# New File
“I’ll get her.”
Charles tied the end of his jacket to the temporary barrier fence and climbed down slowly. The ground beneath his shoes was slippery.
“Charles!”
“I’m safe.”
He kept climbing down. Up above, Madison watched him. Her face was still wet with tears. But when Charles wasn’t looking, her expression changed.
For just a split second, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips before disappearing.
Inside the burning building, Ella was starting to lose her strength. Smoke filled the room. She crawled away from the door as heat pierced her skin.
“Heeelp...” Her voice was barely audible as she tried calling Leah. The call wouldn’t go through. She tried again, but it failed once more.
Ella hugged herself, tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t only fear. There was something she had wanted to tell Charles for the past few days.
Something that was supposed to be a surprise, something she was supposed to reveal tonight in front of their wedding anniversary cake.
Her hand moved to her stomach. It hadn’t visibly changed yet. But Ella had known for several days now.
She had bought a pregnancy test two days ago, and the result showed two lines. Ella had even bought a tiny pair of baby socks.
They were still in her bag. Ella gave a bitter smile. “You were supposed to find out tonight.”
Another violent cough shook her body. “Khuk!”
Ella covered her mouth, her chest feeling as though it were on fire. She stared at her phone. Charles’s name was still in her recent calls.
Ella tapped the number, but the call wouldn’t connect. She tried again, but there was still no answer.
Her tears fell. “Charles...”
She pressed call one more time. This time, it went through. The ringing sounded once, twice, then three times before Charles answered. But his voice was rushed.
“What is it now, Ella?”
Ella fell silent. His words made something inside her chest collapse. “I...” Ella coughed.
Charles sighed. “I’m busy.”
“Charles...”
“I can’t talk right now.”
Ella closed her eyes as the smoke made her vision increasingly blurry. “I just wanted to tell you something.”
“Can it wait?”
“If it waits, it might be too late.”
Charles was silent for a moment. “What do you mean?”
Ella drew in the deepest breath she could. But it only made her coughing worse. “Khuk! Khuk!”
Charles finally sounded panicked. “Ella?”
Ella clutched her stomach, her hand trembling. “Charles...”
“What?”
“I...” She coughed again. “Listen to me.”
Charles stood at the bottom of the pit with Snowy in his arms, glancing toward the building from time to time. The alarm was still blaring.
Smoke billowed into the sky. But Charles still hadn’t realized how close the danger was to his wife. “What did you want to tell me?”
Ella stared at the flames beginning to lick the top of the door, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Charles...” Her voice was almost gone. “I’m pregnant.”
Charles froze, as if time had stopped. “What?”
Ella closed her eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
The call suddenly filled with static. Charles stared at the burning building, the color draining from his face. “Are you serious?”
Ella didn’t answer. Her body slowly slid to the floor, the phone still in her hand.
“Ella?”
There was no answer.
“Ella!”
Charles hurriedly climbed up with Snowy in his arms. “Ella, answer me!”
Above the excavation pit, Madison stood motionless. A faint smile appeared on her face as the plan she had set in motion began unfolding far faster than she had imagined.
Meanwhile, inside the building, Ella lay amid the thickening smoke. On her phone, Charles’s panicked voice could still be heard.
“Ella! Don’t hang up!”
But the voice grew more distant, more indistinct, until finally—Ella’s hand slipped away from the phone.