"Why would I help you? If I hadn't been here today, you would've gotten Bryan killed!"

"Climb out yourself. If you manage to survive, you'd better apologize to Bryan. And if anything happens to him, we're getting a divorce!"

"You don't deserve to be a father!"

My strength gave out. The voices above went silent. No matter how desperately I begged, no one reached down a hand.

I couldn't wait any longer.

I was going to die.

I couldn't wait any longer.

I took the gamble. I let go and threw myself toward the lifeline.

I caught it.

I hauled myself over the edge with every ounce of strength I had left, my heartbeat hammering so loud it drowned out the wind.

Nothing but white in every direction. Not a single figure in sight. They really hadn't come back for me. Every last one of them had left.

Whether I lived or died, they couldn't have cared less.

Base camp was still more than ten miles away. I'd survived the fall, but I felt no relief.

Even with the GPS locator on me, walking that distance in these conditions could kill me just as easily.

But now there was no other choice.

I clenched my jaw and plunged into the blizzard.

In extreme cold, the instruments at base were prone to malfunctions. Wearing gloves made equipment repairs difficult, so when I'd fallen into the crevasse, I'd already lost mine. Between the strain and the freezing temperatures, my fingers had gone completely numb.

As a meteorologist, I understood environmental shifts better than anyone. The snow was falling harder. Wind tore through the rips in my thermal suit. Visibility had dropped to less than thirty feet, the world reduced to a wall of white.

Cut off from the base station, starving and frozen, I ground my teeth and kept walking.

I'd given up my research position back home for Georgina and her pregnancy, applied to join the Polar Expedition Team.

I'd been afraid she'd suffer out here, so I'd volunteered to shoulder the hardship myself.

And in the end, I'd been building a life for someone else to enjoy.

The baby I'd looked forward to more than anything wasn't mine.

The woman I'd trusted most in this world had chosen to abandon me.

My legs were numb. My whole body shook uncontrollably.

If I can just survive this...

Clinging to that single thread of will, I walked for what felt like an eternity. When the lights of the base station finally appeared through the snow, something inside my chest loosened.

I staggered to the door and pulled the handle. Once. Twice.

Locked. No matter how hard I pounded, it didn't budge.

The wind cut through me like a blade. Inside, the crew had heard me. They sat in a circle, watching. Georgina handed Bryan a mug of hot tea, then draped another blanket over his shoulders.

"Lucky bastard. He actually made it back alive."

"I knew nothing good would come from him joining the expedition. We absolutely cannot let him off easy this time."

Georgina glanced down at the scrape on Bryan's leg, her expression full of tender concern. Then, in front of the entire team, she gave the order: no one opens that door.

My fingers were dead. My legs had stopped registering the cold. I locked my eyes on that door, jaw clamped shut, and kept knocking. I didn't stop.

Finally...

"You want to come in?"

Bryan coughed twice and looked at me. Something mean flickered behind his eyes.

"You want in? Then get on your knees and apologize."

"Oh, come on. Letting him off with just that? Isn't that a little too easy?"

Georgina frowned, swatting Bryan's arm with a playful pout, not sparing me a single glance as I called out from the other side of the door.

Bryan reached over and rested his hand on her stomach, his tone light and easy.

"It's fine. I won't hold it against him. He's the baby's father, after all. And your husband."

"I don't blame him. It was my fault. If I hadn't gone abroad back then, you wouldn't have had to..."

He trailed off. Their eyes met, and the tenderness between them filled the silence. There was no room in that gaze for anyone else.

My heart seized like a fist was crushing it. I'd already lived through this once. But standing here again, watching it unfold, the pain was no less unbearable.

The happiest moments of my life could be counted on one hand.

After my parents died young, I grew up on scholarships and charity. The first time I met Georgina was in college.

From that very first meeting, I felt an inexplicable pull toward her.

But Bryan was always at her side. I stayed close to her in silence, convinced that what I felt would remain buried forever.

Then one day, Georgina came to me.

"Humphrey, let's date."

In twenty years of living, it was the first time I felt like I'd won the lottery.

I threw myself into making her happy, pouring every ounce of effort into helping her chase her dreams. She wanted to join a polar expedition, so I took care of her family back home and supported her with everything I had.

When she got pregnant, I gave up my own career and volunteered to come to the Arctic with her, just so I could look after her.

The happiest moments of my life were dating Georgina, marrying her, and the promise of a new life growing inside her.

But now I finally understood how staggeringly foolish I'd been. How catastrophically wrong.

The people inside were laughing. A single door separated two worlds.

Kneeling on the ground, I heard Bryan and Georgina pouring their hearts out to each other.

"If I hadn't been trying to spite you, why would I have ever agreed to date Humphrey, let alone marry him?"

"Georgina, I regret it. If I hadn't gone abroad back then, we never would have..."

Bryan's hand rested on Georgina's belly, his expression tender.

A layer of snow had settled over my body. I watched the softness on Georgina's face, a warmth she had never once shown me, and let out a bitter laugh.

Well, it wasn't too late for them to be together now, was it?

After all, the child in her belly was Bryan's.

I could die anywhere, but I refused to die at the door of this base.

With nothing but a final thread of breath left in me, I was finally allowed inside. I staggered to my feet. Those last few steps, I practically crawled through the door.

The sight of me only deepened Georgina's disgust.

"Stop with the pity act, Humphrey. You make me sick."

I didn't bother defending myself. I dragged myself toward a heat source, and the snow melting off my clothes dripped onto the floor, leaving a spreading puddle.

"Disgusting. Make sure you clean that up."

I was shaking too hard to answer. Several fingers on my left hand still had no feeling.

Georgina left. She was worried about the scrape on Bryan's shin and insisted the base doctor examine him.

When she saw me heading toward the doctor, she planted herself in the doorway and refused to let me take another step.

"What do you think you're doing? You're not coming in here!"

"The doctor is busy. He doesn't have time for your little problems. Stay away from Bryan. Get out!"

Her face was a wall of hostility. She told me I wasn't acting like a man and ordered me back to my room.

I changed into dry clothes, but my fingers still had no sensation. The skin had started to discolor. I frowned and tried to push past her.

"I just need to see the doctor for one minute, you—"

Slap!

Before I could finish, her palm cracked across my face. She glared at me, eyebrows drawn sharp, and blocked my path completely.

Amid the jeers of the onlookers, she shot me a smug glance, then quickly looked away.

"Quit faking it. What could possibly be wrong with you? You climbed out of a crevasse and walked all the way back to base. You're built like a cockroach. Bryan isn't like you."

"You can see the doctor tomorrow. Tonight, you stay away from the infirmary!"

My cheek burned. So did my temper.

I opened my mouth to argue, but the others shoved me away from the infirmary door.

"Enough, enough. Go back to your room and sleep it off!"

"Your own wife is pregnant and you want to start a fight? Go tomorrow."

"The gorgeous Miss Gilbert already told you how it is. What more do you want, you spineless wimp?"

Bryan stood with his arms crossed, watching me, his face dripping with contempt. Hearing the other team members curse me out, he let a smirk curl across his lips and mouthed a single word in my direction.

"Pathetic."

…

I was driven back to my room. Lying on the bed, my phone buzzed with an incoming video.

Georgina lay curled in Bryan's arms, sleeping soundly. Red marks trailed along her neck, and a small cut split the corner of her lip.

Bryan had filmed it on purpose. For me.

But right now, jealousy was the least of my concerns. What I needed was a doctor.

The only doctor at the base was busy "attending to" Bryan, per Georgina's instructions.

She'd done it deliberately. She stood guard all night, refusing to let me anywhere near the infirmary. It wasn't until early the next morning that I finally got in to see the doctor.

"These fingers… I'm afraid the tissue is already dead from frostbite."

"We don't have the medical facilities here at the station. You need to get to a hospital for treatment as soon as possible."

Even though I'd already sensed it coming, hearing the doctor say it out loud made my stomach drop.

Getting from the polar station to a hospital was no simple feat. But nothing else mattered now.

I couldn't become disabled. I had to save my hands.

The first thing I did back in my room was send out a distress call. When the reply came through, I let out a breath of relief.

Headquarters would dispatch a helicopter. As long as I received treatment in time…

I stayed in my room the entire day. Only when the roar of helicopter blades cut through the air did I push open the door.

By the time I reached the landing site, two figures were already standing in front of the helicopter, about to climb aboard.

"We're the injured ones! Bryan is hurt—he needs to be taken to the hospital to recover, and I'm going with him!"

Georgina spotted me and didn't flinch. Her expression was ice cold. She rubbed her belly and tried to squeeze onto the helicopter.

"It can only carry two people at a time. I need to go to the hospital for a prenatal checkup."

"Humphrey, just wait for the next one."

When the next one would come, I had no idea.

Compared to being abandoned in that crevasse, this moment cut deeper.

I watched Georgina's retreating back, unyielding, and felt the cold spread through my chest.

"Georgina, I can't wait any longer. My hands—"

"Enough. Let's go."

Bryan draped his arm over her shoulder and, from behind his face mask, flashed me a mocking grin. He waved at me like a victor claiming his spoils, then signaled the pilot to take off.

The roar of the engine hammered against my eardrums. Just before liftoff, Georgina looked at me, her face full of disgust.

"Stop with the act. It makes me sick."

Rejection after rejection lit a fire in my gut.

Ignoring the laughter from the other team members, I gathered some documents and my belongings, then sent out another distress call.

This time, rescue finally came.

When I peeled away the gloves and the wrappings, exposing my fingers, the doctor sucked in a sharp breath and gave me a long look.

"Let's run some tests first."

The base had only done basic first aid. The three worst fingers had changed color, the tips blackened.

The results were not good.

The frostbite had damaged skin, muscle, and nerve tissue. The doctor's assessment was amputation.

"The frostbite has progressed to tissue necrosis. There's a high risk of infection going forward. We need to amputate as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry…"

Even though I'd expected it, the moment I heard the words, I froze where I stood.

After a long pause, I dragged a hand down my face.

"Fine. Let's schedule the surgery as soon as possible."

In my previous life, Georgina always said I owed Bryan my life. Maybe this was better. At least this time around, both of us got to keep ours.

That was what I told myself. But when I picked up the pen to sign the surgical consent form, my fingers still trembled.

Loving Georgina had cost too much.

It wasn't worth it.

While I sat there, lost in thought, a commotion from the next room snapped me back. Raised voices, arguing. And then a voice I knew all too well.