A group of armed robbers ambush the kindergarten, resulting in my son, Finn Hart, becoming a hostage. A ticking time bomb is strapped to his tiny body afterward.

My husband, Nolan Hart, also known as the best bomb disposal expert in the whole nation, arrives at the scene immediately. Meanwhile, I stand by the monitor in the command van, my eyes glued to the screen.

I can see a burlap sack covering Finn's head. My poor son is trembling violently out of fear.

But once Nolan and his assistant-slash-first love, Summer Castellano, enter the scene, the latter actually has the guts to ask for permission to dispose of the bomb.

"Nolan, let me have a taste of what it feels like to be a heroine who gets to save lives. Is that okay?"

As Nolan gazes at Summer, he flashes a doting smile at her.

"Go ahead. You can just cut the red wire. Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll face the consequences on your behalf."

Summer reaches out with her scissors excitedly and snips the blue wire without hesitation.

The next thing everyone knows, the countdown on Finn's bomb shifts from ten minutes to ten seconds instantly.

Both Nolan and Summer's expressions change drastically. They quickly turn tail and flee the scene.

On the other hand, my eyes go as wide as dinner plates at the turn of events. Just as I'm about to rush into the kindergarten, I feel a tiny hand grabbing the hem of my shirt forcefully.

"Mommy, Daddy will save Wyatt, right?"

I look down to see Finn, who's standing right next to me. For a moment, my mind goes blank.

Suddenly, I recall having heard him telling me when he called me with his smartwatch earlier today.

"Mommy, Wyatt insisted on swapping clothes with me. He said my new sportswear looks better than his!"

Wyatt Castellano is Summer's son… as well as Finn's half-brother.

Last year, my husband Nolan Hart's first love, Summer Castellano, returned from abroad. She brought with her a boy whose features bore an uncanny resemblance to Nolan.

I fought with him bitterly over this, nearly tearing our home apart.

He only told me coldly that the boy was a child born from his sperm donation years ago. There was nothing between him and Summer. He told me not to use my filthy mind to make assumptions about their pure relationship.

For the sake of this family and the sake of giving my son, Finn Hart, a complete childhood, I endured it. But they only became more brazen.

Nolan pulled strings to get Summer into the bomb disposal unit. Summer even enrolled her son Wyatt in the same elite preschool as Finn.

Every day at pickup, she would shoot me a smug look.

I glanced at Finn's innocent face beside me. I couldn't let him witness the horror that might unfold next.

I handed him over to my mother, who had just rushed over after hearing the news. "Mom, take Finn home. I'll come back once I've handled this."

I jumped down from the command vehicle and rushed toward the unfinished building. Just as I reached the base of the building, I ran into Nolan and Summer scrambling down in a panicked escape.

A deafening explosion shook the entire building violently. My face drained of color, and my body went limp. I stared at the sea of flames, unable to speak.

Nolan, however, walked over with a calm expression.

"Brielle, Summer's operation was flawless. The criminals who planted the bombs were too cunning. They used a double-decoy detonation system.

"What's done is done. I hope you won't hold any grudge against Summer. And don't twist this into something it's not with that paranoid mind of yours."

I nodded slowly, my voice hoarse. "Fine. Of course, I won't pursue this."

Nolan looked satisfied.

Summer, standing to the side, clutched her chest and let out a shaky laugh, still reeling from the shock. Her tone dripped with condescending approval.

"You're being very gracious about this, Brielle."

Nolan let out a disdainful snort and said in a voice only the three of us could hear, "How would she dare not be? She can't leave me.

"It's just her kid who died. Want to bet that even if her parents died today, she still wouldn't dare hold me accountable?"

I suppressed the towering rage and nausea churning inside me and pointed at the building.

"Even though the bomb exploded, Wyatt might not be…

"You should go back up and check. See if there's still a chance…"

Before I could finish, Summer let out a piercing shriek. "What are you talking about? That's your son up there, not my Wyatt!

"How dare you curse my son! Your son is the one who died, Brielle! Why are you dragging mine into this?

"My son has nothing to do with this. Don't you dare curse him!"

Nolan's hand cracked across my face with a resounding slap, shouting, "Apologize to Summer!"

I clutched my burning cheek and said urgently, "This isn't the time for apologies! Go check on him! Every minute counts!"

When neither of them moved, I steeled myself and decided to go up myself. No matter what, that was an innocent life. I couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

Summer's eyes immediately welled with tears. She collapsed into Nolan's arms with practiced fragility.

"Nolan, I think Brielle's grief has driven her mad. This is all my fault. The rescue failed because of me…"

Nolan looked like his heart was breaking. He strode forward in two quick steps and grabbed my arm like I was a rag doll. He shoved me to the ground and forced my head down, trying to make me kneel and apologize to Summer.

I kept my head raised, glaring at him as I bit out each word. "I haven't done anything wrong! Why should I apologize? The one who got blown up was Wyatt!

"Mom just took Finn home!"

My words sent Nolan into a fury. He thought I was attacking his precious Summer with vicious lies. He grabbed the back of my head and slammed my forehead into the ground three times.

Sharp gravel tore through my skin. Warm blood streamed down from my forehead and into my eyes. The world turned red.

"Are you sorry yet?" he shouted at me.

I said nothing. Left with no other choice, he released me with a furious shove. Then he left, cradling his precious Summer.

As Summer passed by me, she crouched down slowly and whispered in my ear, "How does it feel to lose your son?

"Let me tell you something. Nolan was mine before, and he'll be mine again. You're just a temporary replacement. You were never worthy of having his child."

I stared at her jealousy-twisted face and felt nothing but sorrow. I used the last of my strength to remind her one more time.

"The one strapped to the bomb really was Wyatt. If you go now, there might still be a chance to save him."

"You're lying!" she screeched.

My words seemed to strike a nerve. She flew into a rage and kicked me hard in the chest. Then she turned and followed Nolan without looking back.

I hesitated for a moment, but reason won out over anger. I struggled to my feet and rushed into the unfinished building that was still billowing black smoke.

The explosion site was in ruins. At the center of the blast lay a small, mangled figure. I rushed over, discovering that although Wyatt had been blown beyond recognition and his entire body charred black, he still had a faint breath left in him.

When he saw me, he called out weakly, "Mrs. Hart… save… save me…"

This wasn't my child. But seeing him in such a pitiful state, tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

I took off my jacket and wrapped it gently around him. Summoning every ounce of strength I had, I lifted him into my arms and ran like a madwoman toward the nearest hospital.

The entire way, my face was covered in blood. I carried a charred child in my arms, looking like something out of a nightmare.

When I finally reached the hospital, I burst into the emergency hall and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Doctor! Someone get a doctor! Save this child!"

Wyatt had already lost consciousness completely.

But at that moment, Nolan appeared at the emergency hall entrance out of nowhere. Behind him followed Summer, who only had a minor scrape on her knee.

When he saw me and the motionless child in my arms, he said coldly, "There's a first-come, first-served rule for treatment. Don't you know that?

"You have no shame. If Finn were still alive and saw what kind of mother you are, he'd be ashamed of you."

He still thought the child I was holding was my supposedly dead son.

A doctor was about to rush out of the emergency room, but Summer blocked his path. "Doctor! Treat me first! My leg hurts so badly!"

The doctor glanced at her minor scrape, his anger rising. "That scratch will heal on its own if you wait a bit! Let me check on that child first! He looks seriously injured!"

But Summer and Nolan blocked the emergency room entrance like a wall. They wouldn't let me in, and they wouldn't let the doctor out. They insisted that the doctor treat Summer's wound first.

"This is your son Wyatt!" I couldn't hold back anymore and screamed at Summer.

"How can you just stand there and watch him suffer like this without getting treatment!"

Summer's eyes immediately reddened, and tears came on command. She cried to Nolan, "Look at her, Nolan! Ever since Brielle's son died, she's gone crazy. She keeps cursing my son! That child she's holding is clearly wearing her son's clothes!"

Nolan immediately berated me. "Brielle! I never thought you were this kind of malicious woman! Just because your own son died, you can't stand to see others doing well!

"Summer is so kindhearted. If she saw your son injured, she'd be the first to rush to save him! But you? You're here cursing her! What's your game?"

I cried and tried to explain, attempting to make them look at the child's face. "No! This really is Wyatt!"

Nolan was furious. He snatched the barely breathing child from my arms. Like discarding a piece of trash, he threw him onto the cold floor beside us.

I watched helplessly as Wyatt's broken body took another violent impact. The last faint rise and fall of his chest stopped completely.

Despair washed over me, and I suddenly understood. The root of all this was their mistaken belief that the child strapped to the bomb was my son.

Their real goal had been to let Finn die.

I had done everything I could for Wyatt. At this point, my conscience was clear.

I looked at Nolan calmly and said, "Let's get a divorce."

He laughed dismissively. "What nonsense are you spouting now! Hurry up and go home to reflect on yourself!"

I laughed bitterly. Since they didn't even cherish their own flesh and blood, what was I still doing here?

I turned to leave, saying over my shoulder, "My lawyer will send you the divorce papers."

"Brielle! Stop right there!" Summer called out to me.

She turned on her phone's live stream and spoke to the camera in an exaggerated, tearful voice. "Everyone! There was a preschool explosion in our city today, and we're all devastated. But this mother actually abandoned her son, who died in the explosion, and just left him here at the hospital!

"I don't know what kind of mother this woman is, to be so heartless and let her own child be thrown in a cold hospital corridor like trash!"

As she spoke, she gave a long, close-up shot of Wyatt's small, lifeless body on the floor. Then she put on an act of compassion and ran dramatically to the emergency room. She grabbed the doctor she had just blocked and tearfully begged him to save that young life.

Although the doctor was furious at her contradictory behavior, his professional duty compelled him to rush to Wyatt's side and crouch down to examine him carefully. Then he shook his head grimly.

"There's no saving him. If it had been earlier…"

Before he could finish, Nolan stepped forward, grasped his hand, and said loudly, "Thank you, doctor."

Then, without another word, he ushered the doctor back into the emergency room.