Sunlight poured onto the parking lot like molten iron. Eight months pregnant, Evelyn was shoved by her mother-in-law against the tire of a fuel tanker. The asphalt burned beneath her feet, numbing her soles, and she felt as if her amniotic fluid might rupture at any moment. “You dare call yourself my son’s wife? A barren wretch who can’t even bear him a proper child!” Her mother-in-law dug sharp fingernails into Evelyn’s wrist, voice shrill as a blade. “My son has a bright future—how dare you carry some bastard and cling to his home?” Her sister-in-law sneered, swinging a baseball bat hard into the trunk of a car. The metallic crash sent a flock of crows scattering into the distance. “Don’t scare her too much,” she said, tilting her head toward Evelyn’s swollen belly, eyes cold and lifeless. “When the fire starts, she’ll come crawling out begging for us.” No sooner had the words left her lips than a pungent diesel stench began to spread. Beneath the fuel tanker, a crack oozed black liquid that quickly vaporized under the scorching sun into flammable gas. A gust of wind carried the fumes—snake-like—into Evelyn’s nostrils. One spark, and the entire parking lot would explode into hellfire. Evelyn collapsed to her knees, tears mixing with sweat on her face. “Mom… I’ve never done anything to betray you… This child is innocent… I’ll apologize, I’ll go to the hospital for DNA testing… Please… let me live…” “Live?” The mother-in-law leaned down, her eyes blazing with madness. “You’ve ruined my son’s life—now you want to live?” Then— *Boom!* A muffled explosion. Sirens wailed. A fire truck crashed through the barrier, red lights spinning across the sky. A firefighter in full gear leapt from the vehicle, charging *into* the danger zone against the fleeing crowd. His hose sprayed foam directly at the leaking fuel. And three hundred meters away, at the end of the highway, a black sedan screamed forward at top speed. Evelyn’s phone vibrated in her pocket. The screen lit up with a single message: [Hubby: Hold on. I’m coming with the police.] But she couldn’t speak. Flames, right at her feet, had begun to creep along the trail of spilled oil. A pregnant woman in labor drives herself to the hospital while her husband is away. His mother and sister cut her off, causing an accident. Mistaking her for a mistress, they assault her, causing injury. The husband severs ties with them upon learning the truth.