When the Fireworks Fell

I sat in the Animal Protection Association office, my fingertips still faintly smelling of ink from sorting endangered animal files. Sunlight filtered through the blinds outside the window, casting mottled shadows on the desk, but my heart suddenly sank. My phone vibrated—a message from a volunteer at the Association saying the Gresham Group was planning a seven-day fireworks show on Azure Cloud Mountain. Seeing the name "Gresham Group", my breath hit a standstill, and my hand tightened unconsciously around the phone. The Gresham Group—that's my husband Samuel Gresham's company. And the one organizing this fireworks show is his secretary, Sara Young. I jumped up, grabbed my coat, and bolted out the door. I'm more familiar than anyone with that spot on Azure Cloud Mountain—it's right on the border between our country and Country A. So many endangered species call that place home, and a seven-day fireworks show would spell disaster for them all. I have to stop this reckless project. The car sped along the road, the world outside blurring past, but my mind drifted back to my last life. Back then, as soon as I heard the news, I rushed straight to the Gresham Group to stop them. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing by successfully sinking Sara Young's project. But I never expected that stopping it would drag Sara Young into a bottomless pit. After the project failed, the news leaked online, and Sara Young became the scapegoat for public outrage. An overwhelming wave of online abuse slammed into her; people accused her of prioritizing performance over the lives of endangered animals and called her cold and heartless. Sara Young's reputation was completely ruined, and after leaving the Gresham Group, no company wanted to hire her. But the tragedies of my past life were far worse than that. After I successfully stopped the fireworks show, Samuel Gresham became even colder toward me. He thought I was giving Sara Young no leeway and showing no respect to the Gresham Group. Later, our daughter was born. I thought having a child would ease the tension between us, but I was wrong. Samuel Gresham never truly cared about our daughter; he even cruelly killed her over a trivial matter while I was weak after childbirth. Holding my daughter's cold body and staring into Samuel Gresham's indifferent eyes, the shock overwhelmed me, and I collapsed in a pool of blood. At the moment of death, I watched Samuel Gresham standing there with Sara Young, who had rushed over. There was a faint, almost imperceptible smile on Sara Young's face—a smile like a knife, etched deep in my mind. The car screeched to a halt; the Gresham Group building appeared right before my eyes. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked inside. This lifetime, I absolutely cannot let tragedy repeat itself. But I still don't know how to protect those endangered animals. Walking into the Gresham Group lobby, the familiar scene left me feeling a little dazed. The receptionist saw me and greeted me warmly, "Ms. Zamora, are you here to see Mr. Gresham?" I nodded without a word and walked straight to the elevator. As the elevator rose, I looked at myself in the mirror—my face pale, but my eyes unusually determined. The pain from my past life was still vivid in my mind; I couldn't afford to be impulsive again. If I stopped Sara Young again, it could trigger a chain reaction that might lead to my daughter's and my own tragic deaths. Maybe this time, I need to take a different approach. The elevator doors opened, and I walked to Samuel Gresham's office, just in time to see Sara Young coming out holding a document. Sara Young paused for a moment when she saw me, then gave a professional smile. "Ms. Zamora, you've arrived." I looked at her, a jumble of feelings swirling inside me. "Sara," I said, my voice a little hoarse, "I know about the Azure Cloud Mountain fireworks show project." Sara's smile faltered slightly as she cautiously asked, "Ms. Zamora, are you opposed to this project?" I shook my head and took a deep breath. "I'm not against it." Sara clearly didn't expect that. She looked at me in surprise, her eyes filled with doubt.