Chapter 1

At the celebration banquet for my husband Ethan’s search-and-rescue team, his drunken deputy captain slurred with deep emotion:

"Nobody puts the greater good above himself like Captain Miller! Knowing his own wife was trapped under the rubble, he still gave the order to dig out his late brother’s widow first!"

The fork in my hand trembled. I forced a stiff smile.

"Cut it out, Mike. The signal died during the aftershocks. Ethan couldn't detect my location—that’s the only reason he saved Chloe first."

Seeing my skepticism, Mike grew agitated and slammed the mission log down onto the table.

"Couldn't detect it? Your distress beacon was practically blinding! Captain Miller shut off the receiver with his own hands! He said if his sister-in-law got scared half to death, he’d never be able to face his late brother!"

I slowly turned my head toward Ethan.

He averted his gaze.

"Maya, you’re the spouse of a rescue worker. We had to avoid any suspicion of favoritism. I couldn't let people say I only cared about saving my own wife."

A phantom throb flared deep in my lower abdomen. My eight-month-old unborn baby, whose little kicks had gone completely still beneath that concrete, had waited in vain for his father.

I flipped the entire dining table, tears bursting from my eyes.

"So being your wife means I deserve to be sacrificed? Fine. If that’s how it is, let's get a divorce."

Dead silence instantly engulfed the private room.

The table flipped violently, sending scalding broth and greasy leftovers crashing across the floor, splashing all over Ethan’s crisp uniform.

Several drops of red chili oil splattered onto Chloe’s pale, frightened little face.

"Ahhh!" Chloe shrieked, collapsing right into Ethan’s embrace. "Ethan, I’m terrified..."

Ethan’s reaction time was faster than a sprinter off the blocks.

He threw his arms around Chloe. The eyes that had just glared at me with impatient coldness were now brimming with tender concern and raw panic.

"Don't be scared! It’s okay now, I’m here!"

Once he calmed her down, he snapped his head around and glared at me, the veins on his neck bulging violently.

"Maya! Have you lost your damn mind?"

"Tonight was meant to celebrate a successful rescue! The team put their lives on the line for half a month straight! We finally get one quiet meal, and you throw a tantrum like this?"

"You’re a rescue worker’s wife—where is your sense of the bigger picture? You are being completely irrational!"

The surrounding teammates exchanged uneasy glances. Some awkwardly wiped greasy broth off their clothes, while others frowned in my direction, their eyes dripping with blame.

Mike, now half-sober, hurried over to de-escalate.

"Maya, please, take a breath. Ethan didn't mean it like that..."

"Get the hell away from me!"

I shoved Mike’s arm away, pointing at the two clingy bodies still tangled together, laughing so hard that tears streamed down my face.

"The bigger picture? Ethan, your 'bigger picture' was watching your eight-months-pregnant wife bleed to death under a mountain of concrete while you led a full crew to dig out a woman who had a barely visible scratch on her finger?"

"Your so-called 'avoiding favoritism' was sacrificing your own son’s chance at life, just so strangers could praise what an honorable, selfless hero Captain Miller is?"

Hearing the word "son," Ethan’s eyes flickered, but only for a fraction of a second.

He furrowed his brow, maintaining his upright, sanctimonious tone.

"The situation on the ground was chaotic! It wasn't an easy call for me either! Chloe is fragile and she was traumatized. You’ve had emergency training; I knew you could hold out! I’m the captain—I lead by example! If I ran to save my own wife first, what would the crew think? They’d say I abused my authority for personal gain!"

"Besides, losing the baby broke my heart too, but it was an accident! The doctors clearly stated your body wasn't strong enough to begin with. How can you pin the entire blame on rescue priority? You're being incredibly selfish!"

Listen to him.

Is that something a human being even says?

My body wasn't strong enough? To prepare for this pregnancy, I worked out every single day. My vitals were so stellar even the obstetrician praised them.

If I hadn't been pinned beneath the rubble for ten straight hours, if I hadn't slipped into hypovolemic shock from internal bleeding, how could my baby have died?

And how would I have ended up losing my uterus in an emergency hysterectomy just to save my own life?

"Ethan, since you're so noble and selfless, and since you love playing the martyr so much, you can live with your precious reputation for the rest of your life."

I pulled a crumpled medical diagnosis from my purse and slammed it right into his face.

"Open your blind eyes and look at it! I didn't just lose the baby—I lost my uterus! And every single drop of it is thanks to you!"

"We are getting divorced! And if you don't sign, you're a pathetic coward!"

Without sparing another glance at the hypocrites in the room, I spun on my heel and walked out.

Behind me came Ethan’s furious, defensive roar: "Maya! Don't you dare walk out that door! If you leave, don't ever come back! Who do you think you’re scaring with divorce? I’ve spoiled you rotten!"

Then came Chloe’s tearful, sickeningly sweet whimper: "Ethan, don't blame Maya... it’s all my fault. I’m the one who ruined everything between you two. Should I go get on my knees and beg for her forgiveness...?"

"Why should you kneel? You’re a victim too! She’s just petty and jealous, ignore her! Once she runs out of money in a couple of days, she’ll come crawling back on her own!"

Ha.

Run out of money?

Ethan seemed to have forgotten that over the past few years, he funneled almost his entire paycheck to his late brother’s widow. Every single brick of our home, his car, even the underwear on his back—what part of it wasn't bought with my hard-earned money?

Crawling back to him?

Keep dreaming.