During my leave, I was called back on short notice to cover for a colleague who'd fallen suddenly ill, taking over a flight so fast I never even had the chance to tell my husband, who was away on a business trip.

Mid-flight, an anxious man's voice broke out from first class.

"Captain, please divert immediately! My son has hereditary angioedema and he can't breathe! It runs in our family, it can kill him at any moment!"

My chest tightened.

My husband carried the same hereditary condition, so I knew exactly how dangerous this was. I handed the controls to my first officer, confirmed the situation, and went to first class myself.

The man was still going. "Captain, my wife is in poor health, this is our only child. If anything happens to him, this family is finished! Please, save my wife and my son!"

The voice was so familiar. Not long ago, my husband had begged a doctor to save our daughter in exactly that same voice, torn open with grief.

Feeling it as if it were my own, my steps quickened without thinking. "Purser, contact the ground medical center. I'll file the diversion—"

The voice cut off.

I saw the boy's father.

And in that moment I finally understood why his voice was so familiar.

Because he was the man I'd been married to for ten years.

Xavier Sawyer flinched too, so startled he forgot to let go of the woman in his arms.

I looked straight into his eyes.

"You skipped our daughter's funeral so you could travel with your mistress and your bastard son?"

...

Xavier's gaze slid away on instinct.

But the next second he turned smoothly to the woman beside him. "Careful, Secretary Swanson. Don't fall again."

As if all he'd done was steady her out of kindness.

He took a few steps toward me, putting the woman behind him, and asked in a gentle voice, "Mia, you had a flight assignment? Why didn't you tell me?"

I gave a cold laugh. "Didn't expect me to catch you in the act?"

He looked at me like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What act? This is Dora Swanson. She's the widow of my old driver."

"The man gave his life to save me. I promised I'd look after his family, so I made Dora my secretary."

He reached for my hand. "It's hard for a single mother out on her own. Just now I was afraid your crew wouldn't take it seriously, so I said I was her husband on purpose. I was only helping. You're not going to be petty about it, are you?"

I pulled back from his touch and didn't answer him.

"Yesterday you told me you were going to Los Angeles for business. This afternoon you messaged me that you'd just arrived. And now here you are on a flight to Iceland."

"So it turns out my husband is Doraemon, with a door that takes him anywhere he likes."

Xavier's hand froze in midair, and for a moment he had nothing to say.

That was when Dora Swanson began to cry, soft and pitiful.

"Xavier— no, Mr. Sawyer! Please, save Felix Cross! If anything happens to him, I, I couldn't—"

And then her body swayed hard.

"Dora!" Xavier's face changed at once, and he rushed over and caught her in his arms.

He looked at me, pleading. "Mia, file the diversion first. Don't let our family business cost this child his life. You went through Nora's death. You of all people understand how Dora feels, don't you?"

"Shut up!" My voice shot up. "You still dare to bring up Nora!"

"You, her own father, didn't go to her funeral. Instead you were off playing with your mistress and your bastard. What right do you have to say her name?"

Xavier's eyes darkened, and his voice went cold. "Are you telling me you want Dora to suffer the same pain you did? To lose her child too?"

I curled my lips in contempt. "If you'd gone to your daughter's funeral, if the two of them hadn't gotten on this flight with you, none of this would be happening."

"Her pain isn't my doing. You brought it on yourselves!"

I hated the way Xavier twisted it back on me, but a captain's professionalism and my own decency still made me raise my hand to the radio.

Rage churned in Xavier's eyes, and then, all at once, he started to applaud.

"Everyone, take a good look. This is your so-called gold-standard captain!"

"A passenger's life is in danger, and instead of doing everything she can to save him, she sneers, spreads lies, stirs up trouble, and deliberately delays treatment! Does a woman like this even deserve to be a captain?"

Before the passengers around us could react, my radio came alive first.

"Captain Vance, your diversion request has been approved. Please prepare."

"Vance copies."

I answered even as I looked coldly at Xavier.

His expression shifted through shock, fury, and humiliation. "When did you—"

The purser couldn't hold back. "Captain Vance filed the diversion request the moment she understood the situation. She didn't hesitate for a single second!"

The whole of first class went silent.

Xavier's face turned ashen, completely robbed of words,

I didn't spare him another glance. I signaled the purser to calm the passengers, then turned and strode toward the cockpit.

“Amelia Vance!”

　　I hadn't gone more than a few steps when Xavier caught up.

　　I stopped and turned around.

　　The narrow, cramped passage held only the two of us.

　　The air was so heavy it was almost hard to breathe.

　　Xavier stared at me, his eyes dark.

　　“You said just now that Dora and I brought this on ourselves?”

　　“Let me throw that right back at you. Our marriage turning out like this—that's what you brought on yourself!”

　　For a moment I just stood there.

　　A few seconds ago, I'd actually thought he'd come after me to apologize.

　　I never imagined he'd come to twist the blame onto me instead.

　　Only then did I realize how laughable that hope had been.

　　He saw the shock and hurt on my face, and it didn't move him at all.

　　“The youngest captain the airline's ever had. You must be pretty proud of yourself.”

　　“You think you did that on your own? Let me tell you, it was the money I invested in your company!”

　　“I helped you reach your dream, and what did you do for me?”

　　“How many meals have you ever cooked for me? How many business dinners have you shown up to? Have you ever done a single thing to help my career?”

　　“Do you even remember you're my wife?”

　　It was like resentment he'd been storing up for a long time finally had somewhere to go, and the loathing in his eyes was something he couldn't hide.

　　“All the things a wife is supposed to do, the things you never did—Dora did them for me.”

　　“Even on business trips abroad, she worried I wouldn't take to the food, so she'd humble herself asking the hotel to lend her a kitchen and cook for me with her own hands.”

　　“Only beside her do I feel what a home is supposed to feel like!”

　　Every word was a needle, driven into my heart one after another.

　　The road to becoming a captain—yes, my family had given up a great deal for that dream.

　　But I never forgot that Xavier had a bad stomach, and every time I came back I fought through the jet lag and exhaustion to make him a bowl of chicken soup with my own hands.

　　When his investments failed, I emptied out every bit of my savings to cover the hole, and I applied for the maximum overtime the company allowed, all so I could earn a little more and help him get back on his feet.

　　And there was one thing I never told him.

　　I should have made captain long before he ever put money into the company.

　　But the day before my evaluation, his angioedema flared up. I stayed at the hospital and looked after him for a week without sleep, and I missed it.

　　I was afraid he'd blame himself, so I never brought it up—and I never imagined it would let him believe I'd only gotten here because of him.

　　He faulted me over and over for not washing his clothes, not cooking, not playing the social game for him.

　　And he was blind to everything I'd given to him and to this family.

　　He never once spared a thought for how much pressure and torment I carried, every single flight, with hundreds of lives resting on my shoulders.

　　My heart went cold, all the way through.

　　And still Xavier wasn't done.

　　“You're not just a failure as a wife, you're a failure as a mother too!”

　　“You saw how frantic Dora was over Felix just now. Doesn't it make you ashamed of yourself?”

　　“So I didn't go to Nora's funeral—but didn't you go straight back to work the second it was over? Did you feel any grief at all over Nora's death?”

　　“Deep down you think it's a good thing Nora died, don't you—finally rid of the dead weight that was dragging down your career!”

　　Crack!

　　I couldn't hold back a second longer, and my hand cracked across his face.

　　At our daughter's funeral, Xavier's absence as her father had put something strange into the way everyone looked at her portrait.

　　Yet he felt not the slightest shame. Instead he read the worst possible motive into me, using our daughter's death to excuse his own affair!

　　I stared at him, my eyes gone red.

　　Xavier worked his jaw and let out a sneer.

　　“Fine. You can't do wife, you can't do mother—surely you can at least do captain?”

　　“Divert like a good girl. Don't try anything. If one thing goes wrong with Felix, I'll make sure you never work in aviation again!”

　　“And those keepsakes of Nora's you treasure so much—I'll burn every last one of them!”

　　Every sentence tore another gash straight into my heart.

　　Looking at Xavier, for one instant I felt dazed.

　　Ten years of love, and only now was I finally seeing him clearly.

　　My dream and my child were nothing to him but bargaining chips, things to hold over me for the sake of his mistress and his illegitimate son.

　　I closed my eyes and pushed down the sting behind them.

　　“Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to that boy.”

　　“But that doesn't mean I'm answering for your affair.”

　　“I'll divert because it's a captain's duty—to see every passenger safely back to the ground.”

I didn't wait to see how he'd react. I walked straight to the intercom.

Behind me, Xavier stood there, unsettled, his throat working over and over.

I ignored him, announced the diversion plan, and went back to the cockpit.

I hadn't expected him to follow.

I blocked the cockpit door, ignoring the way his mouth kept opening as if he wanted to speak.

"Sir, please return to your seat right away."

He'd never seen me this cold. His pupils shrank, and he suddenly grabbed my arm.

"You're not going to drag out the landing just to get back at me, are you?"

Looking at the naked distrust in his eyes, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Ruin my career, for you?" I shook his hand off. "You're not worth it."

With that, I slipped into the cockpit.

But as I moved to shut the door, he jammed it hard.

"I don't trust you. What if you settle scores at everyone's expense? Swap her out! Let the first officer fly!"

The first officer stiffened, then said evenly, "Captain Vance is the best pilot at this airline. Her skill and professionalism are known by everyone."

"She's handled countless emergency diversions, including far worse conditions in bad weather, and she still has a spotless zero-incident record."

"If you keep this up, can you take responsibility for what happens?"

Xavier's face darkened until it looked ready to drip.

Of course he couldn't take responsibility.

His precious illegitimate son was in danger, and his beloved mistress was heartbroken.

Only I could save them.

He had no choice but to pull his hand back, seething, and watch the door close in front of his eyes.

Every bit of the noise was shut out.

I let out a slow breath.

The pain of losing my daughter, my husband's betrayal—all of it, every love and hatred, set aside for now.

In the pilot's seat, I was only the captain of this flight.

The one thing in my mind was getting every passenger safely on the ground.

Twenty minutes later, the plane touched down smoothly.

The instant I set the parking brake, my vision blurred.

The blows one after another and the high-intensity flying had drained me, body and mind.

But I couldn't let go yet.

I made my way to the cabin door and saw Xavier hurrying toward it.

He didn't spare me a single glance. He slammed into me, shoving me aside.

Before the dark took me, all I heard was his voice, thick with reassurance.

"Don't be scared, Dora. Felix is going to be fine."

Xavier stood in front of the cabin door. One second, two seconds.

The door still hadn't opened.

His brow drew tighter and tighter, and what little patience he had left burned away fast.

His voice shot up. "Amelia Vance! What kind of game are you playing now?"

Just then, the head flight attendant cried out.

"Captain Vance! Wake up! Are you all right?"

"She sat up all night at the wake yesterday without sleeping, got called back to work the moment the funeral ended, and then that whole thing happened. In just a few days, look how thin she's gotten!"

Xavier froze, and only then did he notice how gaunt my face had become.

His chest tightened without his meaning it to. "She... passed out?"

Dora tugged at his sleeve. "Xavier, Miss Vance looks really bad. She probably needs to go to the hospital. She... she wouldn't take Felix's ambulance, would she?"

"She wouldn't dare." Xavier's expression turned cold. "She was full of life a minute ago when I wanted her replaced, and now that she's seen the ambulance she's playing dead. You guessed it—that's exactly what she's after, the ambulance."

I opened my eyes slowly, straight into the contempt filling his.

"What? Not going to keep pretending?"

Whatever last trace of warmth was left in my heart went cold for good.

Bracing myself against the wall, I made it to the cabin door and used the last of my strength to turn the handle.

The door swung open with a boom. I stayed inside and didn't look at Xavier again.

After the ambulance left, the crew received notice that the flight couldn't take off because of the weather.

At the head flight attendant's insistence, I was taken to the hospital for an IV too.

On my way out, I passed the room next door and heard Dora's voice inside, tearful.

"Xavier, why isn't Felix waking up? I'm so scared..."

"I looked into it. This hospital isn't good at treating Felix's condition, but the one in the next city is, and it's closer to the airport too."

"Do you think Captain Vance picked a hospital that can't cure Felix on purpose, just to get back at us?"