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!"

yards before a deafening explosion split the night. The

crash in. Her heart thundered in her chest; her

slower, and both of

over, gulping for air. She stayed that way for a while, letting the panic drain away until she could

the wreck-no way to call for help. The road here was deserted;

to Joshua. "Wait here.

He nodded silently.

crawled by as Joshua waited, long enough for doubt to creep in. Maybe Stella

in the end, music meant more to

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

himself. He'd helped Rachel countless times, but that was only to stir up trouble and entertain himself, to add

Stella up before, coaxing her into rigging the

she'd refused him

Stella

everything by her

Joshua thought that was

chose to drag him out

couldn't admire that kind of