My Wife Chose the Doll Over Me

I held onto my wifes shoulders, begging her to save my mother first. But she just stared at me in silence, her eyes filled with an unbearable pain. I understand how you feel, she finally said, but the dead come first. It was then I remembered that the wooden chest, trapped under the fallen beam, contained my mothers most cherished mementos. A sudden fire had engulfed our home, trapping my mother and that old wooden chest in the room. The breaking beam crashed down, pinning them both. Bens voice, tear-streaked, repeated the cruel truth beside me.

1.

"Are you insane? Is a thing more important than a human life?" I shrieked hysterically.

"When did I say I wouldnt save your mom? Just a little later." Claires tone was matter-of-fact.

The rage in my chest threatened to explode my mind. Bens eyes welled with tears. "It's okay, Claire. He's right. An object can't compare to a living person." But his words only made Claire more distraught.

Thick smoke billowed, stinging my eyes. I could even smell human hair and skin charring. We couldnt wait any longer. Forgetting everything else, I dropped to my knees before Claire. Claire owned the mansion, and the bodyguards present only answered to her. Claire didn't look at me, her voice firm with an unshakeable resolve. "Enough. Get the chest out first."

The bodyguards exchanged uneasy glances. Though they didn't understand, they could only comply.

"My mom has asthma; we cant waste time!" I yelled. She knew my mother had severe asthma. She knew! That thick smoke could snatch my mothers life at any moment. And with one side of the beam already lifted, the other side would bear even more weight. My mother was old; how could she possibly endure that?

Ben, however, looked at me with a knowing expression. "Asthma?" Hearing the word "asthma," Claire's face also took on a strange look. Her attitude immediately hardened even more. "Get the chest out first. No arguments."

"It contains Bens mother's mementos, his last link to her. Can you bear to take that away from him?" Seeing my strong reaction, Claire directly ordered the guards to pin me to the ground. The sound of splintering wood mixed with my mother's agonizing cries, like a dull knife sawing at my heart.

"No" My face was pressed into the dirt. Up ahead, my mother coughed violently in the thick smoke, her face turning purple. She was in unbearable pain, frantically clawing at her throat, desperate for air. I struggled with all my might but Claire slapped me hard. "Stop messing around!" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Claire, you'll kill my mom!" I tried to rush out like a madman. The bodyguards holding me down also lost their patience. "You goddamn stop giving us a hard time!" The bodyguards were burly and incredibly strong. No matter what I did, I couldn't break free. I could only watch helplessly as the full weight of the beam pressed down on my mother. Her face grew paler and paler. "Claire!" Tears blurred my vision, and I practically bit out those three words.

"Try to understand, Zach. If the chest burns, it's truly gone. Your mom can wait a bit longer; she'll be fine." Her face held a chilling, almost cruel calmness. "Save her, please save her!" My voice was hoarse from screaming. Claires lips were tightly pressed together; she wouldnt budge. Ben pleaded with me, "Im sorry, I know I shouldnt, but I really cant lose my moms keepsakes."

From the distance came the dull thud of the wooden chest hitting the ground. There was no more movement from my mothers direction. Under the black smoke, I couldn't even see what was happening inside. "Moms things are safe. What a relief." Ben rushed to the chest, his voice filled with a sense of escape. Claire finally let the bodyguards release me.

I stumbled and crawled into the thick smoke. Only then could I finally see my mothers condition C half her body was crushed under the beam, blood stained her mouth, her face was deathly pale, and her breath was barely a whisper.

"Mom, hold on! I'm coming to save you now!" I tried to move the beam. But the weight was too much for one person to budge. "Quick, save my mom! Come help!" I yelled at the group behind me. But the bodyguards just stood there, heads bowed, not daring to look at me. Claire stood behind them, her voice impatient. "Is it really necessary to be so dramatic?" I snapped my head up and glared at her, the hatred in my eyes threatening to consume me. Claire didnt notice my expression; her entire focus was on Ben.

2.

It took about twenty minutes before my mom was finally pulled out. By then, she was barely conscious. "The Parks family's private medical team is nearby, right? Get them over here." Seeing Claire about to leave, I rushed over and grabbed her arm. She was just about to pull out her phone, then looked at Ben. "Ben, are you hurt?" Ben hesitated, then shook his head. "I... I'm fine. Save Auntie first." That's what he said, but he deliberately showed me the scratches on his arm. Claire looked a little worried but still made the call. She calmly gave some instructions to the person on the other end, then hung up and said to me, "Don't worry, the doctors will be here soon."

Then, Claire and Ben left. She said Ben's arm was injured and needed to see a doctor. But a full fifteen minutes passed. No sign of an ambulance. I kept calling Claire. It finally connected after a long while. Claire's voice was full of irritation: "Can you stop bothering me?"

"Where are the doctors? Why aren't they here yet?" I yelled.

"Oh, I told them to examine Ben first." She said it so casually.

"Claire" My voice was trembling. But before I could finish, she hung up. When I tried to call again, it kept showing "call in progress." She had blocked me.

At this point, my mothers breathing was very shallow. Her eyes were half-open, her lips moving, but no sound came out. "Mom" My tears flowed uncontrollably. Moms palms were covered in calluses. These were the marks of her hard work. Now, these calluses felt like sharp scissors, cutting me with unbearable pain. It was a good thing I hadn't fully trusted Claire. I had already contacted the nearby public hospital. But the next second, the hospital called me. "No, we can't get through. That main road is blocked."

"It's the Parks family's motorcade. Are they yours? Tell them to move."

My head spun. The Parks family

Claire's butler appeared beside me just then. He looked at me, a sneer playing on his lips. "Sir, if you hadn't aspired beyond your station, how would you have ended up like this?"

"You knew Miss Claire's heart belonged to Mr. Ben, yet you insisted on marrying her. This is your comeuppance."

"No need to struggle. It is the Parks family motorcade."

"Miss Claire was so worried something might happen to Mr. Ben, she called many doctors over. Now that road is completely jammed." The butler had always looked down on me. He thought my humble background made me unworthy of Claire. But at the time, Claire was the one who pursued me. I loved her, so I was willing to risk being ridiculed as a gold-digger to be with her. After we married, I never spent a penny of her money. My salary wasn't low for an ordinary person, earning fifty thousand a year. The butler was good at reading people. He knew Claire cared for Ben, so he always tried to please Ben and despised me even more. The entire Parks family, from top to bottom, treated me with contempt.

My mother's hand suddenly twitched, then went completely still. "Mom!" I hugged her with trembling hands, my body shaking uncontrollably. My mother grew cold in my arms. In the distance, the faint, growing wail of an ambulance finally reached us. But it was too late. As I drifted into unconsciousness, I heard the butler still mocking me: "Truly no self-awareness"

3.

I woke up two days later. The smell of disinfectant was pungent. I struggled to open my eyes; my throat was dry and sore. Claire happened to walk in, with Ben following behind her. Ben was holding a faded cloth doll in his hands. "Zach, how are you feeling? Still not too uncomfortable?" Claire's voice was full of concern, as if nothing had ever happened. I stared intently at the doll. Ben instinctively clutched it tighter. "Dude, my mom made this. I couldn't sleep without it when I was a kid." A faded doll, rough stitches My mom died for this piece of junk. Ben's scalp tingled under my gaze. "Are you blaming me?"

Claire frowned, her voice displeased. "Zachary, dont be unreasonable. Ben is also a victim; no one wants a fire."

"Unreasonable?" I repeated the words. Seeing my expression, Claires face darkened even more. "It's already happened. Your dissatisfaction won't change anything." "Yes, it's already happened." I suddenly laughed. The sound startled the sparrows outside the window.

"It was an emergency; you should understand us. Bens mother's mementos would be truly gone if they burned." Claire said this while pulling out a compact mirror from her purse to reapply lipstick. As if my discontent was just an insignificant interlude.

"Is my mother's life worth nothing to you?" I lunged and grabbed Claires collar. "My mother is dead, she's dead, are you happy now!" The IV tube swayed wildly from my tugging, and blood flowed back into it. Ben quickly came over and punched me in the face. His voice was cold. "You hit a woman? If you're upset, take it out on me, don't pick on Claire." Claire turned to look at him, her eyes practically overflowing with adoration. Then she glared at me, "Can you be reasonable? Didn't I leave some bodyguards to help you save her?"

"Besides, the fire didn't even reach her. What could possibly happen?" These past two days, shed been out having fun with Ben. She hadnt cared about my mom or me at all, so she naturally didnt know my mom was gone.

Seeing me about to strike, Ben actually pulled out a medical report from his pocket. "You're too much! Auntie was actually in perfect health; she didn't have asthma at all."

"You lied like that just to make Claire feel sorry for you?"

"Youre so conniving, no wonder the Parks family elders don't like you." I sharply looked at his so-called medical report, my eyes like a predators. Claire also snorted, hands on her hips. "What else do you have to say? You and your mom are nothing but liars. She didn't have asthma." I trembled with rage. My mom was dead, and they were still slandering her like this.

"Shut up! All of you, shut up!" I roared, heartbroken. The shout was so loud it triggered a coughing fit. My throat felt like it was being scorched by red-hot tongs, the pain unbearable. Ben shielded Claire behind him. From an angle she couldnt see, he smirked provocatively at me. But the words he spoke were remarkably understanding. "I didn't mean to expose you; I just didn't want Claire to be deceived" Claire glared at me. "Zachary, you've disappointed me too much."

"You and your mother truly are from humble beginnings, so full of schemes." Her voice was filled with deep disappointment. "You shut up. You have no right to mention my mother!" I gritted my teeth as I spat out the words. Claire was startled by my intensity. But she still held her ground, "Hmph, you better reflect on yourself. Ben and I are leaving now." She took Ben's hand and turned to leave. Their footsteps faded, followed by the sound of the main door being forcefully shut. Once the sounds completely died down, I couldn't hold back anymore and burst into uncontrollable sobs.

A week later, I finished my mothers funeral arrangements. Only then did I have time to return to that so-called home. The guest room in the mansion still bore scorched marks. Every one of them reminded me of my mothers tragic death. Claire wasnt there. She and Ben had gone on vacation abroad. All under the guise of "revisiting old haunts." Ben kept flaunting their photos on social media, implying their intimate relationship with every caption. I looked at those pictures, feeling nothing. I packed my things and left without hesitation. As I arrived at the hotel, Claire's call came through.

"You're not at the hospital?"

"No." I looked at a photo of my mother from her younger days. "Claire, let's get a divorce."