Both my husband's childhood sweetheart and I were caught in a roaring fire, and he chose to save me first because I was pregnant. When he came back, all he found was her lifeless body, consumed by the flames. He blamed me for being hysterical and delaying the rescue, refusing to let our daughter call him "dad."

Six years later, when a time machine was invented, he ignored our family's objections and insisted on going back to the past.

"Selena, if you hadn't used the baby to manipulate me, I would have saved her first," Riley accused.

Even our daughter didn't want to call me her mother anymore. "If you hadn’t caused Aunt Natalia’s death, why would dad hate me?" she said.

Facing everyone's contempt, I decided to go back to the past too. This time, I would save myself and owe Riley nothing.

...

The dizziness from the time machine subsided, and I was hit by a nearly unbearable wave of heat. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Riley standing in front of me, his lips pressed into a thin line. He glanced at me briefly, then rushed without hesitation to Natalia, who had collapsed on the ground.

The fire threatened to consume me, and I desperately tried to escape. Just as I was about to exit the inferno, Riley sped past me, carrying Natalia. In her panic, she shoved me back into the flames. I fell, and a toppled cabinet landed squarely on my back. Despite the searing pain, I gritted my teeth, moved the cabinet off, and crawled out of the blaze slowly.

When I finally reached safety and was coughing violently on the ground, Riley, who had already escaped with Natalia, walked over and looked at me with cold indifference. "Selena, turns out you could get out on your own? You stayed in the fire to make me save you, leaving me no time to save her."

His icy gaze extinguished the heat of the fire.

At that moment, he didn’t know I had also traveled back via the time machine.

"Planning to run to your parents to complain, right? Say what you want, but if you drag Natalia into it, don’t blame me for ignoring our marriage," he warned.

Hearing that, I instinctively touched my stomach and calmly said, "Riley, let's get a divorce."

Riley froze, staring at me for a long moment before replying impatiently, "I'm not in the mood for your drama."

"I'm serious. Let's end this."

In his previous life, Riley’s two biggest regrets were not saving Natalia first from the fire and marrying me because of his parents' wishes. I wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes, so I would help him fulfill these regrets.

Riley looked at me coldly, his voice growing more frigid. "Don't think I don't see through your little schemes. You want to use the divorce to create drama about me saving her first, making my parents dislike her even more."

"Marriage isn't a game. Stop using divorce as a way to act out. Let's go; I’ll take you to the hospital for a full check-up."

With that, Riley reached out to help me up, his gaze clearly warning me not to continue with this.

A dull pain throbbed in my lower abdomen. I had barely lifted my arm when Natalia was already clinging to Riley's hand. "Riley, Skittles isn’t looking well—maybe it's the smoke. Could you come with me to take it to the vet?"

Seeing Natalia's tearful concern, Riley agreed without hesitation. Only then did he look at me again.

Following his gaze, Natalia pleaded, "Selena, since you're not seriously hurt, could you wait here a bit? Skittles means the world to me."

Skittles was a parrot Riley had given Natalia.

"I'll call an ambulance to get you to the hospital. Once Skittles is taken care of, I’ll come to the hospital to be with you," Riley promised.

I nodded lightly. "Alright, you go ahead."

A trace of surprise crossed Riley’s eyes, but seeing how anxious Natalia was, he didn’t ask further and drove off with her.

After they left, I struggled to open my oversized jacket, revealing the bright bloodstains on my dress. By the time the ambulance arrived and I was wheeled into surgery, the doctor’s grave expression told me everything.

"Miss Jacobs, you came in too late. I'm sorry, but we couldn't save your child."

...

Last time, because Riley saved me first, our child was unharmed. After our daughter was born, Riley provided financially but did nothing else.

Our daughter once cried and asked me why other kids got gifts from their dads, yet Riley hadn’t even bought her a toy.

The truth hit me when I overheard Riley talking to her by chance: "Don't call me 'dad.' I won't acknowledge you as my daughter. I'll find other ways to make it up to you."

Looking into her tear-filled, bewildered eyes, Riley carefully pulled out feathers he had kept for years. "If people hadn't been busy rushing your mom to the hospital the day you were born, Skittles wouldn’t have gotten lost. Natalia must hate me for not saving her and for losing Skittles."

"If I had another chance, I would protect her and Skittles, even if it meant losing my child."

Remembering this, my eyes stung with unshed tears.

From the moment I came back, I hadn’t intended to keep this child, so I accepted the outcome calmly.

No sooner had my friend delivered the divorce papers than Riley appeared at the hospital, a bag of toys in hand.

"I saw these on the way and thought they were cute—little gifts for the baby in advance," he said, placing each toy beside me with a carefree smile.

"Did you find Skittles?" I asked.

Riley paused, then nodded. "Yes, so I hope you won’t mention today's events to my parents. I don’t want them to misunderstand Natalia. If you can keep this secret, I’ll agree to anything you ask."

So, he bought these toys to appease me only for Natalia's sake.

I glanced at the toys and saw the "For Parrots" label on the tags. Instantly, something seemed to block my heart.

These were meant to cheer me up but were casually bought when he was shopping for Skittles with Natalia.

"Anything?" I asked, holding back tears and forcing a smile.

When he nodded, I pulled out the divorce papers my friend had delivered, leaving only the signature section visible.

"Then sign a promise," I said, covering the rest of the document.

Riley frowned in confusion. "What promise?"

"That you'll never change your mind."

I used to love making such childish requests, so he didn’t doubt me and signed his name without hesitation.

Stashing away the divorce papers, I felt strangely relieved.

In the past, Riley was my savior. This time, let me give him his freedom.

Riley and I had known each other since we were kids. My family wasn’t poor, but after my parents divorced and I was sent to live with my father and his new wife, I became the most unwelcome person in the house.

When our class was required to order school uniforms, I had to wear a knock-off my stepmother bought me.

Amidst the derisive laughter of my classmates, Riley tore his own uniform and stood next to me, restoring my shattered dignity.

"Is it so funny to accidentally buy a knock-off? Not everyone cares about these things. Her clothes are just like mine."

Later, when my stepmother was pregnant, my father, wanting to rid himself of a burden, locked me in a house that accidentally caught fire. At the brink of death, it was Riley who risked his life to save me...

After my father went to prison and my stepmother disappeared with the money, Riley covered my tuition, preventing me from dropping out of school...

He kept appearing in my life during my darkest times, leading me to mistakenly believe I held a special place in his heart. But now, it's time to face reality.

"Mom and Dad have invited us for dinner tonight. If you're feeling up to it, we should head out now."

Just as we were about to leave, Riley got a call from Natalia.

"Natalia's really shaken up by today's events and she's too scared to cook. I'm going over to help her make dinner."

After dining with Rosalie and Marcus, I was preparing to head home and rest when Rosalie's expression suddenly turned serious as she looked at her phone.

"Riley's gone to see Natalia again!"

She said this, noticing my lack of reaction, then handed her phone to me.

"Selena, didn’t you say Riley was caught up with something at work and couldn’t come? Did you know he went to see Natalia? You know the kind of influence she has... Ugh, what has she done to him!"

Natalia had posted a photo on Facebook of Riley diligently making dinner for her.

"That woman is married and still behaves this way, constantly clinging to Riley. And he believes her without a second thought."

Indeed, Rosalie and Marcus disapproved of Riley's involvement with Natalia because she was already married, a fact she managed to keep hidden quite well. They found out purely by accident. Her marriage was unhappy, which is why they didn’t want to tell Riley, fearing he might rashly confront her husband.

I learned this from Rosalie and Marcus, and knowing this was why I hadn’t considered divorcing Riley. I thought I was protecting him, but it only led him to resent me for eight years.

This time, I won’t get drawn into their drama. Riley and Natalia need to resolve their issues on their own.

"Selena, I'm sorry you’ve had to go through this," Rosalie sighed. "I hoped that after marrying you, Riley would forget about Natalia. After all, Riley once..."

At her words, I smiled, looking back at her calmly.

"Riley probably helped me out of kindness. I misunderstood his intentions. Forcing us together only makes us both unhappy, so it's better to part ways."

"Part ways?" Rosalie and Marcus looked at me, taken aback.

"Riley and I have signed the divorce papers. I’ll be leaving in a few days. I hope you’ll keep this from him. I don’t want him to regret his choices forever because of these circumstances."

Remembering how Riley looked at me with such cold eyes that evening on Thanksgiving, my heart ached deeply.

Together for over a decade, and it was the first time he felt like a stranger to me.

After explaining everything to Rosalie and Marcus, I returned home alone. Just as I was about to fall asleep, my bedroom door suddenly flew open.

I woke to find myself staring into a pair of furious eyes.

"Selena Jacobs, didn't you promise me you wouldn't go running to my parents? Do you want Natalia to suffer before you're satisfied?"

"It's because you tattled on me that my parents went to Natalia's place and had a confrontation. That's why Skittles escaped!"

Skittles escaped?

I clenched my fists instinctively, my heart sinking with dread. Despite everything I've done, have I really not changed the outcome?

"Selena, do you know how much Skittles means to Natalia? It's like her own child. Now that you're expecting, can't you imagine how painful it would be to lose your child?"

"If we can't find Skittles, maybe we should reconsider having our baby for now. I don't want Natalia to be upset every time she sees it."

Riley's cold words sent a shiver through me as if I had plunged into icy waters. I'd already tasted the agony of losing a child, but Riley didn't know that yet.

"I'll go look for Skittles."

As I started to leave, Riley sneered, "You should go find it. After all, this whole mess started because of you. Don't act like you care; you're no saint."

While searching for the parrot near Natalia's apartment, I noticed that the lights upstairs were still on. Two silhouettes were clearly visible, huddled together on the balcony.

It was a chilly night, and my body, still weak from the recent surgery, quickly felt lightheaded. But I didn't stop.

As long as I found Skittles, I would owe Riley nothing from then on.

Just as dawn was breaking, I finally found Skittles shivering in a corner of the bushes. A string tied it to the nearby shrub.

When I carefully carried it upstairs, I walked in just in time to see Riley wiping Natalia's mouth.

He froze for a moment when he saw me, then quickly came over and took Skittles.

"Natalia, it's our Skittles!"

Natalia took the parrot, and with Riley glancing my way, she suddenly burst into tears. "Riley, Skittles looks terrible. It must have been terrified and freezing all night. It might die! Let's take it to the vet, okay?"

Seeing my pale face, drained of color, Riley hesitated for a brief moment.

I leaned against the doorframe. "Go ahead. I'll make my way home."

After Riley and Natalia left, I could no longer keep from passing out.

When I came to, I found myself in a hospital, with Riley sitting beside the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me how bad you felt? Is there anywhere else you're still hurting?"

Knowing he wasn't aware of my miscarriage yet, I secretly let out a sigh of relief.

"Skittles is fine now. I should have helped you look for it yesterday, but Natalia seemed so off, standing on the balcony. I was afraid she might do something drastic if I left."

"This must have been hard on you."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but laugh.

Riley's eyes filled with confusion.

"Riley, you're as soft-hearted as you were when we were kids. Back then, you helped me because you felt sorry for me, right? If you had known that helping me would lead to marrying me, would you have still done it?"

After a brief silence, Riley nodded without hesitation.

"Don't overthink it. I've never regretted helping you. I got you those ravioli you like. Why don't you have some?"

As he was opening the food container, Natalia appeared in the hospital room doorway, clutching her stomach with a pained expression.

"Riley, my stomach ache is acting up, and I really need something warm. Could I have those ravioli?"