Chapter 1My Fiancé Chose His First Love to Live
About 5,380 characters (~1,003 words) — this is Chapter 1, one of 3 free chapters on EditWrx Reads.
Felix Hoffman's childhood sweetheart, Mia Langley, insists on dragging us to an abandoned castle for an adventure.
"Felix, you'll be someone else's husband soon. Can't you grant me this wish?"
Felix can never bring himself to say no to her, so he agrees for us to go with Mia.
But a fire accidentally starts in the castle, and only two people can fit through the escape passage.
Felix immediately scoops Mia, who has sprained her ankle, into his arms and rushes out.
I grab the hem of his shirt. "Felix, I'm carrying your pup. Can you bring me to safety first?"
My plea doesn't make him relent. Instead, his anger surges.
"Why did you only remember you're pregnant now? Can you please stop being such a jealous bitch? Mia is hurt. I must bring her out immediately. It's too dangerous here. Hurry up. I'll wait for you outside."
Felix throws a wet blanket at me and leaves without hesitation.
But what he doesn't know is that the blanket has been soaked in alcohol.
I'm trapped in the fire and die here, along with the pup inside me.
* * *
I felt my heart break as I watched my fiance, Felix Hoffman, walk away with another woman in his arms, each heartbeat sending pain through my chest.
Mia Langley only had to playfully tug on his arm, and he agreed to come to the castle with her. I begged desperately, tears rolling down my face, but he remained completely unmoved.
I was Felix's fiancee, the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with, yet he didn't believe me and thought I was lying.
He scolded, "Why did you only remember you're pregnant now? Can you please stop being such a jealous bitch? You know Mia is hurt. I need to bring her out immediately."
I shook my head as hard as I could. "I didn't lie. You have to believe me."
A flicker of hesitation appeared on his face, then it was gone.
As soon as Felix heard Mia moving, his attention shifted to her, and he forgot all about me. Mia shrank into his arms, looking scared.
"Felix, my leg really hurts. If I don't get it treated soon, will it get worse? What if I can't walk normally after this? The fire is so big, and my eyes hurt from looking at it. I'm scared!"
Felix lowered his head to look at her, his eyes filled with tenderness. His voice was soft when he spoke. "Don't be. I'm here with you. You'll be alright."
Watching him show someone else his caring side stabbed me in the heart.
Mia suddenly handed me the wet blanket she was holding. "If you're scared, drape this over your body."
The more caring she was, the colder Felix's gaze became.
"It's too dangerous here. Hurry up. I'll wait for you outside." Felix quickly ran out of patience. He pushed my hand away and walked away without a second glance.
In order to live and protect my pup, I had to pull myself together. I draped the blanket over myself, wanting to follow them. But I had only taken a few steps when the fire engulfed the blanket and me.
I quickly threw the blanket aside and rolled around on the ground. After a brief struggle, the fire finally went out. But almost every part of me except my face was badly burned, and the burns stung intensely. That was when I realized the blanket had been soaked in alcohol.
Mia's kindness was a facade. She didn't give me the blanket out of goodwill. She wanted to kill me.
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. A heavy object came crashing down from above, blocking the escape passage. I tried my hardest to push it away, but to no avail, as my last hope of escaping this place faded with it.
With my hands trembling, I called for help. The dispatcher quickly picked up.
After the dispatcher heard what was going on, she tried to calm me down. "Ms. Benson, don't panic. Find a place far away from the fire and stay there. Cover your nose and mouth, and crouch down low. The werewolves coming to rescue you are already on the way. Stay in contact with me until they get there, okay?"
I quietly acknowledged her and followed her instructions, dragging my injured body upstairs toward the area where the fire was weaker.
But the fire spread much faster than I expected. I started gasping for air, then asked anxiously, "It's getting more dangerous here. Can you hurry up?"
She apologized and said patiently, "Try looking for another exit."
This castle had been abandoned for nearly a century. The walls were old and badly damaged, and they could collapse at any moment. To keep outsiders from getting in, the doors and windows were boarded up. Other than the passage that had just been blocked, the only way out was through the roof.
When she heard that there was a roof, she asked, "How far is the rooftop from the ground? Are there bushes or anything that could cushion the fall?"
I stood at the edge and looked down. It was pitch-black, and the bottom was impossible to see. Jumping from this height would mean certain death.
The dispatcher could tell from my silence and sighed deeply. "You said you went there with Felix, right? Then he must still be nearby. Why don't you call him and ask him to come back for you? That might be the fastest and most effective way."
Even she knew this was the best way, but Felix hadn't even looked back or shown any concern for me after he left.
He did say he would wait for me outside, though. Maybe he would return to save me.
Holding on to that last bit of hope, I kept calling Felix. There was no answer, so I kept trying. On my eighth try, he finally picked up.
"Felix, please save me. This place…"