The Return Of The Firefighter As A Trillionaire

Chapter 10

The fire engine pulled up to the station and the other firefighters spilled out, exhausted and ready to go home. Families waited outside the station, holding signs and flowers, rushing forward to embrace their loved ones. Tyler watched Bryan get swept up in his wife's arms. He watched the younger guys get tackled by their kids.

He stayed on the truck until everyone else had disembarked.

The station was quiet when he went inside. He moved directly to his locker and started pulling his belongings out. His spare uniforms. His boots. The photos he kept there. Everything that was actually his.

Bryan appeared in the doorway.

"Tyler, where are you going?" Bryan's voice was concerned. "You should go home. Rest. You need to recover from those injuries."

Tyler didn't stop packing. He kept moving methodically, placing each item into a duffel bag.

"I'm not going home," Tyler said quietly. "I'm getting a place for now. Just until things settle down."

Bryan's face changed. Understanding dawned there, and with it came a kind of sad recognition.

"Elena?" Bryan asked.

Tyler didn't answer. He just kept packing.

When Tyler finally emerged from the station, Elena was waiting for him in the parking lot. She stood beside her car, her arms crossed, her face tight with anger. She was still wearing the clothes she had driven up to Los Vangees in. Her hair was messy. She looked like she hadn't slept since she'd been there.

"Where the hell have you been?" Elena's voice was sharp and cutting. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? I went to that command center thinking you might be dead. I uncovered bodies of fallen firefighters searching for you."

Tyler set his duffel bag down and looked at her. Really looked at her. And felt nothing.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Tyler said calmly. His voice was even, controlled. "But I didn't ask you to come looking for me."

"You disappeared!" Elena's voice rose. "You deliberately went into that fire knowing you might not come back. You did it to frighten me. You did it to manipulate me into caring about you again."

Tyler was quiet for a moment. He considered her accusation and found it didn't anger him. Didn't move him at all.

"No, Elena," Tyler said slowly. "I went into that fire because there was a man trapped in a burning house. I did it because that's my job. Not because of you."

Elena's face flushed. "Don't lie to me. Nobody risks their life for a stranger. You wanted me to—"

"I don't care what you do with Matthew anymore," Tyler interrupted. His voice was gentle, which somehow made it worse. "I don't care who you spend your time with. I don't care about the foundation or your image or any of it. Do whatever you want. We can finalize the divorce once the publicity risk to your foundation passes."

Elena felt something shift inside her. This wasn't the response she expected. Tyler should be angry. He should be jealous. He should be fighting for her, trying to convince her to give their marriage another chance. Instead, he was standing there looking at her like she was a stranger he barely knew.

"You seem very calm about all of this," Elena said. Her voice was quieter now, but there was an edge to it. An uncertainty.

"I am calm," Tyler agreed. He picked up his duffel bag. "I've accepted what this marriage was. A fair exchange, remember? You said it yourself."

Elena stepped toward him. She searched his face for something. Some sign of the man she had married. Some hint of jealousy or pain or lingElenag attachment. She found nothing but a kind of weary acceptance.

"You're really just going to leave?" Elena asked. Her tone was challenging now, probing.

"Yes," Tyler said simply.

"Just like that?" Her voice was sharper now. She was pushing, trying to get a reaction. "You're just going to let me go? Let me be with Matthew? You don't care at all?"

Tyler looked at her and felt something like pity.

"No, I don't care," Tyler said. "I care about getting divorced. That's all I care about now."

Elena felt something break inside her. This indifference was worse than anger. Worse than jealousy. Worse than fighting. The man she had married would have fought for her. The man she had married would have been devastated. The man she had married would have tried to convince her that they could fix things.

This man in front of her was just done.

"Fine," Elena said. Her voice was cold now, but there was something desperate underneath it. "If you're so ready to move on, then let's end this properly. Let's stop waiting for the right time. Let's just end it."

Tyler waited.

"Meet me at the courthouse on Monday morning," Elena said. Her chin lifted slightly, defiantly. "We'll file for divorce. We'll end this once and for all. No more waiting. No more delays."

Tyler nodded slowly.

"The question is," Elena continued, and now her voice had taken on a provocative edge, "do you actually have the courage to show up?"

It was a challenge. A dare. An attempt to pull some reaction out of him. But Tyler just looked at her with those calm, empty eyes.

"I'll be there," Tyler said. He picked up his duffel bag and started to walk away.

"Monday morning, Tyler," Elena called after him. "Don't be late."

Tyler kept walking without looking back. He got into his car and pulled out of the parking lot. He drove past the house they had shared, past the street where he had once believed he belonged, and he didn't feel anything but relief.

Behind him, Elena stood in the parking lot and watched him leave. She had gotten what she wanted. She had pushed him away. She had won the argument. She had gotten him to agree to the divorce.

And yet she felt like she had just lost something incredibly important.

She pulled out her phone and called Matthew.

"Hey, baby," Matthew answered on the second ring. His voice was warm and affectionate. "I was wondElenag when you'd be home."

Elena got into her car and started the engine. She gripped the steElenag wheel tightly.

"I'm heading back now," Elena said. She forced warmth into her voice, forced normalcy into each word. "I should be there in a couple hours."

"Perfect," Matthew said. "I've been thinking about you all day. I can't wait to see you."

Elena drove toward her home. Toward Matthew. Toward everything she had chosen. And she tried very hard not to think about the indifference in Tyler's eyes when he looked at her for the last time.