.

“Let go of my daughter!”

“You’re not a heroine, you don’t deserve to hold her!”

The crowd gasped. Someone stuck their foot out and tripped me.

With my bad leg already unstable, I crashed hard in front of Claire.

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

Claire smirked and stepped forward like she was going to help me up.

Instead, I got my first close look at my daughter, burned beyond recognition.

Her breath was shallow, every exhale a painful moan that sounded like a broken whisper of “Mom…”

My heart shattered.

I reached out, trembling, wanting to hold her.

But before I could even touch her, Claire screamed and let herself fall backward on purpose.

My daughter tumbled from her arms and hit the ground with a sickening thud.

“My baby!!”

I crawled toward her, but Ethan shoved me down and held me there.

His eyes were red with rage.

“Rachel! How could you be so heartless?! Trying to kill your own daughter?!”

I shook my head desperately, tears blurring my vision.

I could only watch as Claire picked my daughter up like she was some discarded trash and held her again.

She looked down at me, smug.

“Rachel, even if you kill her, it won’t change the fact that you nearly burned her to death.”

“If you really care about her, then redeem. That’s the only way I can maybe trust you with her again.”

The crowd was eating it up.

Some started chanting.

“Redeem! Redeem! Redeem!”

Bottles and trash were thrown at my head and body.

In the chaos, Claire and Ethan exchanged triumphant glances.

My daughter’s limp little body in her arms felt like knives piercing my chest.

I gripped my phone tightly, the edge cutting into my hand.

Staring at the two of them, I said coldly, “Claire, you know where I went before the fire.”

“If you don’t want the little image you built for yourself to collapse, give my daughter back!”

Her eyes flashed with panic.

But before I could pull out the photo, Ethan stormed over and stomped on my hand.

Then he flipped my bag over and dumped everything out.

He picked up a few photos and sneered.

“Of course, I know where you went. I’ve got your whole little affair documented.”

The crowd erupted again.

Scattered among my things were photos—dozens of them—of me in revealing clothes, in bed with some stranger.

People snatched them up instantly, showing them to the live stream camera one by one.

“Wow, so many guys? She’s not just cheating—she’s a whore!”

“At her age? Probably making money with that limp of hers.”

“Poor fire chief, he’s been raising someone else’s kid!”

“No wonder she tried to burn her own daughter. Probably to cover it up!”

The venom was endless.

Ethan laid the photos out in front of me like trophies.

“Rachel, do you admit your guilt now?” It hit me then.

He had searched my bag earlier, not to check for damage from the fire but to plant these fake photos.

I grabbed my phone to fight back.

But he crushed my hand, grabbed my hair and forced me to watch his screen.

The live stream was exploding with tens of thousands of viewers and comments were scrolling faster than I could read.

“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?”