Trapped in the Inferno My Firefighter Husband Chose His First Love

Theater: NovelMaster  |  Language: English  |  NEW

Synopsis

My daughter was trapped in a raging fire, waiting to be saved.
My husband was a firefighter.
Yet, I didn't beg him to go in. Instead, I called the precinct directly and demanded other teams step in.
In my past life, I fell to my knees and begged him until he finally led his squad into the inferno. My daughter was pulled out and rushed to the ER, safe and sound.
But because he ran into the fire, he missed a phone call from Hailey—his precious first love. Depressed, Hailey jumped from a rooftop and ended her life.
My husband disappeared for three whole days. When he returned, he was surprisingly gentle with us.
Then, on our wedding anniversary, he laced our food with sedatives.
He opened the gas valves, letting the fumes fill every corner of the house, before striking a lighter.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't forced me to save that brat, I would've answered Hailey's call! She wouldn't have died! It was you! You killed her!"
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the fire started.
This time, he got to take her call.
So why, in the end, did he get on his knees and beg for my forgiveness?
"Clara, I get that you're anxious, but we've already swept the building. There are zero survivors inside!"
A square-jawed man named Ben blocked my path.
Behind him, the building roared with flames. Yet his face carried a smirk of utter disdain.
He was my husband's colleague.
The moment I woke up in this life, I sprinted here to pull my daughter out before the building completely flashed over.
Yet Ben stood in front of me like a wall, insisting no one was inside.
Watching the smoke billow and darken, I lunged forward, desperate to break through, only for Ben to shove me back violently.
"Clara, cut the crap. It’s not funny anymore."
"I've cut you enough slack just because you're Scott's wife."
Ben glared at me, disgust dripping from his voice. In his eyes, if I hadn't caused trouble between Scott and Hailey, Scott wouldn't have missed that major awards banquet, offended the brass, and been stuck on ground duty for years.
Ever since that incident, Ben despised me.
Right then, another fire ball burst through a third-story window, tongue of flame licking three feet into the sky.
"Let go of me! My daughter is in there!"
I surged forward again, ready to brave the burning inferno.
Ben raised his arm and slammed both hands into my chest, knocking me back.
"Clara, that's enough!"
"Scott isn't even here! Who are you putting on this drama for?"
Stumbling back several paces, my eyes burned red as flames tore through the window frames.
"Ben! She really is in there!"
"If you won't save her, get out of my way! I'll do it myself!"
I charged again, but the other firefighters stepped up, grabbing my jacket and dragging me back.
"Damn, she's really committing to the act this time!"
"Too bad Scott's away. She's just talking to a wall."
"Honestly, how did a psycho like her land Scott? She must’ve hit the jackpot."
They shoved me out of the cordon. The radiant heat was already drenching me in sweat.
Every second that ticked by, the fire grew fiercer.
Seeing that I couldn't break through their human wall, I screamed at the top of my lungs toward the gathering crowd, "The firefighters are abandoning a child! My daughter is still inside!"
Bystanders turned their heads, murmuring among themselves.
Ben's face darkened. When the woman realized her act wasn't working, she actually dared to slander them in public.
He took two long strides, stepped up, and kicked me hard in the stomach, knocking me flat onto the pavement.
A sharp, agonizing pain knocked the wind out of me. I couldn't get up.
I retched on the asphalt, trembling in agony, but I still clawed at the ground, trying to stand.
How much longer could the household appliances withstand the heat?
Once they blew, the fire would flash over instantly, cutting off any remaining escape routes.
Even worse, one explosion would trigger a domino effect across the whole floor.
At that moment, my parents rushed to the scene, out of breath.
"Clara! Where's Lily?"
The two elderly people looked at the blazing inferno, and a wave of pure horror washed over them.
BOOM!
A muffled, heavy explosion shook the core of the building.
My heart plummeted into an abyss."What are you guys standing around for?! Save our granddaughter!"
My parents wailed in sheer panic.
BOOM!
Inside the burning apartment, electronics overheated and detonated!
A violent secondary explosion tore through the walls.
My vision went black for a second. The fiery maw belched thick, pitch-black toxic smoke into the sky.
My parents broke down into agonized shrieks. "Lily! My baby!"
"It's an oven in there! Someone save our baby!"
My head spun violently. Memories of my past life flooded my mind.
Back then, Scott had led his unit into the blaze and brought Lily out alive.
During those twenty minutes, Hailey called his phone more than a dozen times. When she couldn't reach him, she threw herself off a roof.
Scott vanished for three days while Lily was in the ICU.
When he finally came back, he turned in his badge, quit the department, and stayed home every day to play the devoted husband.
I was so relieved. I thought he was finally choosing us.
Then came our anniversary. He slipped lethal doses of sleeping pills into our dinner.
He dragged me onto the balcony, where he had set up a shrine for Hailey, demanding that I kneel and apologize to her portrait.
I had no idea what I had done wrong.
Saving his own daughter wasn't a crime! Hailey's suicide was her own doing!
Why did her death have to be pinned on me?
Scott wouldn't hear a single word against her.
After beating me until I couldn't move, he opened the propane valve and struck a match. The shockwave and fire consumed me whole.
Now, the scorching heat slapped me in the face, snapping me back to reality.
I knew what was inside that building. Not just electronics—there were propane tanks in the utility kitchen.
If those blew, the whole place would become an inescapable crematorium.
Where could my little girl hide? I had to get to her before the gas blew.
I scrambled up and bolted for the entrance again, but Ben blocked me like a solid wall of stone.
Looking at my desperate eyes, a flicker of doubt crossed his face.
Still, he dug his heels in. "Clara, I told you, we cleared it! There's no one in there! Stop throwing a damn tantrum!"
The spectators began to turn on me, agitated. "Appliances are exploding! It's suicide to go in there right now!"
"If the firefighters go back in and it blows again, who takes responsibility?"
My parents tried to grab at the firefighters' gear, pleading for them to do one more sweep, but the crowd pulled them away.
A wave of freezing nausea bubbled up in my throat. Even the roaring furnace couldn't warm the cold dread in my bones.
Every wasted second made her survival chances slimmer. I couldn't bear to imagine the agony Lily was enduring inside.
I struggled frantically to get past, but Ben held me down with brute force.
BOOM!
Another massive blast. More electronics went off in a chain reaction.
Blazing tongues of fire surged through the shattered concrete.
The entire structure began to groan under the strain.
Heavy load-bearing beams cracked and gave way.
My daughter! If the ceiling collapses, she won’t stand a chance!
"Do something! The building is warping! If you don't go in, my granddaughter is dead!" my mother shrieked, sobbing hysterically.Watching the destruction unfold, I dug my fingernails into my palms until blood dripped onto the pavement.
Knowing I couldn't get past Ben, I turned and sprinted toward the incident commander.
"Captain! I know you have the authority to send a team in! Please, I'm begging you, save my daughter!"
"She really is trapped on the third floor!"
As I spoke, I threw myself onto the pavement, slamming my forehead against the concrete. Again, and again.
Blood mixed with tears and grime ran down my face in ribbons.
For my daughter, I threw away every ounce of pride. Despite the blinding pain in my skull, I kept hitting the ground, begging.
Captain Miller's eyes widened. He could tell this wasn't an act.
Just as he raised his radio to deploy a rescue unit, Ben stepped in and grabbed his arm.
"Captain, you can't be falling for this! She’s pulling a stunt! Scott swept the unit himself before he transferred to the secondary scene. He confirmed it's completely clear!"
"This woman is an obsessive psycho. She’s just throwing a fit because Scott isn't here. She wants to force him back. The minute he shows up, she'll claim she 'remembered wrong'!"
The other firefighters immediately backed Ben up.
"Yeah, Scott's wife has serious attachment issues. She can't stand him being away for five minutes."
"Scott missed his Medal of Valor ceremony because of her drama and pissed off the chief. That's why he's still stuck doing rookie runs."
Listening to their vile assumptions, I felt like the air was being sucked from my lungs.
That's a lie! It wasn't like that at all!
If I hadn't pushed Scott to train during every off-duty hour, how could he have built up the stamina to become a local hero?
It was Hailey who constantly faked panic attacks and depression to leech every second of his free time!
The crowd, listening to Ben's words, looked at me with open hostility, looking like they wanted to tear me apart.
Their words successfully cooled the captain's resolve.
Captain Miller frowned, looking down at my bloody face.
He meant to scold me, but seeing how battered I was, he softened his tone slightly.
"Ma'am, please. Our men already conducted multiple sweeps. It is impossible for anyone to be alive in there."
"You probably just can't reach your daughter because she wandered off somewhere else. This is an active fire ground. Please trust our professional judgment."
The moment he finished, my parents fell to their knees alongside me.
They trusted me completely. If I said Lily was in there, she was in there.
She was their only grandchild. Losing her would kill them both.
My father was the first to smash his forehead onto the pavement. Soon, his skin split, staining the ground red.
My mother followed suit, sobbing and striking the asphalt covered in sharp debris, her forehead soon drenched in blood.
My throat was completely shredded, my voice hoarse and broken.
"I beg you... just go in and look one more time!"
Captain Miller looked visibly shaken. The angry shouts from the crowd died down into an uneasy silence.
The other firefighters shifted their boots, looking at each other awkwardly.
Just as their resolve began to crack, the radio on Ben's chest crackled, followed by his phone ringing.
Ben answered it. It was my husband, Scott.
"Scott! Clara is making a massive scene at the site, demanding we send guys back into the fire to find your daughter."
Scott's voice came through cold and flat over the speaker. "I'm on a rescue call across town. As long as you guys confirmed the place is clear, ignore her."
"Don't waste department resources on her psychotic episodes."Scott's merciless tone made my parents sob even harder.
My dad screamed into the phone, "Scott, have you lost your damn mind?! That is your daughter! She is trapped in that fire! Do you have any idea how big the flames are?!"
Hearing the commotion, Scott simply hung up without a second thought.
Tears streamed down my parents' wrinkled, bloody faces. They couldn't fathom how a father could be this heartless to his own flesh and blood.
All they could do was turn back to Captain Miller, smashing their heads onto the ground repeatedly.
"Please... save our baby girl... Clara wouldn't lie about this... please..." Their voices faded into broken gasps.
My heart felt like it was being ripped apart by rusty knives. Gritting my teeth, I prepared to sprint past the perimeter line again.
The second I stood up, Ben caught me by the arm. "Clara, are you out of your damn mind?!"
Watching the horrific scene, the bystanders' hearts began to melt.
"Maybe... maybe they should just do a quick search?"
"Yeah, man, no one could fake pain like that."
BOOM!
A thunderous blast ripped through the air, shaking the asphalt beneath our feet.
"A gas tank blew!" someone in the crowd screamed in terror.
My stomach plummeted into an icy void. The propane blew.
I couldn't fathom the terror and agony my little girl was facing in that raging furnace!
Ben sneered and stepped closer, glaring down at me coldly.
"Did you hear that blast? That was a gas cylinder!"
"Clara, do you have any idea how many of our guys would die if we charged in right now?!"
Captain Miller let out a quiet sigh of relief, clearly glad Ben had talked him out of sending men in.
Yet right at that moment, beneath the roar of the flames and the settling debris, a faint, shrill scream pierced the smoke.
"Mommy—!"
It was a child's cry, filled with sheer agony and terror. Everyone froze.
"Listen! That sounds like a kid crying!" a firefighter yelled, pointing his flashlight at the window.
The crowd instantly erupted.
"I heard it too!"
"There really is a child in there!"
"What the hell are you waiting for?! Move! Save the kid!"
Ben's smug expression instantly vanished. He stared at the burning third-floor window in absolute shock.
"Gear up! Full rescue protocol, MOVE!" Captain Miller roared at the top of his lungs.

Chapters (4)

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Watch & Promotions

• Search this code in the NovelMaster app: 522962 Open NovelMaster → Search code → Find the title