Seven Years Lost: My Firefighter fiancé Saved Everyone But Our Love - Chapter 79: Chapter 79

The phone got slammed down hard, leaving nothing but a dial tone.
Hunter stood there clutching his phone, all the color draining from his face.
He'd just lost me and Flora, and now even his supposed backup plan was cutting him off just as brutally.
"No... no way..." He frantically dialed the number again.
This time the phone picked up right away.
But before Hunter could say a word, Alice's psychotic voice came screaming through:
"Hunter Steven! Are you fucking brain-damaged? Can't you understand English? I told you to fuck off! The only reason I was with you was because you acted all classy and loaded back then!"
"And here's a fun fact for you—my daughter isn't even yours, you dumb fuck! You've been playing daddy to some random dude's kid for years like a complete sucker!"
Hunter looked like he'd been struck by lightning. His eyes snapped toward me and Flora.
My heart jumped into my throat. I immediately pushed Flora behind me, yanked open the door of our car parked nearby, shoved Flora into the backseat, and jumped into the driver's seat.
"Mommy..." Flora's face was ghostly white. She was obviously terrified by that woman's screaming and the look on Hunter's face.
"It's okay, sweetheart, buckle up. We're going home."
I started the engine, trying to keep my voice steady, but my knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.
In the rearview mirror, I could see Hunter still standing there like a statue.
His face wasn't angry anymore—it was completely hollow.
A few weeks later, I saw a news story on my phone.
Hunter was dead. Along with Alice and the kid who'd been using my daughter's name.
A few days after that, I got a letter with his messy handwriting on the envelope.
I didn't want to read it, but something made me open it anyway.
"My wife, my Flora, I'm so sorry. I screwed up everything... If there's a next life, can we be a family again?"
When I read that last part about "being together in the next life," I couldn't stop shivering. Then immediately tore the letter into pieces.
Whoever wanted to deal with his funeral arrangements could handle it. I wanted nothing to do with any part of that mess.
After pulling myself together, I walked out of the bathroom.
Flora was sitting on the living room carpet, quietly building with her blocks, afternoon sunlight streaming through the window onto her.
I went over and crouched down, gently pulling her into my arms, feeling her warm little body.
"Flora, from now on it's just you and me. Mommy will always protect you, and we'll always be happy together, okay?"
Flora looked up at me with bright, sparkling eyes and nodded hard:
"Yes! Flora will always stay with Mommy!"
As for Hunter—I'd already torn him up and flushed him down the drain.
I just hoped he would never, ever appear in mine and Flora's lives again.