On her birthday, Sophia Andrews cooked a whole table full of dishes and waited for her husband to bring their son back from her mother-in-law’s place so they could celebrate together.
The food had just been set out when her phone rang.
"I’m working late tonight. I’m not coming back." Richard Andrews’s flat, distant voice came through the phone.
"Richard, today is my—"
Before Sophia could finish, the call was already cut off.
She listened to the dead tone buzzing in her ear, and her heart just sank.
She had wanted to tell Richard that today was her birthday, to ask if he could skip just one day of overtime and stay with her for a while. He’d been working late six days straight this week. She wasn’t asking for much. Just one day. That was it.
Then suddenly, an explosion ripped through the building, and everything in front of Sophia went black.
When she came to, a sharp, piercing pain shot through her leg. Only then did she realize a cabinet had slammed down onto her calf. Flames were roaring all around her now, thick and vicious, sealing her in like a trap.
With trembling hands, Sophia struggled to call Richard.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Why wasn’t he answering?
Luckily, Sophia was rescued alive. Only then did she learn there had been a gas leak downstairs, and the explosion had set everything off. She had burns all over her body, and her leg was fractured too.
As she was being lifted into the ambulance, she suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting like crazy, "My wife is hurt! Give us the ambulance right now!"
That was... Richard’s voice!
Wasn’t he supposed to be working late?
Ignoring the pain, she forced herself up and looked outside the ambulance. There he was, arguing with the medical staff like a man losing his mind.
In his arms, he was holding a woman tightly. His face was dark with fury, but underneath it was pure panic and worry.
In eight years of marriage, Sophia had never once seen Richard this emotional.
And Christopher, her son, stood beside him wiping away tears, crying pitifully, "My mom is hurt! Please save my mom..."
"Sir, please understand, we have to arrange treatment based on how serious the injuries are. This lady is in worse condition, so she needs medical attention first."
"Richard... it hurts so much..." The woman in Richard Andrews's arms buried her face in his chest, her voice thin and shaky, weak like a little kitten.
Richard's face darkened at once. "No one matters more than my wife!"
"Please save my mom!" Christopher was so anxious he was practically spinning in circles. Even then, he kept coaxing softly, "Mom, don't be scared. We'll be at the hospital really soon."
The medical worker looked helpless. "Mr. Andrews, we can arrange an ambulance for you first. Which floor do you live on?"
"Building Ten, twenty-eighth floor."
"Sir, the patient already in the ambulance is your neighbor from the twentieth floor downstairs. Could you make a little room and go together to the hospital?"
At those words, Sophia Andrews felt her whole body turn cold.
Her husband had another home.
Not only that, it was in the same residential complex as hers, right upstairs from her.
And the son she had carried for ten months, the boy she had raised with endless care, cleaning him up, feeding him, loving him bit by bit as he grew... was now calling another woman "Mom" with that kind of closeness, like they were the real mother and son.
A chill crawled up Sophia's spine. She struggled to sit up, then forced herself off the ambulance. Her face was pale, her eyes ice-cold as she looked at Richard Andrews and the woman in his arms.
"No need," she said flatly. "Let them have the ambulance."
The moment they saw Sophia, both Richard Andrews and Christopher froze.
Clearly, neither of them had expected the person in the ambulance to be her.
Only then did Sophia get a clear look at the woman's face in Richard's arms.
It was Wendy Yates, the daughter of the Andrews family's maid.
Back then, Richard's parents had looked down on Wendy's background and firmly refused to let them be together.
After they were forced apart, Richard met Sophia.
Then he married her.
Richard fell silent for a moment. His handsome, sharp-featured face was coated in a hard, chilly expression as he said to Sophia, "Wendy is hurt. I'll explain to you later."
After saying that, he didn't even spare Sophia another glance. He simply carried Wendy into the ambulance.
Christopher only looked at Sophia once too.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he followed them up.
...
Half an hour later, Sophia sat alone in the hospital, and she overheard two nurses talking about Richard Andrews.
Wendy Yates had nothing more than a few surface scrapes, yet Richard Andrews acted like she’d suffered some life-threatening injury. He practically dragged an ER doctor away from another patient and ordered him to treat her first, right now.
People nearby were openly jealous, saying Wendy was ridiculously spoiled by her man, loved down to the bone.
Some even whispered they wished they could find a boyfriend like that too.