After my mother-in-law died, I gave up, letting the hurricane tear me from the ground. I landed at my husband Jake’s feet—the rescue captain on his way to expose my "lies." His mother was gone, blood pooling near his boots as his face crumbled. "How... how could this be?" He didn’t know the truth. I had been reborn. In my past life, Souad was pinned under an oak. I called for help, but Jake diverted his team to find his ex’s dog. "Stop the act, Tanya!" he snarled. "A woman like you deserves to be crushed!" I watched Souad die, my hands bloody from trying to lift the trunk. Jake blamed me, letting me and our child die in agony—then started a new life with Zoey. When I opened my eyes, I was back. The day the hurricane hit. … The wind sliced at my skin like a thousand tiny knives. I braced my pregnant belly, my hands clawing at the rough bark of the tree, trying to lift it, trying to save Souad pinned beneath. It was useless, like an ant trying to move a mountain. My hands were already slick with blood, but the trunk wouldn't budge an inch. Souad, her strength failing, lifted a weak hand and tugged at my pant leg, trying to speak. Her voice was a whisper, lost in the howling gale. Then, an eerie calm descended. The eye of the storm was passing over. I leaned down, pressing my ear to her lips. "My sweet girl," she rasped, her voice trembling. "You have the baby to think of. Go. Run, find somewhere safe, now!" "After I'm gone, my million dollars, the house... it's all yours. Find your own happiness, you hear me? I'm so sorry, Tanya. I'm so, so sorry…" Her words dissolved into a wet cough as she choked up a mouthful of blood. Souad had treated me like her own daughter. Even now, her only thought was for my safety. A pain so sharp it stole my breath stabbed through my chest. No matter how many times I had to live this life, I would never abandon her. "Mom, hold on," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "Jake is the captain of the rescue squad! He'll be here any minute, he'll save you!" A flicker of hope ignited in her eyes, but as the words left my mouth, my own heart sank like a stone. I knew better. Last time, Jake never even answered my call. Remembering this, I grabbed Souad’s phone from her pocket and dialed his number. He wouldn't ignore his own mother's phone, would he? He picked up on the first ring. "Jake! Mom is trapped under a fallen tree! You have to get over here, we're on—" "Tanya?" His voice was ice. "How dare you drag my mother into your pathetic little drama?" "It's not a drama!" I stomped my foot in desperation, my eyes locked on Souad's whimpering, helpless form. "How could I possibly joke about something like this? We're on City Hall Avenue—" "Don't even try it! I know some trees are down over there. You think that makes your story believable? A pathological liar like you is the one who deserves to be crushed!" Just as he finished, a cloyingly sweet voice drifted through the phone. "Jakey, honey, come hold me. I'm so scared." I recognized it instantly. Zoey. His ex. The absurdity of it all ignited a fire in my gut. "You'd rather stay there fooling around with her than save your own mother? Are you even human, Jake?!" "Don't be ridiculous, Tanya. You're the one making false emergency calls! I have to help Zoey secure her windows. Stop calling and bothering me!" He hung up. When I tried to call back, I was blocked. Souad, who had heard everything, closed her eyes in utter despair, two silent tears tracing paths through the dirt on her cheeks. "It's no use. Go, child. This is my punishment for raising such a heartless son." I bit my lip, refusing to give up. I dialed the rescue squad's main dispatch. The dispatcher was one of Jake's subordinates, a young man named Miller. I quickly explained the situation. His voice was grave. "Ma'am, Mrs. Turner? Please, hang in there. I'm dispatching a unit immediately!" I thanked him, my heart pounding as I began to pace. But ten minutes stretched into an eternity, and the empty road remained empty. No flashing lights, no siren. The wind was already picking up again. Once the eye of the storm passed, the hurricane's fury would return with a vengeance. Souad wouldn't survive it. Frantic, I was about to call dispatch again when my phone rang. It was Jake. "Are you insane, Tanya?!" he roared. "Just because you're my wife doesn't mean you can abuse emergency resources! Your jealousy has to have a limit!" A sickening premonition washed over me, and my eyes filled with tears. "She's not going to make it, Jake," I begged, my voice shaking. "Please, just believe me this one time! If I'm lying, may I drop dead right here! Even if you don't care about me or the baby, she's your mother!" There was a brief silence on his end, but then the phone was snatched away. It was Zoey, her voice a broken, tear-choked mess. "Tanya, I know you hate me," she sobbed, "but Dumpling is like a child to me and Jake! He's missing! How could you call in a fake emergency and stop the rescue team from looking for him? Every minute he's out there is another minute of danger! If something happens to him, I... I don't want to live anymore!" Dumpling. The dog he and Zoey had raised together. The dog he still visited in the middle of the night, even after we were married. The irony was suffocating. When that dog had a cold, Jake was a wreck, fussing over it day and night. When I had a raging fever during my pregnancy, I didn't even get a single word of concern. All the resentment I had buried came surging to the surface. I was done with Zoey's performance. "You didn't leash your dog in the middle of a hurricane? Sounds like you let him out on purpose! Why don't you check the security cameras or look around your own neighborhood instead of wasting the time of a rescue team that has actual human lives to save?!" Zoey's sobs escalated into hysterical gasps. Jake's voice exploded with rage. "A dog is a living creature too! God, Tanya, you're just a cold, heartless, jealous bitch!" "No matter how heartless I am," I said, my voice dripping with ice, "I'm not the monster who'd let his own mother die." That was the spark that lit the fuse. "You bitch! How long are you going to keep up this act? You just had my mom send Zoey a string of hateful messages, and now you're cursing her to death? What is wrong with you!" he screamed. "Tanya, a soulless monster like you should just hurry up and die!" His words grew viler, uglier. My last shred of hope withered and died. I hung up. Just as I was about to try calling Miller again, a text message came through from him. I'm so sorry, Mrs. Turner. The captain just gave a direct order. All units are being redirected to The Willows apartment complex. The truck that was halfway to you had to turn back. The captain was very specific... that we were to ignore your call. I'm sorry. It's a critical situation, we can't afford to waste resources. I looked at Souad, who had passed out from the pain. In a fit of desperate agony, I slammed my fists against the tree trunk, a raw, hopeless scream tearing from my throat. The hurricane roared back to life, its power even more terrifying than before. This time, broken in body and spirit, I had no fight left. I collapsed to the ground, limp and defeated, and let the ferocious wind lift me like a rag doll. It threw me through the air, and I slammed hard against an oncoming vehicle. My head shattered the windshield, and a hot, wet gush of blood erupted from between my legs. In the driver's seat, I saw him. Jake. One arm was wrapped around Zoey, his eyes wide with an expression of pure, uncomprehending horror. His mouth opened, and I could just make out the shape of the words. "How could—"
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