I Choose to Leave

During the earthquake, I shielded my son with my body. My husband arrived but only had time to save our son. By the time rescuers reached me, my limbs were irreparably crushed, leaving me dependent on their care.
Years later, my son handed me a document to sever our ties. No one will marry me with you as a burden, he said coldly. My husband added, "You saved him—will you let your condition ruin his life?" Heartbroken, I signed and left alone.
Later, while scavenging in my wheelchair, I saw them—my husband, son, and his first love—a happy family. I overheard the truth: my husband had deliberately not saved me to be with her. My son chirped, "Good thing we got rid of Mom so Aunt Lily could be my new mom."
I died from the betrayal, but when I opened my eyes, I was back under the rubble with my son.

1
“Mom, where are you going? Come back and protect me!”
My son, pinned beneath the debris, watched in wide-eyed horror as I started to crawl away on my own.
I didn’t look back. I just kept crawling.
In my last life, I had used my body as a shield for him, creating a small pocket of survival. My reward was being cast out like trash. The image of him fawning over Lily, his arm wrapped around hers, was burned into my mind. My own son, who could look at me with such venom as he forced me to sign away my rights as his mother, could smile so sweetly at another woman.
What was the point of saving a son like that?
I glanced back one last time at his desperate, helpless face, then turned and scrambled towards a makeshift supply point set up by other survivors.
“Please, help!” I cried, my face a mask of panic. “Save my son!”
As they were disinfecting my wounds with alcohol, a familiar figure stumbled toward the wreckage.
I froze.
Mark. My husband.
He raced toward the spot where our son was trapped. Ignoring the gash on his own arm, he frantically pulled the boy free.
Our son, Caleb, sobbed hysterically in his arms. Mark glanced at the unstable pile of rubble I had just escaped from.
He hesitated for only a second, then kicked out the last, splintered support beam holding up a massive concrete slab.
My breath caught in my throat.
So, in my past life, the slab collapsing after Caleb was saved… it wasn't an accident. It was deliberate.
I finally understood the deep-seated resentment they both held for me. I was supposed to have died under that rubble. By some fluke, I had only lost my limbs and survived. And I, like a fool, had believed Mark simply didn't have time to save me. I had even comforted him, told him I didn't blame him…
It felt like a hand was squeezing my throat, cutting off my air.
I watched as Mark kicked out the last support, then clutched our son and ran in the opposite direction.
I knew where he was going. That was where Lily was buried.
In the distance, a news van pulled up, and reporters with cameras started running our way.
I quickly squeezed out a few tears and collapsed to the ground with a dramatic wail.

2
When Mark emerged with Lily, his rescue uniform was torn to shreds. It was obvious the situation where she had been trapped was far more dangerous.
I saw them from a distance and let out a cold, bitter laugh.
In my last life, Mark had defied official orders and rushed to the disaster site first. I thought he was coming for me and our son. Now I knew the truth. He came because his precious first love was buried here.
Caleb, though he only came up to Lily's waist, clutched at her clothes, trying his best to support her. Mark held Lily close, his voice soft and gentle.
“It’s okay. The main rescue team is almost here. As soon as they arrive, I’ll have them take you to the best hospital nearby.”
A bitter sting filled my eyes. Is this how he had cared for Lily in my past life, while I was left for dead under the rubble?
“Ma’am, could you please repeat that? Who was the rescuer in the uniform who was just here?” a reporter asked, microphone extended.
My eyes were red from crying. I stood before the camera and turned to look at the approaching trio. “That’s my husband,” I sobbed. “And the woman he ran off to save… is his first love.”
“Sarah?”
At the sound of my voice, Mark’s head snapped up. He looked from me to the collapsed rubble where Caleb and I had been, his face a mask of disbelief.
“You… how are you…”
“How am I still alive? Is that what you want to ask?” I cried, gasping for breath. “Reporters, do you see that broken beam over there? My husband kicked it out! After he pulled our son out, he destroyed the only thing holding up the slab. He never intended for me to get out of there alive!”
I was sobbing so hard a reporter had to steady me. “Ma’am, please calm down. Take a breath and tell us what happened.”
I choked back a sob. “I thought he just didn’t have time to save me! If there hadn’t been another small opening on the other side, I would have been crushed to death by him! I thought he disobeyed orders and rushed here for us, for his family. But it was for her! Captain Miller, if you wanted to be with your first love, you could have just told me! Why did you have to try and kill me?”
My words sent the reporters into a frenzy. Camera flashes exploded in our faces.
Mark’s first instinct was to shield Lily’s eyes from the blinding light. Then he turned to me, his brow furrowed in anger. “Sarah! What the hell are you talking about? Do you have any idea what you’re doing to Lily’s reputation?”
I pointed a trembling finger at him. “You see? You see that? His first instinct is to protect her!”
The crowd of survivors and onlookers erupted.
“Look at his uniform, he’s a first responder! He ignored orders, and when he got here, he saved his old flame instead of his own wife?”
“Lily? That name sounds familiar. Isn’t she some kind of minor internet celebrity?”
“I found her! Yeah, she’s an influencer! And there’s some drama… let’s see… caught going into a hotel with a male fan late at night, confronted by his wife during a live stream…”
Someone threw a rotten egg, splattering across Lily’s perfectly made-up face.
“Slut! How many married men have you slept with?”
“And you!” another person yelled at Mark. “You treat this trash like a treasure and leave your own wife to die? Scum!”
“Reporters! Get a close-up! She wants to be famous, right? Let’s give her some attention!”
Lily shrieked and buried her face in Mark’s chest. “It’s not true! I didn’t do it!”
The cameras swarmed them. In this situation, the smart thing for Mark to do, especially in his uniform, would have been to step away. But after a moment’s hesitation, he pulled Lily behind him, shielding her with his body as the cameras captured his every move.
He glared at me. “Sarah, tell them the truth, now! Are you trying to ruin an innocent person’s life?”
Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed for the cameras. “An innocent person? You call the woman you abandoned me to save innocent?”
“That’s right! You left your wife, and you think you’re in the right?” a bystander shouted.
“Get them! Beat the scumbag and the homewrecker!”
“Don’t you dare touch my daddy!”
Caleb launched himself forward, standing in front of Mark. His small body radiated a surprising amount of force. “My daddy and Aunt Lily are innocent! Don’t let my mommy fool you! She’s a liar!”
He pointed at me. “She’s not the poor victim you think she is! Just a little while ago, she left me under the rubble all by myself and crawled out to save her own skin. I was crying so loud, and she didn’t even look back! If my daddy hadn’t come and saved me, I’d be dead right now!”
The crowd fell silent.

3
Mark seized the opportunity. “That’s right. When I arrived, my wife was already gone from the site. I kicked that beam to eliminate a potential hazard, not to harm her like she claims!”
His eyes reddened, and the sight of a strong man looking so wronged was enough to sway some people. “We’re husband and wife. Caleb is our son. If she had still been in there, don’t you think my own son would have told me? It was only because I confirmed she was safe that I took action.”
“As for saving Ms. Hayes,” he continued, gesturing to Lily, “it was because I couldn’t find my wife, and someone else needed help. But I never imagined… Sarah, I never imagined you would slander me like this.”
The crowd’s eyes widened, and their suspicious gazes turned on me.
One of the survivors nodded. “That’s right. When she came running over here, her son wasn’t with her. He must not have been rescued yet.”
“So you’re a mother who abandoned her own child?”
“If you were still under there, your son would have told his dad. He must have said you were gone.”
Now, the cameras were all pointed at me.
“We almost fell for it! Slandering a first responder! How could you do that to your own husband and child?”
“You ditch your son and then get mad when your husband saves someone else? You’re unbelievable!”
Rotten vegetables rained down on me. Someone threw a bucket of dirty water. The flashing lights hurt my eyes, and real tears began to fall.
In my past life, when I was still under the rubble, my son hadn’t said a word. And the beam still broke. But that was a memory from another life. No one would believe me if I told them.
So instead, I collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain.
“Oh my god! Look at her back! It’s covered in blood!”
“Quick, get some bandages!”
The woman who had given me alcohol earlier rushed to my side. My eyes were red as I looked into the cameras.
“I never thought… I never thought that running out to find help for my son, without even tending to my own injuries, would be twisted into me abandoning him,” I cried out. “If I really wanted to leave him, why would I have shielded him with my own body… Ah!”
The woman poured alcohol on my back, and I screamed in agony.
She comforted me while telling the reporters, “It’s true! When she came to us, all she said was ‘save my son.’ If I hadn’t forced her to sit down and get treated, she would have bled out!”
The alcohol stung my wounds. Every movement sent a fresh wave of excruciating pain through me. The accusations from the crowd died down. Everyone watched as the wounded mother twitched in agony, their faces filled with pity.
Caleb looked at my back, a flicker of remorse in his eyes, before he turned away and muttered, “Serves you right. I never asked you to protect me.”
His voice was quiet, but someone heard him.
“What did you just say, you little brat?”
“See? I told you! A heartless father and a heartless son! Get them! Don’t let them get away! We have to expose these scumbags!”
“That’s right! Post it online so everyone knows what they’re really like!”
“What are you doing? You can’t do this!” Mark instinctively protected Lily, but that only enraged the crowd further.
“He’s still protecting the other woman! Get them! Don’t let any of them go, big or small!”
I was helped to the side, just outside the circle of chaos, and watched them through red-rimmed eyes. A small, almost imperceptible smile touched my lips.
I wasn’t someone who couldn’t handle pain. In my past life, I hadn’t made a sound when all four of my limbs were being crushed.
Mark, oh Mark, I thought. How do you like my acting?
Just as the three of them were being shoved and pushed around, a powerful voice roared, “Stop!”
I turned my head quickly.
A man in a sharp suit was getting out of a black sedan nearby. A helicopter was descending, and rescue personnel were rappelling to the ground.
“What is all this commotion?”
The middle-aged man in the suit stood in front of Mark, facing the crowd, but his eyes were fixed on me. “Even if he has done something wrong, it should be handled by the law. Since when can you lynch someone just because another person shed a few tears?”
I clenched my fists.
It was Mark’s mentor, the powerful backer of his family—Arthur Tang.

4
“Sir, you don’t understand. This man tried to kill his own wife, and he…”
“I will personally investigate this matter,” Arthur interrupted. “I promise you will all get a satisfactory answer.”
He cut through the crowd. “I’m taking him in for questioning now. Please, trust me.”
With that, he escorted Mark, Caleb, and Lily away from the volatile scene. Before getting in the car, Lily looked back at me from the safety of Mark’s arms. Her lips were curved in a triumphant, smug smile.
I spent a few days in the hospital. As soon as I was discharged, I received an invitation from Arthur Tang.
“Sarah, let’s let this whole thing go,” he said, pushing a stack of cash across the table. “I know you’re angry, and I’ve already disciplined Mark. You’ve been married for years. It’s not worth blowing up over something so small. I’ve looked into it. It was all a misunderstanding.”
I looked at the twenty thousand dollars and sneered. Mark was one of his protégés, someone he was grooming for a position by his side. This rescue team stint was just a way to pad Mark’s resume, to give it some shine.
But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I will not let Mark get away with this,” I said, pushing the money back. “I know exactly what kind of man he is, Mr. Tang. I will never let a person like that succeed.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint in them. “Ms. Jones, don’t push your luck. You’re an orphan. Be careful you don’t end up with nothing. That job you have… you worked very hard to get it, didn’t you?”
My brow furrowed.
He smirked, stood up, paid the bill, and left.
My heart sank. As I suspected, Mark would be cleared of all wrongdoing, and then he would be promoted, just like in my previous life.
I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in years.
“Hello, Grandpa Lou? You once told me I could come to you if I ever needed help. Does that offer still stand?”

5
At Mark's promotion celebration, it was Lily who stood by his side.
I was just passing by when I saw the press event and the promotional posters. I stopped in my tracks. Reporters with cameras swarmed around Mark and Lily, who was holding Caleb's hand. Lily, dressed in an elegant designer outfit, waved gracefully at the cameras.
“We were just doing what anyone would have done,” she said modestly.
I heard someone nearby sigh. “Now this is the kind of role model we should be celebrating! So much better than all that celebrity gossip.”
“Exactly! Mr. Miller saved so many people in the disaster zone, and his wife, Mrs. Miller, worked tirelessly behind the scenes for three whole months!”
“And to think someone tried to ruin their reputation! What kind of person does that? They must be either stupid or evil. Probably a foreign agent!”
I froze. “Mrs. Miller worked behind the scenes for three months?”
“Yeah! Don't you watch the news?”
“But… I never saw her there.”
After I recovered from my injuries, I had returned to the disaster zone and served as the temporary head of the logistics department. I was constantly moving between the front lines and the rear, ensuring that rescuers and victims got the supplies they needed immediately. In those three months, I hadn't seen Lily, or even Mark, at the front.
“You don’t know? You obviously don’t care about the relief efforts. Mrs. Miller was the temporary head of the logistics department!”
I was stunned. “But… I was the temporary head of logistics…”
“Wait a minute… aren’t you the woman from the news? The one who tried to destroy their reputations?” someone pointed at me.
My brow furrowed. I understood immediately. This was Arthur Tang’s doing. Slandering those who didn’t cooperate with him was his signature move.
“It’s her!” another person shouted. “The news said she was the one who pretended to be Mrs. Miller and orchestrated the online harassment campaign against them!”
“You! You have the nerve to show your face? We were wondering where you’d gone! How dare you slander a hero! You must have a death wish!”

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