"Seraphina, you're looking for Gerald, right? This is his mom's address. I just asked, and Gerald said his mom knows the fire risks well. She'll be fine.

"You called in a false alarm because you had a fight with Gerald, didn't you?

"Seraphina, men need our space sometimes. You can't be so manipulative. Even if Gerald messed up, cursing his mom is crossing the line."

I took a deep breath and interrupted his relentless lecture.

"I don't care where Gerald is right now. I need your team right now to come put out the fire!

"Patrick, lives are at stake! I don't have time to joke around!"

Because of Gerald, I'd always treated these guys with kindness, never once raising my voice. But now, I was done being nice.

Patrick was momentarily stunned by my outburst, clearly caught off guard.

"Seraphina, are you serious? You're not just looking for Gerald?"

"I couldn't care less if Gerald dropped dead! Get over here now, or his mom's going to die!"

I heard him frantically rally the crew, and I finally let out a breath of relief.

As I hung up, I realized my back was drenched in sweat.

I couldn't believe Gerald would actually go this far.

I thought, "Someone on his team must've recognized the address as his mom's and tipped him off.

"Without even checking, he stopped them from coming.

"Does he really not care if something happens to his mother?

"She raised him up all on her own throughout the years."

Gerald's father was a firefighter, too, but he died a hero in a massive fire when he was barely in his thirties.

His mom nearly cried herself dry, but somehow, she pulled through, opening a small shop and working tirelessly to support them.

Gerald once told me his mom was the most important person in his life.

Back then, we hadn't started dating yet, and I even wondered if he might be a mama's boy.

But after meeting Emma, I found her to be the kind of woman everyone couldn't help but love.

She treated me like her own daughter, never interfering in my relationship with Gerald.

Even after five years of marriage and no kids, she never pressured me. Instead, she encouraged me to relax, saying, "Don't worry, dear. If it's meant to happen, it will. If not, that's okay too."

Whenever Gerald upset me, Emma would scold him on my behalf.

Her kindness and understanding made me cherish her deeply.

Back when things between me and Gerald weren't so strained, he'd hold me close and say, "Saphy, having you and Mom in my life is the greatest blessing."

I thought, "So how did we end up like this? I just couldn't understand. Did Kimberly, his first love, really have such a hold on him that he'd abandon his own family, even ignoring his mother's safety?"

Before I could make sense of it all, Sharon suddenly gasped.

"Oh my God! She's out on the ledge! How did she get out there?"