The wind, the sound of tumbling stones, and then… a faint, weak moan.

"Southeast direction, thirty meters below the cliff edge, on a recessed platform."

She spat out the coordinates with her final ounce of consciousness before everything went black, and she lost consciousness.

...

When she opened her eyes again, the scent of antiseptic filled her nose.

A man in a white lab coat with a gentle face stood by her bed, his brows furrowed in a tight frown.

It was her surgeon, who was also the rescue team’s special medical consultant, Lucas.

"You're awake?" Lucas set down the report, his voice simmering with suppressed rage.

He looked at the lifeless woman on the bed, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "How do you feel?"

Ivy didn’t speak, just moved her fingers.

"Ivy, did you forget the promise you made to me ten years ago when you first entered the rescue academy about taking care of yourself!"

Seeing her like this, Lucas’s anger flared even higher.

"Your implant is severely damaged. Overexertion caused the internal structure to shift slightly, leading to increased intracranial pressure."

Permanent balance disorder.

For a high-altitude rescue team member, the implications were clear.

Her flight career might be over.

Ivy’s heart sank, plummeting to rock bottom, yet she wasn't entirely surprised.

Everything was within expectations.

Just then, the hospital door was shoved open.

Ethan strode in, his face showing the exhaustion of a mission finished.

Seeing Ivy awake, his first words were: "Selena is fine. She was just a bit frightened and is already back at the dorm resting."

Ivy stared at him quietly, looking at the man she had loved for eight full years.

For the first time, she spoke to him directly.

Her voice was hoarse from long disuse, but every word was clear.

"Ethan, are you satisfied?"

Ethan looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

His eyes widened in shock, staring at her, the color draining from his face.

"You can hear?"

His shock wasn't out of joy for her regained hearing.

It was the panic and fear of his lies being exposed on the spot.

Seeing him like this, Ivy’s heart turned to ash.

She said the words calmly, even with a trace of relief.

"Let’s get a divorce."

Before Ethan could react, she dropped an even heavier bomb.

"The 'Most Beautiful Rescuer'?"

She curled her lips in mockery. "Ethan, have you ever checked the records? Back during that avalanche rescue, Selena wasn't even in the core rescue zone."

"This halo, this so-called life-saving grace—whose achievement did she steal?"

The barrage of questions slammed into Ethan, leaving him caught off guard.

He couldn't accept the truth he had believed in for so long being overturned.

Even less could he admit his stupidity and betrayal in front of Lucas at this very moment.

To stabilize the situation, his expression shifted instantly.

"Divorce? The rescue team forbids any family matters that might damage the team’s reputation during overseas joint training!"

He used his authority as captain to reject her firmly.

Ivy sneered.

Damaging reputation?

He was cheating during their marriage and raising an illegitimate child—did that not damage his reputation?

Seeing the mockery in her eyes, the panic and anger in Ethan’s heart made him lose all reason.

He slammed a folder down on Ivy’s bed, his angry voice trembling.

"Want a divorce? Fine."

"But explain this first: why did Selena say this accident was caused by you deliberately delaying the rescue out of jealousy?"

Chapter 4

Seeing Ethan’s expression grow increasingly gloomy, Ivy hurried to explain:

"We’ve known each other for so many years. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"

Ivy stared fixedly at Ethan, her eyes feeling painfully dry.

She didn't even notice that she was hyperventilating, her heart knotted tight with tension.

But in Ethan’s eyes, heartbreaking disappointment surged.

Within an hour, an internal investigation order, personally signed by Captain Ethan, was rapidly issued to the base.

Subject of Investigation: Ivy.

Reason for Investigation: Suspected of deliberately delaying during a rescue mission due to personal emotional issues, endangering the safety of fellow comrades.

Selena wept uncontrollably in front of the investigation team.

She didn't make a direct accusation, but spoke vaguely, constantly implying that Ivy held a grudge out of jealousy.

"I don’t know… maybe Sister Ivy just has some misunderstanding about me..."

"That day on the cliff, I think I heard her say, why wasn’t it me who died..."

She even forged so-called "evidence"—a blurred, edited recording.

All the teammates who had once fought side-by-side with Ivy, sharing life-and-death moments, fell silent.

On one side was the comrade they had once fought with.

On the other side was the captain they respected and trusted, Ethan, and his supposedly fragile "life-saving benefactor," Selena, whom he personally acknowledged.

The scales had long since tipped invisibly; they chose to believe the captain and the woman who appeared so frail.

And so, those once-trusting and dependent gazes turned into suspicion, indifference, and even contempt.

Ivy was suspended.

All her gear, identification, and even the Golden Wings Medal, symbol of the highest honor, were confiscated.

She was locked in the base’s confinement room, awaiting the results of the investigation.

It was a cramped room of less than five square meters, with only a small window letting in a sliver of faint light.

Abandoned by her team, misunderstood by her comrades, and framed by her lover.

Her team, her honor, her love—the very faiths she had once guarded with her life.

But because of Selena, everything had united in this instant to completely swallow her whole.

Ivy sat down against the wall of the confinement room, fragments of the past flashing uncontrollably through her mind.

Once, on a snowy plateau, she and Ethan had led the team through a blizzard to rescue an entire mountaineering group from the edge of an avalanche.

After the mission, as everyone gathered around the campfire, Ethan handed her the first roasted potato, smiling as he said:

"We are each other’s backs—always."

Another time, in a deep-sea shipwreck, visibility underwater was almost zero.

It was she who, relying on sonar and sound localization, guided Ethan to find the trapped crew members.

When they surfaced, Ethan gave her a firm hug, whispering in her ear: "Ivy, without you, I’d be blind."

...

The trust built through life-and-death struggles turned out to be so fragile.

Ivy lowered her eyes, suppressing the loss in her heart, wanting only to escape this place quickly.

In the next second, the door to the confinement room opened.

Blinding light streamed in, causing Ivy to squint instinctively.

Ethan stood in the doorway against the light, leading the little girl named Sierra by his side.

He looked at Ivy with eyes devoid of warmth, as if viewing a trivial criminal.

"Sierra had a nightmare last night."

He spoke coldly.

"She said she dreamt you turned into a demon and were about to push her off a cliff."

"Apologize to her now."

Chapter 5

Apologize?

Ivy found it both absurd and ridiculous.

She looked coldly at Ethan, and then at the shy little girl hiding behind him.

"Why should I apologize when I did nothing wrong? Ethan, have you lost your mind?"

Ethan’s expression darkened instantly.

"Ivy, don’t push me."

Selena appeared at the doorway, crouching down to whisper something softly to Sierra.

The girl’s eyes flickered, then she moved as if she had received an order.

She stepped out from behind Ethan, holding a heavy metal toy airplane, and walked step by step toward Ivy.

"Auntie... I’m sorry... I shouldn't have said that about you..."

The girl’s voice sounded full of apology, even cracking in fear.

As she reached Ivy, she pretended to be scared and shrank back, but the toy airplane in her hand accidentally slipped.

The hard metal wing struck exactly against the still-healing wound behind Ivy’s ear!

"Bang!" The pain exploded instantly!

It felt as if someone had stabbed a red-hot iron awl deep into her brain.

Ivy couldn't dodge in time; intense agony surged from every limb.

Under the crushing pain, she instinctively waved her hands.

"Ah!"

The girl, Sierra, fell backward on cue, crashing heavily to the ground and wailing loudly.

"Mommy! She pushed me, it hurts so much!"

Selena immediately rushed over, pulling her daughter into her arms and weeping heartbreakingly.

"Sierra! Are you okay? Don't scare Mommy!"

And Ethan, the moment he saw the girl fall, felt his last string of reason snap.

Fury ignited in his eyes, and he lunged forward, grabbing Ivy by the throat!

A wave of intense suffocation crept from her scalp to her heart; Ivy’s face turned a purplish-red as she beat futilely against his arms.

"It wasn't me..."

She wanted to explain, wanted to tell him it was the child who had deliberately hit her!

But he gave her no chance at all.

Framed by the very child she had risked her life to save, and treated with the utmost cruelty by the husband she had loved for years.