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!"

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

did the terror crash in. Her heart thundered in

seconds slower, and both of

panic drain away until she could finally

to call for help. The road here was deserted; not a single car had passed in all this time. Finding help would be

to Joshua. "Wait here.

He nodded silently.

to creep in. Maybe Stella had gone to the

to save him, but maybe, in the end, music meant more to her

fact, he found it hard to care. That's just human nature, after

if he was a good person himself. He'd helped Rachel countless times, but that was only to stir up

tried to trip Stella up before, coaxing her into rigging the

him without a moment's

and Rachel were nothing alike. Stella could have taken shortcuts, but

on earning everything by her own

Joshua thought that was

tonight, when ske could have saved herself but chose to drag him out instead. What if she hadn't succeeded? What if

that kind of