Chapter 7 The House Is on Fire, and I Can’t Get Out

The departure hall was bustling with people coming and going. The PA system kept announcing flight information over and over. Emily nervously rubbed the strap of her bag.

Finally, the airport announcement came on—her flight was about to start boarding.

Emily let out a heavy breath and walked over with her bag to join the queue.

But right at that moment, her phone rang again.

She thought it was Joe calling again and was about to turn it off, but when she saw the caller ID, her hand trembled.

It was Nicholas calling!

She quickly answered, and before she could say anything, she heard trembling crying from the other end.

"Ms. Johnson, the house is on fire, I can't get out!"

Emily's heart immediately jumped to her throat. "You... you're at home? How are you now? Where's your mom?"

"I don't know..." Nicholas coughed twice. "The door is locked, Mom's not home."

"Ms. Johnson, there's smoke everywhere, I can't put out the fire, I'm at the door..."

"Get down low, see if you can cover your nose and mouth with a wet towel, go somewhere without smoke or fire, I'm coming right now!"

After hanging up, Emily didn't dare waste a single moment. She first called the fire department, and while reporting the emergency, she rushed out of the airport like a madwoman, flagged down a car, and headed straight to where Nicholas was.

Fortunately, his place wasn't too far from the airport.

All the way there, Emily kept calling Nicholas's phone watch, but no one answered.

She was going crazy with worry. Sharp pains kept shooting through her lower abdomen, but she ignored them, constantly urging the driver to go faster, faster.

After about ten minutes, she could see thick smoke billowing in the sky ahead.

When the taxi stopped, Emily threw some cash at the driver, pushed open the door and rushed out.

Olivia's garden was already burned beyond recognition, with black smoke pouring out from the second-floor windows.

The fire truck hadn't arrived yet. Neighbors from nearby stood at a distance pointing and talking. Someone was spraying water with a hose, but that little bit of water was useless.

Emily pushed through the crowd and rushed to the door. She pushed hard on the front door—it was indeed locked. She couldn't find an axe or any other tool for a moment, so she could only run around the house helplessly.

Luckily, the kitchen window on the first floor was open a crack. Not caring about the baby in her belly, she braced her hands on the windowsill and climbed in.

The kitchen wasn't burning yet, but smoke had already filled it, choking her so she couldn't open her eyes.

She grabbed a cloth, wet it, and covered her nose and mouth. Bending over, she ran toward the stairs, calling Nicholas's name as she went.

The living room ceiling was already on fire, with sparks constantly falling down. Heat waves hit her face, and the whole house had turned into a giant steamer.

"Nicholas! Nicholas, where are you?"

After shouting for a while, a weak response came from upstairs: "Ms. Johnson... I'm..."

Emily rushed up the stairs. The marble steps were already burning hot. She scrambled up, crawling and climbing. The hallway was full of smoke—she couldn't see anything.

She got down low and pushed open doors one by one. Only one room inside was locked, and the doorknob was already hot.

She gritted her teeth, used her body to ram the door open, and burst in to see Nicholas lying by the window, his face covered in soot, coughing from the smoke drifting in.

Emily rushed over, grabbed him into her arms and ran out.

The hallway was full of smoke—she couldn't see the path at all. She could only grit her teeth, close her eyes, and feel her way along the route she'd come up, running to the end of the hallway. She pushed open a window and looked down.

Not too high, and there was a lawn below, but...

No choice!

She bit her lip, held Nicholas in her arms, closed her eyes, and with her back facing down, jumped out the window!

Emily hit the lawn hard. In an instant, sharp pain spread from her back and arms through her whole body, and a severe cramping pain shot through her lower abdomen.

But she looked down at Nicholas in her arms. He was curled up against her, seemingly unhurt, just terrified, trembling all over and coughing.

Only then did Emily's anxious heart settle back down. She lay on the lawn, gasping for breath. She hadn't noticed before, but now her whole body felt weak, everything hurt and she couldn't move. A warm flow slowly seeped out from below.

Nicholas crawled out of her arms and called out weakly: "Ms. Johnson, you're bleeding... you're bleeding..."

"I'm fine." Emily forced out a smile, wanting to sit up, but even moving a finger was difficult.

Just then, Olivia pushed through the crowd, crying out, "Nicholas!"

She screamed and snatched Nicholas from Emily's arms, holding him and wailing heartbreakingly, "You scared Mommy to death, you scared Mommy to death..."

But she was just shouting—there wasn't a single tear in her eyes.

Emily watched her coldly, suspicion growing.

Why was the door locked? Where had this woman just been? Why was she only showing up now?

But before Emily could think it through, Olivia looked up and stared at her with those red eyes: "Why are you here?"

Emily braced herself against the ground and after several tries, struggled to turn over and sit up: "Nicholas called me, said he couldn't get out, so I rushed over."

"You rushed over?" Olivia's voice changed. "The fire truck isn't even here yet, how did you get here? Your home is so far from here, how could you be faster than the fire truck? Did you know in advance there would be a fire?"

Emily was stunned.

The watching neighbors started whispering, saying all sorts of things.

"I happened to be at the airport, not far from here." Emily said with difficulty. "Nicholas called me, so I—"

"You don't need to explain, I think you set the fire!" Olivia cut her off, her voice getting louder. "You've been to my house, you know which room Nicholas stays in! You deliberately set the fire, then pretended to save him, so Nicholas would be grateful to you!"

Emily opened her mouth. Before she could say anything to refute, she heard a familiar voice.

"What's going on?"

Joe strode over, his face showing panic and urgency. He didn't check on Emily, but instead held Nicholas: "Are you okay?"

Olivia saw Joe and threw herself crying into his arms: "Joe, she set the fire, it must have been her!"

"This woman is crazy. She wanted to get close to Nicholas, so she came up with this plan. While I was away, she deliberately set the fire, then went to save him! That way she achieved her goal!"

Joe's body stiffened. He looked down at Olivia in his arms, then looked up at Emily, his eyes full of deep suspicion.

"I just called you, why didn't you answer? Where were you just now?"