Ashes of My Life

Elara is five months pregnant when her husband Owen, a fire captain, lets her burn. In her last life she called him first; he saved her, but Chloe, the woman he never got over, died in the flames. He comforted Elara for months, then cut their newborn son's throat at Chloe's grave and burned her alive, blaming her for the fire. Now she has woken back in the smoke, and this time she dials 911 instead of him. She watches Owen carry Chloe out of the building, then crawls through the debris alone. His crew refuses to help, mocking her as a jealous liar; Owen presses a hand onto her stomach and walks away. A stranger, her downstairs neighbor, finds her and calls for aid, but the baby is lost, and the damage leaves her unable to bear another child. The department turns on her, the Fire Commissioner calls her the arsonist, and Owen's account posts their marriage license to prove it. Elara says nothing. She waits, and downloads the living room camera footage from two days before the fire.