I froze. "Kimberly? His ex-girlfriend Kimberly?"

A bitter pang shot through me, but now wasn't the time for that fight.

"Wait, Mom's..."

Before I could finish, I heard the beeping of a disconnected call.

I stood there, torn between concern for Emma and anger at Gerald's indifference.

Sharon, noticing my pale face, asked.

"What happened? Is Gerald not coming? Does he have other emergencies?

"But this is his mother we're talking about!" she exclaimed.

I thought the same. "Yeah... his mother!"

I clenched my teeth and continued bombarding him with calls.

Finally, he picked up again.

Before he could speak, I yelled, "Gerald, Emma's house is on fire! You need to come back right now!"

But the voice that responded wasn't his. It was a soft, sweet, and unmistakably familiar voice.

"Seraphina, I understand you're upset about Gerald helping me, but you really shouldn't curse Emma like that.

"Just wait. He'll come after he finishes fixing the plumbing," Kimberly said.

Furious, I snapped. "Kimberly, do you think I'm joking about this? Give Gerald the phone!"

Before I could say more, I heard his voice, cold and dismissive. "It's on speaker, Seraphina. I've been listening the whole time.

"Seraphina, are you done yet?

"You're so desperate to get me back that you'd curse my mom? She's been nothing but kind to you, and you've lost your mind!

"Kimberly, don't bother with her!"

For the second time, he hung up on me.

It was the height of summer, yet I felt as if I had plunged into icy water.

When Kimberly had come back to town, I'd known this day might come, the day Gerald would choose her over me.

But I never imagined it would be like this.

Kimberly was Gerald's first love. They had dated all through college and even into their early careers before breaking up for reasons beyond their control.

Before Gerald and I got together, I'd heard all about their failed romance, and he'd sworn to me that he wasn't the kind of man who would cling to a past flame.

I thought, "Turns out, promises only matter when people want to keep them."

The moment Kimberly moved back after her divorce, Gerald seemed to forget all the vows he'd made to me.

Time and again, he claimed he was busy with work, only to end up helping Kimberly instead.

His heart was clearly elsewhere, yet he stubbornly refused to admit it, brushing off his actions as small favors for an old friend.

He was so righteous about it, I ended up feeling like the crazy one.

I clenched my fists as I stared up at the burning building.

The wind was blowing in from the southeast today. With no firefighters on the scene yet, the flames were spreading faster.

Emma was old. Even if she didn't suffer burns, the smoke alone would put her lungs in danger.

I paced anxiously, waiting another ten minutes, but still, there were no sirens in the distance.

The neighbors started to murmur.

"This fire's out of control. Why hasn't anyone come? Didn't we give them the right address?"

"This is so irresponsible! What's going to happen to poor Emma?"

Frustration gnawed at me. Something didn't feel right, so I called 911 again.

The person who answered the phone this time wasn't the same young woman as before, but someone whose voice I found familiar.

"Seraphina, is that you?"

The moment I heard his voice, I knew who it was.

He was Patrick Evans, one of Gerald's closest friends at the station.

I tried to keep my voice steady, but I couldn't hide the tremor.

"The 17th floor of Building 3, Unit 1 in the Rose Garden Community is on fire. Can you please hurry and send help?"

But Patrick only laughed.