Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Lena pouted and convinced Lamont into arranging her discharge papers from the hospital.

Last night, Lamont had carried Lena in his arms and ran frantically. They hitched a ride and ended up here after a long journey.

Nearby was a famous tourist spot. It was packed with people.

Amidst the laughter and cheer, Lamont affectionately ruffled Lena’s hair.

“Since we’re already here, why not stay and enjoy ourselves?”

“Let’s consider it... a celebration of our narrow escape. I’ll go buy the tickets.”

Lena clearly wanted to explore too.

“But the tickets are kind of pricey. They are $300 each!”

She looked at Lamont timidly as she shivered in the cold wind.

Lamont quickly wrapped his arms around her, pinched her nose, and warmed her hands.

“Silly girl, if you want to have fun, don’t worry about $300. I’d go with you even if it cost $30,000!”

Hovering in the air, I listened in shock.

During our relationship, whenever I spent even a little money, he would call me vain and lavish, even if that money was my own.

He never gave me gifts for holidays either.

On our first anniversary, we went on our first trip together.

When we passed a scenic spot, I pouted and said I wanted to check it out.

For a $20 admission fee, he berated me in the street while pointing at my face.

“What’s the point of going there? Isn’t $20 still a lot of money?!

“Serena, how can you be so wasteful? You’d better be saving money. Money grows when you save it!”

He shoved me roughly to the ground.

A glass ornament fell from my pocket and shattered.

Lamont saw it and stomped on it viciously. Then, he stormed off.

“Let’s just break up! If you get even a little bit of money, you waste it on useless trinkets. Aren’t you too old to be acting so childish?

“You make me sick!”

Through tear-filled eyes, I stared at the shattered ornament. It revealed a corner of a photograph.

This was my anniversary gift to him. It had taken almost half a year to craft it.

I poured my heart into it. I had hidden our first photo together inside it.

I stared at the photo he had stomped on as tears streamed down my face.

When I watched Lamont and Lena buying park tickets arm-in-arm, my heart ached but no tears emerged from my eyes.

Lena suddenly slapped her forehead.

“Lamont, have you contacted Serena? She can’t still be trapped in the rubble, can she? That could be deadly!”

Lamont sighed in annoyance.

“Lena, you’re just too kind!

“What’s so great about Serena that you worry about her so much?

“If she hadn’t set us up, would we have ended up fleeing to this place in such a mess yesterday?

“I hope that someone has died!

“A venomous woman like her deserves to rot in filth!

“Come on, let’s go have some fun and relax. Don’t let that parasite ruin our mood!”

“Lamont, calm down. I’m worried about Serena. She is your wife, after all. I care about you, so I care about her…”

Lena suddenly stopped talking, yanked Lamont’s collar down, and pressed her lips against his.

During the passionate kiss, she clung desperately to his neck, as if trying to merge herself into his body.

Lamont pushed her away with a complicated look on his face.

“Lena, I have a wife! We can’t do this!”

Lena lowered her head shyly.

“I’m sorry, Lamont. I just couldn’t hold myself back.”

Lost in their passion, they had completely forgotten about me, who was still trapped beneath the rebars.

This was not supposed to happen to me at all. It was Lena’s quick actions that dragged me in to be her shield!

When the quake first hit, I had warned them to evacuate immediately.

While other tourists scrambled for safety, the two of them strolled along as if touring their own backyard. They dismissed my concerns as an overreaction.

They lived carelessly, yet it was my life that had ended.

The steel rebars pierced through my chest.

The blood froze onto the rebars. Every breath felt like my body was being sliced open.

I desperately reached for my phone and called Lamont repeatedly until my battery died. He never answered even one call.