Take My Breath Away

Matthew gave it everything he had. He struck the door with mighty kicks more than a dozen times. He'd studied fight science, so he knew how to kick with maximum effect. Each of his attacks was more powerful than a car crash. But it was all to no avail. After all, the gangsters had anticipated this. The iron door was reinforced by welded steel rebar, and while he could shatter the iron lock, they had ordered a special padlock in case he tried. The modern lock had a tensile strength of more than six tons. They wanted Matthew and Erica to burn with the house.

There was no water in the house. The previous residents pumped water from the well in the yard. Even if they could get there, it took time to pump any appreciable amount of water. But because of the iron door, they couldn't even try.

The thugs were rather thorough. They didn't want to leave anything to chance. And Erica and Matthew were at their mercy.

Taking a deep breath, Matthew turned around and hugged the woman squatting on the floor, and tried to comfort her. "Don't be afraid, Rika. Dad and Owen are on their way. We'll be okay.".

Leaning against his shoulder, Erica said, "I'm not afraid as long as you're with me. But the kids..."

"Don't worry about them either. They're brilliant. If anyone could survive this, it's them!" Although Matthew tried to reassure Erica that the children would be fine, in fact, he was also worried. After all, no matter how smart the children were, they were still three years old.

Matthew was never a man to sit and wait for death. He guided Erica to a relatively safe spot. Then he racked his brain for ways to escape the blazing house.

The temperature in the room was rising. It was getting hard to breathe, which made them panic. A smoky haze filled the air, obscuring their vision and stinging their eyes. Erica took off her coat, stood up and tried to smother the fire with her coat.

Before long, the material in her coat caught fire. It was devoured and quickly burnt to ashes by the hungry flames.

Soon, Erica was overcome by a coughing fit. She coughed violently and glanced at Matthew.

Even Matthew was coughing, but he fought the urge and was desperately going from one corner to the next, trying to find a way to escape.

He was also a man, not a god. He was usually good at solving all kinds of normal problems. But now he was facing an iron door and barred windows. Death loomed closer. Even though he was actively trying to find a solution, a few minutes later, he still couldn't figure it out.

Two minutes later, Erica shrank into a corner where the fire was not burning. She put her hands to her soot-covered face and gasped for breath. Matthew, on the other hand, was still studying the door and windows. She wanted to ask him to come over and hide with her, but when she raised her head, she saw a blazing beam about to fall from the ceiling.

She stared at it for two seconds and was sure that the beam was shuddering, trying to give way.

Matthew had smashed a door in the kitchen, and was using the wood, trying to put a hole in the wall. 'Oh no! If the beam falls, it'll crush Matthew!' Erica thought to herself, startled. She stood up, heedless of the danger, and sprinted towards him. "Matthew, look out!" she yelled.

But it was too late. Erica leapt at him, knocking him over. The burning beam struck her across her back. "Aaargh..."

Bang! The beam slipped from her back and fell to the floor with a loud noise.

Erica felt as if her spine was on fire. It hurt so much.

The beam was so heavy that when it struck Erica, Matthew felt it too. 'It must have been really heavy, ' he thought. 'Oh God, is she...?'

Hearing the loud noise, Matthew crouched down. Then he quickly gathered the soot-covered woman in his arms. "Rika, are you okay?"

Before he could see what was wrong with Erica, the woman spat out a mouthful of blood. "Mmmph..."

Instantly, Matthew panicked. His thin lips trembled slightly, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Rika!" He felt that his hand on her back was wet suddenly.

He moved his hand to a different spot and looked her over carefully. Her creamy white shirt was grey from all the smoke. Her shirt was glued to her scalded skin, and he couldn't bear to look straight at her back.

"Rika!" Realizing what had happened, Matthew roared, tears falling from his eyes for probably the first time.

The injured woman suddenly burst into tears as well. "Matthew, I left home for three years, hoping to become worthy of you. But apparently I hadn't gotten any smarter. I was fooled by those gangsters again, and got you killed too!" If she hadn't insisted on avenging Orange, Matthew would be okay. He wouldn't be here, killed for her foolishness.

She should have taken her revenge before finding him again.

"You're not dumb. It's just that they had this all planned out. Why do you think they took the kids first? They were using our sons to get to you. You wanted to protect them, naturally." As a mother, she couldn't stay calm when she saw her children being abducted.

Even now, Matthew was still the rock he always was. Always protecting her. Erica was moved and really felt sorry for this man. "Matthew... I love you, honey..." She felt a sharp pain in her lower back and a wave of nausea shuddered through her. She didn't feel hot anymore, but instead she was freezing. "This time, I'm really going to die. Don't be sad, though, okay? Have a good life... with our kids..."

The man wiped the tears from the corner of her eye and growled at her, "Shut up! Damn it! You're not going to die. Besides, Dad would never let me hear the end of it. What do you think my family would do to me if I let something happen to you? Not to mention your family? I'd be lucky if all they did was stop inviting me around for dinner. No, you dying would suck a lot. Who would I cook for? Who would I spend money on? And could you bear to see me driven out of the family? Dammit, Erica, don't close your eyes. You hear me?"

'Shit! Who let her rush over to save me? I'll punish whoever let her do this!' he cried inwardly.

Hearing the man's roar, Erica slowly raised her head. When she saw the grief and disbelief on his face, memories involuntarily flooded her mind.

All of his shirts were embroidered with "My Rika," the photo with "My Rika" on the back, and the note "My Rika" on the bottom of the glass jar...

He arranged a sedan chair for her, and rode a horse to their marriage ceremony. In the middle of the night, he made a bowl of seafood noodles for her, watched horror movies with her, carried her upstairs, washed and dried her hair, and did everything she asked him to do without complaint.

These memories flashed through her mind. This was how he loved her. This was how she knew he loved her.

Oh, by the way, she forgot an important detail.

Paige later told her that their wedding—from reserving the venue to the bride price, the accompanying gift, the wedding dress, even the dress she would be in when the guests raised a toast to her, the wedding candy and the wedding wine—all of it was arranged by Matthew himself. He had given her the best of everything.

In the flickering light of the fire, the man kept shouting Erica's name. It was the first time she had seen him cry.

She raised her hand with difficulty, trying to touch the man she loved the most.

Kneeling on the floor, Matthew grabbed her hand and pressed it against his cheek. His voice trembled slightly as he said, "Rika, believe me. I'm gonna get you out of here. We'll be fine!"

"Matthew, you've been the best thing in my life. If I can't have you, my life won't mean anything." She was willing to die for him, if it meant he would be safe and sound. She loved him that much.

The man was sweating and out of control. He shouted at her, "You're not going to die! You can't!" At this point, he was screaming to the gods as much as her. "I won't let that happen! You hear me? Not! Gonna! Happen!"