"Captain! There's a couple burned and fused together!"

I sprinted inside.

There was Axel Cheatum, my husband, clinging to some woman.

Their bodies had fused from the heat.

Axel was sobbing, begging,

"Save my wife first, please!"

His wedding ring flashed on his finger.

"It's my fault," he cried. "We drank too much... didn't even notice the fire."

"It's not your fault, honey," the woman whispered. "We hadn't seen each other in so long... we couldn't help it."

Axel clawed at his scorched skin, trying to free her.

That's when I saw her swollen belly.

And Axel, throwing everything away for her.

In the end, I lost my baby.

Axel Cheatum was the biggest baby about pain. No one knew that better than me. Dude could get a paper cut and act like he needed a hospital.

I did all the cooking, all the chopping. Always careful. Always thinking about those hands—the same ones that used to kill it on the piano.

And now? For her? He was ready to snap his own bones and rip off his own skin.

Blood poured down his arms, but he didn't even flinch. Just looked at us and said, "Please. Take care of her. She's almost full-term."

Full-term.

I froze, head spinning.

My oxygen tank was almost dead, and the fire outside was getting ugly fast.

Junk around the building went up in flames. A wall of fire exploded right in front of me.

Axel, all beat to hell, was still clutching her like she was the only thing that mattered.

"Axel!" she gasped.

He brushed her hair back. "Told you I wouldn't let you get hurt. Not even a little."

He stood there, bloody and wrecked, shielding her from everything.

Tears filled his eyes as he shoved her into my arms. "Go! Get out! Save her, please!"

He dropped to his knees, grabbing at my boots. "Take her with you! There's no time!"

The wedding ring on his finger made me sick. Five years—what even was that now?

"Put out any visible flames. Get the team moving!"

Some of the guys hustled her downstairs. I grabbed the others and hit the fire head-on.

When I made it to the bedroom, the piano was toast. Flames eating it alive.

The walls were covered with photos—Axel and her, smiling through every season, every country.

Axel, the guy who hated cameras, had left a whole museum of memories here.

Even the night before our wedding, he'd been off at some hot spring with her.

I watched it all burn. Didn't even feel a flicker of satisfaction.

This place? It was theirs. Every inch.

Not like the house I lived in with him, where I built everything alone.

He always said, "Whatever you want is fine."

And now he had the nerve to shout at me, all desperate and pissed. "Can you get our photos out of there?"

The photos were buried deep inside. Going in meant getting swallowed whole.

Nobody moved.

Axel shoved me.

"Aren't you the captain? Go get them! Those are our anniversary photos! I can't lose them—and the album too! Please!"

He kicked me, hard.

I was dead tired from two runs already. Couldn't even brace myself. Hit the floor hard.

Flames jumped all over me. Only my gear kept me from lighting up like a match.

"Captain!"

"Captain, you good?"

I waved them off, dragging myself up.

In the background, Axel was still losing it, screaming like a maniac.

The fire kept getting worse. I had no choice. "Evacuate!"

Axel grabbed one of my teammates. "What do you mean you're leaving my stuff? Those are my memories with my wife! If I lose them, I'll just die here! I'm not leaving!"

He meant it.

Shoved off the teammate trying to stop him and sprinted straight into the fire.

"If I die, it's on you! Every one of you! You'll pay for it with your lives!"

The way he said it made my skin crawl.

As my husband, he knew better than anyone what it cost me to become a fire captain.

He knew these guys put their lives on the line every single call.

He knew what my injuries looked like after every mission.

He knew what failure meant for a team like ours.

And he still chose to screw us over.

I spun to my team. "Cover the evac. I'll deal with him."

They nodded, tight-faced, and kept moving.

I stayed behind, digging through wreckage for the junk he wanted—photos of him with her.

Most were already toasted.

As I reached for them, Axel yelled behind me, "Don't wreck them! I want them whole! And the album! And the prenatal reports! I put everything together!"

He'd packed it all in some fancy box, stuffed with sappy notes for the baby they were expecting.

On top? A picture of me and him.

My face was scratched out, buried under the nastiest insults I'd ever seen.

Axel's handwriting. No doubt.

"Hurry up! Don't mess it up! How's a woman even a fire captain? Freakin' joke! First thing I'm doing when I get out is reporting you! If my stuff's wrecked, you're DONE!"

One of the frames slipped out of my hand and shattered. Flames ate it in seconds.

Axel lost it. "Why don't you just die! That frame—she picked it out! It was her favorite!"

Then came the low, ugly rumble.

Gas.

"Did you shut off the gas line?"

Axel didn't even look up. Just snatched his box and bolted.

I spun around—

The fire had turned into a full-blown monster.

Axel saw it too. Shoved the last few guys out and slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing? Our captain's still in there!"

"Unlock it!"

Axel barked, "We have to lock it! If the gas spreads, we're all dead! She's the captain—she can handle it! MOVE!"

Right then, the building blew.

I tried blocking the fire with whatever I could, but the locked door trapped me.

Suddenly, the blast slammed me out of the room.

Glass ripped into my arms, legs, everything.

If one of my guys hadn't caught me, I would've dropped thirty stories straight into the pavement.

"Captain!"

They hauled me into the emergency stairwell.

Outside, Axel was already there.

Cradling her.

Whispering like we hadn't just almost died.

"It's okay, honey. It's over now. Don't be scared. I'm here."

"Axel, when I heard the explosion, I was so scared. Are you okay?"

The lights swung around, and for the first time, I saw her face.

It hit me like ice water straight to the heart.

Every nerve in my body went numb.

It was her.

The girl I once carried out of a burning school.

The girl who lost her family.

The girl I took into my home for half a year.

And now? She was clinging to my husband, rocking clothes bought with my money, carrying his baby.

Gloria Hole.

Couldn't have made it up if I tried.

Gloria saw me staring and ducked behind Axel like a scared kid.

"Why are you looking at my wife like that? Go get an ambulance. She needs a hospital," Axel snapped.

Ambulances were scarce out here. Remote spot, slow response.

"Captain, you're hurt bad. When the next one comes, you should go first. We'll handle things here, " my team said.

I nodded, every bone in me screaming.

But when the ambulances showed up?

Axel and Gloria climbed right in. Both of them.

"My captain's burns are worse! Let her go first!" my teammates begged.

Axel didn't blink.

"She's not dying. Another ambulance is coming. My wife's pregnant. She's not going alone. Your big-shot captain can wait."

The ambulances tore off.

Axel threw a glare over his shoulder.

Yeah. I caught it.

The third ambulance never showed.

I kept bleeding.

Civilians finally dragged me into a random car and gunned it to the hospital, blowing through every red light.

At the ER, the doctor barely looked at me before barking, "Get her into surgery! Massive internal bleeding!"

I grabbed his sleeve.

"Doctor... I'm pregnant... Three months..."

His face tightened.

"I'm being honest—the baby's probably not gonna make it."

Right then, Axel and Gloria strolled past.

No mask now. My face—half-melted from the blast—was right there.

Axel covered Gloria's eyes.

"Don't look. It's disgusting."

Then, straight-up cruel:

"A woman like you deserves to lose her kid. Any guy marrying you is just asking for bad luck."

Gloria smirked. "Almost lost our photos too. Guess it's karma!"

My team looked ready to throw hands.

"Enough! Move her! Forget saving the baby—we're fighting for her life now!"

As they rushed me past Axel, I grabbed his wrist.

"Axel Cheatum! I want a divorce!"