My Last Plea Was His Worst Mistake Chapter 01

My Last Plea Was His Worst Mistake Chapter 01

My boyfriend Ethan Carter was the battalion chief of the municipal fire department.

When the fire broke out, I called him for help, gasping that I was trapped in the basement beneath the east wing of the abandoned mall.

But over the line, I caught Chloe Bennett—my supposed best friend—sniffling through sobs.

“Ethan, do you think Luna’s misunderstanding us again? I just came out from the east wing. There’s no one down there at all.”

Ethan bought her lie without hesitation. A cold scoff rumbled in his throat.

“Can’t you be more mature? You’re letting your jealousy get the better of you at a time like this.”

He personally ordered the east wing fire barrier sealed shut, then led his team to shift search and rescue operations entirely to the west wing.

Later on, rescue workers dug a charred, unrecognizable corpse out from the smoldering rubble.

A rookie firefighter spoke up cautiously, mentioning my phone had been out of service range the entire time.

Ethan was gently dabbing Chloe’s face with a damp towel. At the report, he frowned sharply with obvious irritation.

“Quit bringing up that hysterical woman. She pulled a false emergency prank, and she’s a drama queen who filed a false fire report.”

He would never know I had been a mere eleven meters away from him when I drew my last breath.

Nor would he ever find out the warped matching promise ring was fused tight into my charred bones.

…

I called Ethan the second thick smoke began billowing through the basement.

Dust coated my phone screen; every shaky breath sent clouds of grit swirling down onto the display.

I hunched against the concrete wall, my throat burning and scratchy from inhaling smoke.

“Ethan… the old Horizon Mall, east wing basement.”

I slammed a palm against the metal door locked behind me.

“The door’s locked from the outside—please help me.”

Wind and emergency alarm blares crackled through the call.

Ethan’s voice came through hard and frigid.

“Luna, what are you up to now?”

Smoke seeped through the door cracks, stinging my eyes until I could barely hold them open.

“I’m not messing around—there’s a real fire down here, and there’s a little kid stuck with me too—”

My plea was cut short by Chloe’s sobs coming through the merged call.

“Ethan, my hand hurts so bad.”

A beat of silence passed on Ethan’s end.

Then he lowered his tone to a soft, soothing murmur for her alone.

“Don’t be scared. I’m right here.”

He’d said those exact same words to me once before.

I’d suffered a brutal asthma attack in the middle of the night, and he’d sprinted me to the emergency room on his back, losing one shoe mid-run in his panic.

Everything started falling apart the moment Chloe moved back to town.

I coughed so violently I could barely stand, bracing my weight against the burning door. Heat seared straight through my jacket into my palm.

“Ethan, I swear I’m not lying to you. East wing basement storage room. The metal door’s locked from the outside. I can’t get out.”

Chloe’s crying grew louder and more dramatic.

“But I was just on the east wing, and there’s absolutely nobody down there. I even saw Luna heading toward the west wing earlier. She said… she said she’d make you regret everything.”

Ethan’s tone turned icy in an instant.

“Luna, this is an active fire scene. Cut the jealous nonsense right now.”

The little boy huddled in my arms woke up coughing, clinging tight to my sleeve.

“Luna, I’m scared.”

I pressed a damp rag over his mouth and nose, then rammed my shoulder against the door. The metal was scorching hot, burning my skin even through layers of fabric.

“Ethan, can you hear him? There’s a child here! I’m not making any of this up!”

A faint, disgusted huff drifted over the phone line.

“You’re even making up a kid just to drag me over here? Luna, you disgust me.”

The line went dead.

The dead dial tone kept ringing in my ears.

I stared at the screen as the call terminated.

Three months prior, Ethan had personally tucked a smoke hood into my purse.

He’d just returned from a rescue mission with blisters burned across the back of his hand, yet he’d lectured me sternly anyway.

“You have severe asthma—smoke is deadly for you. Keep this on you at all times, don’t complain about the hassle.”

Not long after, Chloe complained of constant dizziness and a fear of riding elevators.

He’d taken the mask right out of my belongings and handed it to her without a second thought.

“You barely leave the house these days. Let her borrow it for a few days first.”

An emergency first-aid kit sat permanently in the back of his truck, labeled in his handwriting: [Luna’s Personal First-Aid Kit.]

It was fully stocked with my asthma inhaler, throat lozenges, fast-acting emergency medication, everything tailored to my conditions.

But the second Chloe whined about feeling lightheaded, Ethan had handed her the entire kit without glancing back at me once.

Right then, Chloe wore my smoke mask and clutched my custom first-aid kit, waiting safely for Ethan’s rescue team to pull her out.

Meanwhile I was trapped in a smoke-choked basement, without even a clean piece of cloth to shield my mouth.

A firefighter’s walkie-talkie crackled to life outside the door.

“Smoke and temperature spiking drastically on east wing; risk of a backdraft. Authorize sealing the fire door?”

I threw myself against the metal barrier screaming.

“Don’t lock it! There are people trapped inside!

Ethan!”

His unmistakable voice carried through the door, steady and authoritative as team captain.

“Seal off the east wing fire door. Shift all search teams to the west side.”

The bolt latched shut for good.

The little boy whimpered up at me. “Will the firemen come save us, Luna?”

I pulled him tight against my chest.

I could not force the word “yes” past my smoke-swollen throat.

Ethan had devoted his career to saving countless strangers.

But this time, he had personally sealed off my only escape route.