The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

Joshua's dark eyes narrowed as he watched the woman's profile, her face intent and determined. For a brief, inexplicable moment, he felt strangely distant, as if reality had slipped sideways.

All around them, the flames leapt higher, crackling hungrily. Stella choked, coughing hard as the smoke thickened.

Suddenly Joshua broke the silence.

"Just give up. If you don't leave now, you'll die too."

Firelight danced across his features, sharpening every angle of his striking face. Despite the wreck, he looked nothing like a man who'd just survived a crash-if anything, the chaos only made him seem more composed.

Stella paused for half a second before snapping, "Stop wasting breath and distracting me. I need to focus."

Yet in the end, it wasn't her focus that slipped-it was his.

The blaze surged, eating away at the twisted metal. Stella's movements grew frantic, her eyes reddening with anxiety. Blood streamed down her hand, the gash widening as she wrestled with the seatbelt, but her determination never faltered. It was as if she'd already decided: if she couldn't pull Joshua out, she was staying here to die with him.

All at once, the seatbelt snapped.

For a second, Stella froze, caught off guard.

"The seatbelt's loose," Joshua said, pushing against the warped door. "What are you waiting for? Move! The car's going to blow!"

a deafening explosion split the night. The burning car behind them erupted, a fiery blast lighting up the

the terror crash in. Her heart thundered in her chest;

and both of them would've been

stayed that way for a while, letting the panic drain away until she could finally breathe. When she looked over, Joshua's white shirt was soaked through with blood, deep crimson spreading

to call for help. The road here was deserted; not a single car had passed in all

Joshua. "Wait here. I'll

He nodded silently.

Stella had gone to the

her life to save him, but maybe, in the

he found it hard to care.

was only to stir up trouble and entertain himself, to add

trip Stella up before, coaxing

him without a

nothing alike. Stella could have taken shortcuts, but

earning everything

Joshua thought that was

him out instead. What if she hadn't succeeded? What if they'd both

that kind of