All Chapters of Ashes at the Celebration: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

When I received the news that the kindergarten was on fire, my heart pounded terribly hard. I immediately rushed over.My daughter, Nina Leif, was inside.With trembling hands, I called my husband as many times as I could, yet I was unable to reach him.When I was by the gates of the kindergarten, I was completely baffled.The entire building was engulfed in flames and thick smoke. The air was hard to breathe in and had a charred smell. "My child! My child is still inside!" There were parents of the children yelling and wailing outside the gates."Nina! Nina!" I waded past through the crowd, searching for Nina in every kid who was rescued out of the kindergarten. My voice trembled. Every step I took felt heavy to me.At that moment, I saw Samuel Leif. He was the lieutenant of the city's fire department, and also my husband.I yelled his name in hysterics, shoving people aside to get to him. I grabbed him by his arm. "Honey! Nina! Nina is upstairs in the dance studio!"Samuel looked at

"Nina won't be able to be there."Samuel was infuriated. "Enough of this nonsense! I'm telling you! If it were not for the others wanting to see you, I wouldn't have called you in the first place! You're being ungrateful!"I took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll bring Nina over."Samuel tutted over the phone and said, "I knew you were pretending! Nina is fine! Don't be late and don't embarrass me tonight!"At night, I attended the celebration party for Samuel at the hotel. In the distance, I saw Dana in a tight-fitting red dress. She was sitting next to Samuel.I quietly took my seat. The other firemen who saw me were stunned. Their eyes gleamed with curiosity.Compared to Dana — who was dressed up to the nines — I was in a raggedy t-shirt and my hair was disheveled.When Samuel saw me, he frowned and said in detest, "Why are you dressed up like this? Didn't I tell you it was a party? Can't you put on a little bit of makeup? You're embarrassing me!"I ignored him. I picked up the cutlery on

"Enough of this nonsense!" Samuel held out a protective arm towards Dana and stomped on Nina's ashes. "I'm warning you! Stop this at once! You think some flour will trick me?""Ah—! Move aside!" I slumped to the ground, hitting his leg away. His leg did not move, so bit into it!Samuel grunted and lifted his leg up. "What a psycho."I carefully scooped Nina's ashes back into her urn. Some of the firemen could not bear to watch it. Some of them even bent down and helped me. I shoved them away. "No need to help me. I said there's no need! Just go!"Samuel pulled those firemen up. "I've been with her for a long time. She's always been that way. She's manipulative and vicious. You can't trust her."I stood up slowly and wiped away my tears. I glared at Samuel and said, "Samuel, Nina's funeral will be in two days. My parents will come over too. I hope you can show up for her for the last time." I added, "After the funeral, I'm filing for a divorce."Then, I left without looking back.Samue

Edith was taken to the police bureau. Soon, Dana and Samuel rushed over too.My mother yelled, "What else do you have to say for yourself!"Dana put herself in front of Edith. She stuttered, "W-What are you saying? J-Just wait for my mother's lawyer to come!"I grabbed Dana by the collar. "Dana, you encouraged your daughter to commit arson! Then, you got your mother to lie to the firemen that there was no one upstairs! You wanted my daughter dead!"Samuel looked at the scene in disbelief. After a while, he came to his senses. "W-what did you just say?"I sneered and played the recording on my phone.Tilly's innocent yet malicious voice rang out. "I only set a small fire. I wanted to see who Uncle Samuel would rescue first…"Dana panicked. She hugged Tilly and shrieked, "Tilly is just a child! How can you believe what comes out of her mouth? D-Don't you dare accuse us of this!"She flung herself in Samuel's arms and sobbed. "Samuel, they must have done something to scare Tilly.

Tilly was in the backseat.When she saw me, she was first stunned. Then, she tried to shout.I immediately said to her, pointing at Samuel and Dana by the riverbank, "Tilly, you see that? Uncle Samuel and your mother are going to be together."Tilly looked at them with widened eyes filled with curiosity.I continued, "Tilly, Uncle Samuel will only love your mother now. He might not love you anymore but he will have more kids with her. By then…""You're lying!" Tilly objected loudly.I touched Tilly's face and said, "If you don't believe me, you should try it out. I wonder, if you and your mother were in danger, who would Uncle Samuel rescue first?"Then, I got out of the car.I could tell that Tilly loved Samuel to the point of perversion. She only wanted Samuel to be her father and only hers.Soon, Tilly got out of the car and walked over to them.Samuel and Dana were so caught up in their own argument that they did not notice Tilly coming up from behind them.Tilly took a