Reborn in Fire

The rumors of my divorce from Ryland Payne had circulated for two years.

Over those two years, he had paraded around with the secretary whose husband had once saved his life, appearing at every event and trampling my dignity underfoot.

I had never uttered a single word of complaint.

That changed on the anniversary of our son's death, when he showed up at the memorial art exhibition I had organized for our boy, with that woman and her child in tow.

The necklace around that woman's neck featured the longevity locket I had personally designed for my son.

I lost all control and smashed the exhibition, then rushed forward to snatch it back, only for Ryland to block me desperately.

I slapped him across the face in front of everyone, and he shoved me down onto the shattered picture frames in retaliation.

The next day, the entire internet branded me as the deranged woman.

"Two years ago, if she hadn't lost her mind and gone speeding through the rainstorm, the little heir of the Payne family would never have died on the spot!"

"Exactly, she killed her own son through her recklessness, and now she wants to hurt her husband's benefactor. What a venomous witch."

I turned off my phone, and my gaze turned to ice, inch by inch.

Ryland Payne, this time, I decided to leave you for good.

...

I sat quietly on the cold sofa and waited.

A massive crash echoed from the entryway as the door flew open, kicked in violently from outside.

Ryland stormed in, reeking of alcohol.

He clutched a document in his hand, the divorce agreement I had already signed and sent over by my lawyer.

Right in front of me, he tore that agreement to shreds. "Elena Andrews, what kind of tantrum are you throwing now!"

Ryland seized my wrist with crushing force, and I winced in pain. "You caused a scene at the exhibition, and now you're pulling this divorce nonsense! Do you think the Payne family's reputation hasn't been humiliated enough!"

He leaned down, and the foul stench of booze washed over my face, turning my stomach.

I lifted my eyes and stared at him coldly.

Then I raised my other hand and pointed to the tablet on the coffee table, its screen still glowing.

The display showed today's financial news, with Ryland making a bold appearance alongside his new flame to endorse the Payne Group's latest project.

The secretary at his side, Jolie Hayes, wore a necklace with a small, exquisite longevity locket dangling from it.

"That's Theo's thing. How dare you give it to her?"

That longevity locket was from a design I had sketched by hand during my pregnancy, crafted by the finest artisan, and it had hung around my son's neck from the moment he was born.

The fury in Ryland's eyes froze solid, a flicker of shock passing through them.

The grip on my wrist loosened without him realizing it. "It's just an inanimate object. Was all that drama really necessary? Do you have any idea how close you came to ruining Jolie at the exhibition today!"

An inanimate object?

Those words stabbed through my heart like a dagger, the pain so sharp I could barely draw breath.

At that moment, his phone buzzed from his pocket.

The caller ID read Jolie.

Ryland answered almost instantly, his earlier rage melting away into softness. "Don't be scared. I'm right here."

On the other end of the line, Jolie sobbed with heartbreaking delicacy. "Ryland, I'm so sorry... The whole thing at the exhibition was my fault. I shouldn't have worn that necklace... I just... I just wanted to honor Theo's memory in my own way..."

What a touching tribute.

Ryland cooed reassurances right away. "It has nothing to do with you. She's the one who lost it. Don't overthink this. Just rest up."

Before hanging up, he glanced back at me, his eyes conveying a silent message. "Look how kind she is, and how vicious you are."

He slammed the door on his way out. "Elena Andrews, if you want a divorce, you'll have to wait until I'm dead! You'd better behave yourself and stop crossing my limits! Do you have any idea how much it hurts me when you hurt her!"

I watched the direction in which he vanished, and finally, I smiled.

Ryland, your limit was Jolie.

My limit was my late son, Theo.

You ached for her, but who ached for me?

Who ached for our boy, who had died with eyes unclosed?

Ryland did not return home that night.

I did not sleep a wink.

The next morning, the doorbell rang abruptly.

I went to open the door, and standing outside was Ryland's mother, my mother-in-law, Victoria Payne.

She wore a perfectly tailored Chanel suit, her hair combed without a strand out of place, her face bearing its usual arrogance and detachment.

Behind her followed a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a briefcase in hand, the Payne family's personal attorney, Harlan Brooks.

She brushed past me and strode straight into the living room, her critical gaze sweeping the room before settling on me, a mocking smile curling her lips. "Elena, where are your manners? I show up, and you cannot even pour me a cup of coffee?"

I did not move, just closed the door and gazed at her calmly.

My silence seemed to enrage her.

She slammed her platinum handbag onto the sofa with a thud. "You dare give me attitude! If not for you, this harbinger of doom, Theo would never have died! What sin did the Payne family commit to let a woman like you marry into the family! You caused my grandson's death, and now you are not satisfied, trying to blackmail Ryland with divorce, tarnishing the Payne name, tanking the group's stock price! Elena, what is your heart made of? Stone?"

I looked at her face, twisted in fury, and suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

She paused deliberately, her eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction. "Look at you now, like a ghost, all pallid and lifeless, what man could stand it! Ryland worried about you endlessly, and what did you give him in return? Endless trouble! You should learn from Jolie! At least she was gentle and sensible, knew her place, knew how to soothe a man, instead of you, always losing your mind, pushing Ryland further away! Back then, Jolie's husband died saving Ryland, leaving behind a pitiful mother and son, and you, as Ryland's wife, showed no gratitude, even tried to harm her multiple times, I think you lost your mind!"

Jolie Hayes.

Jolie Hayes again.

In all their eyes, because Jolie's late husband saved Ryland Payne, I owed her servitude, even my own husband.

As for Theo's death, I never believed that car crash two years ago was an accident, it absolutely involved that woman.

Because only with my son's death could her son take his place!

I let Victoria vent, never uttering a single word from start to finish.

That reaction left her punching air, her face shifting from red to ashen.

Finally, she impatiently signaled to the lawyer behind her.

Harlan understood and stepped forward, placing a document on the coffee table in front of me. "Mrs. Payne, this is Mrs. Victoria Payne's directive. If you insist on divorce, the Payne family will use every means to ensure you leave with nothing. Additionally, regarding the details of your son's car accident two years ago, we will 'reorganize' them to make sure all media and the public believe it was you who personally killed your own son. By then, you will have nothing and bear a stain you can never wash away."

A blatant threat.

I lowered my eyes and looked at the document, like a verdict prepared for me long ago.

The entire Payne family, from top to bottom, had no one on my side.

In their eyes, I was never Ryland's wife, never Theo's mother, just an accessory to sacrifice and discard at will.

"Did you get that?" Victoria saw my prolonged silence and urged impatiently, "Put away those improper thoughts, stay in line as Ryland's wife. Otherwise, face the consequences!"

With that, she grabbed her bag, clicked away in her high heels, and left with the lawyer.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

The world fell quiet once more.

I slowly crouched down, reached out, and let my fingertips brush the cold marble floor.

Did the Payne family think this would scare me?

I slowly stood up, walked to the table, ignored that threatening document, and picked up my phone instead.

Theo's gravesite lay in the outskirts at Willowbrook Cemetery, serene and solemn.

I held a bouquet of his favorite white lisianthus and climbed the stone steps one by one.

In the vast cemetery, only my footsteps echoed. "Theo, Mommy came to see you."

I crouched down and gently set the bouquet aside, just as I prepared to share some words from my heart, an untimely voice drifted from nearby. "Ms. Andrews, Ryland worried you might feel too lonely alone, so he sent me to keep you company, he was concerned about you."

My body stiffened, and I turned back slowly.

Jolie stood just a few meters away, dressed in a simple white maxi dress, her face twisted into an eerie smile.

Beside her, she held her son's hand, Max, who eyed me with open curiosity.

Her gaze landed on the lisianthus I had brought, and she covered her mouth in feigned surprise. "Oh, what a coincidence, Theo loved the lisianthus I gave him too."

She drew out the name of the flower slowly on purpose, her tone laced with unmistakable bragging.

I looked at her hypocritical face and felt a wave of nausea.

Jolie seemed pleased with my reaction, and she raised her hand, as if by accident, to touch the necklace around her neck.

The necklace held a delicate small pure gold longevity locket, with the character for "Theo" engraved on the plate.

My breath caught abruptly.

How dared she!

After I had made such a huge scene, she still dared to wear Theo's longevity locket and flaunt it right in front of me!

On the day of the crash, it had hung around Theo's neck, but later, it went missing at the hospital.

I searched like a madwoman until Ryland said it must have been lost by the cleanup crew, and only then did I give up the hunt.

Ryland made such a fine father, using his own son's keepsake to please his lover.

Jolie's fingers traced the "Theo" name lightly, and she leaned down to whisper in my ear, her voice so low only we two could hear. "Ryland said Theo adored me the most in life, and he surely would have wanted me to wear this, to feel the world for him, to feel his love for you in your place."

A sharp crack rang out.

I swung with all my strength and slapped her hard across the face.

My palm burned with stinging pain, but the ache in my heart hurt a million times more.

Five clear finger marks bloomed instantly on Jolie's face, and she stared at me in disbelief, her eyes welling up fast, tears spilling like beads from a broken string.

"Mommy!" Her son charged at me like a little animal right away and pounded my legs with all his might, "You bad woman! You are not allowed to hit my mommy! Ryland said Mommy is very important to him!"

At that moment, a harsh screech of brakes shattered the cemetery's peace.

A black Bentley sped in and halted nearby.

The door flew open, and Ryland's tall figure leaped from the car.

"Elena!" A low roar laced with fury.

The next second, a massive force shoved me hard.

I staggered back unprepared, my back slamming into Theo's tombstone.

The hard edge sliced my arm open at once, carving a long gash.

A piercing pain spread from my arm.

Ryland did not spare me a glance and rushed straight to Jolie, pulling her and the frightened Max into his arms.

When he looked down and saw the clear handprint, he turned back to me with eyes that seemed ready to tear me apart. "Elena, have you lost your mind! You would not even spare a child? Even at Theo's grave, you had to stir up trouble and disturb his peace!"

Every word from him struck my heart like a heavy hammer.

I watched his protective stance over that mother and son, and suddenly it all felt utterly ridiculous.

He had no idea what happened, nor did he care to know.

In his eyes, I was just the hysterical lunatic.

I braced against the tombstone behind me and slowly straightened up, blood from my arm dripping down my fingertips.

Ryland eyed my bleeding arm, and the arm holding Jolie tightened, a flicker of regret crossing his eyes before anger swallowed it whole.

He looked at me, each word deliberate, his tone carrying some inexplicable anguish. "Do you have any idea what you look like right now, how long will you keep this up before you snap out of it!"

Ryland scooped up Jolie and the boy and drove off in the black Bentley.

I offered no explanation, shed no tears.

I just leaned against Theo's cold tombstone and numbly watched the three of them disappear into the distance.