Oh. I'd almost forgotten that James was a firefighter too.

James had claimed that Monica Sloan, the woman Harrison had expressed his overwhelming admiration for, was merely nothing more than his colleague.

But in the last six months, Harrison no longer clung to me or needed me. Instead, he asked to spend time at James' workplace, often saying he wanted to see Monica.

At first, I didn't think much of it. I assumed it was normal for young children to like hanging out with a pretty young woman.

Alas, it had slipped my mind that a man like James would like a pretty young woman too.

The constant messages and calls at night had James rushing out of the house even in the middle of the night. Initially, I thought it was due to emergencies at work. After all, firefighters worked to save lives, and that was of the highest priority.

Yet, after inadvertently seeing the same name flashing on his screen several times, my sixth sense kicked in belatedly. I realized something was amiss.

The caller had been given the nickname "The Clumsy Little Klutz". It was such an affectionate nickname that I couldn't even try to talk myself out of feeling suspicious.

Once, after an intimate night with James, I couldn't resist checking his phone while he was in the shower.

He barely had any calls from his workplace. An overwhelming number of them had come from that woman. She was the only contact he'd pinned to the top of his chat list. Although their chat was simple and casual, it was filled with thoughts and comments that he never felt the need to share with me.

Whenever he responded to my texts, it was always a simple message saying, "Got it."

I proceeded to check the woman's WhatsApp stories and was immediately greeted with a photo of her and James. She'd even added a blissful message that made it clear how much he adored her.

"Thanks to the world's best captain, Captain Ellis, for getting me a cake!"

I checked to see when the story had been posted—August 27th.

That was our 7th wedding anniversary. He'd come home extremely late that night. Just as I thought he'd forgotten about our wedding anniversary, he'd brought out a small cake and given it to me.

Although it had clearly looked like a half-hearted gesture, it had made me feel loved anyway.

Alas, unaware of the situation then, I'd overlooked James' unnaturally stiff expression and the buttercream on his sleeve.

The cake in Monica's photo looked a lot more presentable than the one James had given me.

He'd only gotten me a cake for our anniversary because he'd needed to get a cake for Monica anyway. In fact, it had only been an afterthought.

When James came out of the shower, I tried to confront him with his phone, but he flew into a rage.

"Who allowed you to touch my phone? You're infringing on my privacy! Can't you give me some private space?"

When we were dating, James was the one who promised he would be more than happy to let me keep tabs on him as much as I wanted to prove that I was the only one he loved.

And now, after just ten years, he was lashing out at me and calling me unreasonable.

Our fight woke up Harrison, who was sleeping next door. His bleary eyes stared at me in fear. Sobbing, he kept calling for James and even Monica, but not me—his mother, who'd raised him.

I was overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of pain and sorrow, making it impossible for me to speak.

After a while, I looked at Harrison, who was hiding behind James, and asked, "Harrison, do you want me or your daddy?"

Harrison said he didn't want a fierce mommy like me. He wanted Monica to be his mommy.

Feeling utterly disappointed, I packed my bags and moved out of the house.

Just like that, three months passed.

When I found out I was pregnant, I considered getting an abortion. However, James had mentioned wanting a daughter many times. Even the boisterous Harrison had kept asking why he didn't have a sister yet.

In the end, I gave in and decided to talk to the two of them.

Never would I have thought that, upon returning home, both my child and I would end up dying in the fire they'd set just to please another woman.

Perhaps the lingering sense of indignation kept my soul tied to them. My soul drifted out of the house and floated beside James.

James, Monica, and Harrison were chatting away warmly and happily.

Harrison, who always liked rebelling against me, was staring at Monica, the woman he'd met less than three months ago, in awe. He was blushing as he clapped to celebrate her practice session.

James, my husband, was stroking Monica's head with an affectionate expression.

"You're not a little klutz anymore. I guess I have to change your nickname on my phone to 'The Little Genius'."

Feeling shy, Monica sweetly replied, "It's all thanks to your expert guidance, and you even set the fire so that I could get some hands-on practice! I'll do even better next time."

She was going to do even better next time, huh?

Looking at the still-burning house, I smirked mockingly.

My body was probably still burning in the lingering flames.

While James, Monica, and Harrison celebrated the end of Monica's flawless practice session, the neighbors who'd been alarmed by the fire were busy calling the fire station and questioning them with a frown.

"Why did you people only send a single firetruck to deal with such a major fire at Jasper Heights? Do you not take our lives and safety seriously?"

After a brief silence, the dispatcher explained, "We didn't receive any reports of a fire at Jasper Heights. Can I confirm with you that you're reporting a fire in the area? I'll send a fire crew out at once!"

In less than a minute, James' phone started ringing.

"Jasper Heights? I'm already here. No one was harmed. You don't need to send anyone else over."

The dispatcher continued speaking, but James firmly declared that he would assume full responsibility if anything happened. Once the dispatcher confirmed that no one was hurt, he decided against sending another fire crew over.

James had put the call on speaker mode, which meant that Monica caught the entire argument between him and the dispatcher.

With her brows furrowed, she made a show of apologizing.

"Will you get punished because of this, Captain Ellis? If that's the case, I'd rather resign than cause trouble for you!"

It was evident that James didn't see the determined, possessive look in Monica's eyes. He pulled the seemingly heartbroken Monica into his arms.

With a gentle tone that had long eluded my ears, James said to her, "What's the big deal? It's not worth crying your eyes out over. It's just a house. I'd be more than happy to burn down ten houses if it means you get to gain more experience."

Amused by James' exaggerated declaration, Monica laughed and hit his shoulder with her fist.

"What are you saying? Where will you and Harry stay if you burn down all those houses?"

"I can stay with you, Monica!"

Overhearing his nickname, Harrison eagerly raised his hand and expressed his fondness for Monica's house.

James wasn't mad that Harrison was fawning over Monica either. Instead, he asked why.

"Monica's house has everything, and she even lets me eat snacks! Meanwhile, that mean old witch at home doesn't let me eat anything. I like Monica a lot more."

Even though I was merely a wandering soul without a body, Harrison's childish yet cruel words still made me feel as though I'd been stabbed in the heart.

For the sake of minor things like treats, Harrison, the boy who used to sweetly declare that he loved me the most, didn't even hesitate to choose another woman over me. He even called me a mean old witch.

"You like me? Well, why don't I treat you to fried chicken today?"

After nudging Harrison's nose affectionately, Monica looked at James, who was standing in silence. She cocked her head to the side and asked, "Why aren't you saying anything? Do you not want to eat with me, Captain Ellis?"

James shook his head and silently pocketed his phone, but thanks to my keen sense of sight, I noticed that he'd been reading my chat with him. The last message on the screen was the one I'd sent just before I died.

"I'm pregnant. You're not the father."