The Firefighter Became a Billionaire... and He’s Had Enough!

Chapter 003

The slap came before he finished the word "Divorce".

Not a dramatic, telegraphed swing, just a sharp, efficient crack across his left cheek. Erin’s ring caught the corner of his mouth, leaving behind a sharp metallic sting.

"Don’t." Her voice was ice. "Don’t you dare."

He looked at her. For one foolish moment, a trace of warmth crept into his heart. Maybe she still loved him deep down?

A sigh of relief escaped his lips but the warmth was soon snuffed out by the next thing she said as she opened her mouth.

"I have the Cambridge Ethics Forum in three weeks. I am the keynote speaker for a panel on modern family values. Do you have any idea what a divorce filing would do to that? To the coverage? To everything we've built?"

"Everything you’ve built," Derek said quietly. "So in the end, this is still about you. Your image. Your career. Your business."

"What else would it be about? Your wounded pride?" Erin sneered. "My work has helped hundreds of vulnerable people. That matters far more than your bruised feelings. For once in your life, Derek, man up."

The sheer audacity of it almost made him laugh. What a fucking gaslighter.

Then Erin's voice dropped to something quieter and deliberate, the tone she used when she wanted words to land like stones.

"Do you understand what happens if you file for divorce now?" Erin asked. "The sponsors walk away. Every single one of them. And once the funding disappears, so does the foundation’s new assistance program."

She paused, watching his face carefully. "I’m announcing a long-term support initiative after the forum. It’s meant for families like Lily’s."

Derek’s jaw tightened.

William Hawk had been his closest friend in the department. They'd come up together, trained together, watched each other's backs on calls that could have gone either way. 

Three years ago, during what should have been a routine extraction, a roof collapsed. William never made it out. He left behind Lily, their young son, and a silence in Derek’s life that had never completely closed.

Lily had been raising the boy alone ever since. Derek knew how hard she worked just to keep them afloat. He knew exactly what that support could mean to her.

"If the speech collapses," Erin continued, watching his face, "those families lose everything the foundation was going to provide. The media coverage, the donor network, the monthly support. All gone, just because you couldn't wait three weeks." Her voice was precise and cold. "Is your wounded pride really worth more than Lily’s rent?"

Derek said nothing. He saw the trap clearly. Erin had taken William’s death, Lily’s struggle, and Derek’s guilt, then arranged them into a weapon pointed directly at his conscience.

What made it worse was that the weapon worked.

Sensing she had found the one argument he could not dismiss, Erin straightened.

"Yes, the foundation also brings me influence, resources, and management revenue," she said. "And I deserve every bit of it. Without me, those families would never get funding. Most people would not even know their names."

"So yes, I benefit. They benefit too. That is how the world works—through exchanges." She lifted her chin slightly, satisfied with how neatly she had made the argument sound.

Mike shifted uneasily on the couch before rising to his feet.

"Derek, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," he said. 

"Don't be ridiculous," Erin replied, her voice clipped and businesslike. "You have nothing to apologize for."

He clutched his chest and looked at Ryan with eyes full of guilt. His voice was as weak as a fading breeze."I really don’t want to cause problems between—" 

He didn't get to finish.

Derek crossed the room in three strides and drove his fist into Mike's face. The impact snapped Mike's head back and sent him stumbling against the arm of the couch. He clutched his jaw, eyes wide with shock.

"Don't," Derek said quietly. "Don't you fucking dare."

Mike straightened, his face cycling through shades of red and white. "Derek, I-"

"If you really didn't want to come between a husband and his wife," Derek said, "you could've started by keeping your dick out of the wife, you prick."

His mouth opened, then closed again. Whatever performance he had prepared had vanished, leaving him speechless and humiliated.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Erin shouted, rushing to Mike’s side. "You just assaulted a sick man!"

"A sick bastard who wants to fuck my wife."

"You see?" Erin turned on Derek, her eyes blazing. "This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. You’re violent. You’re toxic. You solve everything with aggression, and then you wonder why I’ve been miserable with you."

Derek gave a humorless laugh.

She had cheated on him, brought the man into their home, dressed him in Derek’s clothes, and cooked him dinner. Yet somehow, with a few carefully chosen words, she had already recast herself as the victim.

Mike wiped a thin streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. The wounded innocence had vanished from his face, replaced by barely contained resentment.

"I think I should go," Mike said stiffly.

"No." Erin caught his arm before he could move. Her voice softened immediately. "You’re not going anywhere, Mikey, sweetheart. Sit down. The Wagyu will be ready in twenty minutes."

Then she looked back at Derek, and every trace of tenderness disappeared.

"This is my house," she said. "If anyone is leaving, it’s Derek."

Derek looked at the pan on the stove, then at Mike standing there in his pajamas, Erin’s hand resting comfortably on his arm.

He wanted to say something. But he just had no idea what was left to say. Every sentence that came to mind felt pointless. Too angry, too weak, or far too late.

Then, suddenly, a wash of orange light flickered across the wall beside him.

Derek turned toward it almost instinctively.

The television had cut to breaking news. Aerial footage showed an entire mountainside engulfed in flames, the fire surging over the ridges beneath a sky blackened by smoke.

A red ticker crawled across the bottom of the screen:

MASSIVE WILDFIRE IN LOS VANGEES COUNTY. MULTIPLE COMMUNITIES UNDER EVACUATION ORDERS.

Derek's attention sharpened.

This was not a house fire or a patch of burning brush. The entire horizon was on fire.

The anchor's voice was barely audible, but he caught fragments.

"...multiple casualties reported... emergency services overwhelmed... mutual aid requested from neighboring counties..."

Behind him, Erin had already returned to the stove. Mike said something quietly, and she answered with a soft laugh.

Derek barely heard them.

His phone vibrated. A second later, it began to ring.

Captain Brett Holland.

Derek answered on the second ring, his expression hardening at once.