He Left Me to Die, So I’ll Expose Him

When the second avalanche hit, my brother, the rescue team captain, gave the very last spot on the chopper to my rival. In front of the rolling cameras, he stood tall, his voice booming with confidence. "Because I always live by the rule of taking immediate action, this rescue was an absolute success. Out of three hundred people on the slopes, only one person was injured!" My coach yelled at him in a fury, "Audrey is your own sister! Why didn't you save her when she was the one you found first?!" My brother’s face tightened with a look of deep, solemn grief. "Precisely because she is my sister, I had to avoid any look of favoritism. Valerie Cole is an orphan raised by the system. She needs this competition and this opportunity way more than my sister does. Both of them are out here trying to bring glory to our country. As my sister, she should be prepared to make that sacrifice." My brother’s righteousness blew up all over social media, and everyone dubbed him the most handsome rescue worker alive. Meanwhile, I was in the operating room signing my own amputation consent form. Later, as the TV broadcast Valerie winning the gold medal, she tearfully thanked my brother for saving her life, inviting him up to stand right beside her and raise a glass together. At that exact moment, our family home was maliciously set on fire by Valerie's toxic fans. I gave a bitter, hollow smile as I looked down at my empty pant leg. Instead of trying to escape, I just crawled straight into the warm embrace of the flames. ***** We were just one step away from the championship when the wall of snow suddenly gave out, throwing the entire crowd into absolute chaos. My older brother, the captain of the White Dove Rescue Team, was already rushing his crew onto the field. A massive wave of relief washed over me. Now that my brother was here, I knew I was going to be okay. But less than ten meters away from me, he suddenly pivoted. I stared in utter shock as he rushed toward the opposite side without a single second thought. That was exactly where my competitor was pinned down. My throat felt like it was choked with ice, and I couldn't make a sound. All I could do was watch his back as he ran further and further away from me. "Captain Vance! Audrey is way closer!" one of his teammates screamed out. My brother didn't lag for a second. He just kept sprinting, turning his head slightly toward the live-streaming broadcast gear to shout, "Valerie Cole is an orphan, a child raised by society! As a first responder, I have to look out for the most vulnerable groups first! Audrey Vance is my own little sister. To avoid looking biased, I couldn't rescue her first. To the public watching this, please trust that when it comes to a rescue operation, we never give a free pass to family or the powerful!" His words blasted through the livestream, triggering a frantic landslide of comments. A: [Oh my god, I’m speechless. Captain Vance is incredibly selfless. Sacrificing his own family for the greater good, the guy is a literal saint!] B: [I’m tearing up. People who carry the weight for us regular folks are the real heroes.] My brother’s teammate quickly sized up the situation and pushed back, "But Captain, Audrey’s situation is way more critical! She’s right on the edge of the crevasse, and the risk of a secondary collapse is through the roof! Plus, I'm tracking her core temperature, and it's dropping fast. By the time we get back, she might..." "I hear you loud and clear," my brother cut him off, his eyes flashing with sharp disapproval. "But as the sister of the rescue captain, she should be more than willing to lay it on the line in a crisis." Right then, my coach managed to crawl out of the safe zone, screaming from a distance, "David Vance, are you out of your mind?! Audrey is our best shot at breaking onto the international circuit! If you do this, you’re going to completely ruin her career!" My brother finally turned his head to look at me. Through the blinding, swirling snow, I couldn't make out his face, but his cold words cut right through the wind. "If she can't hold out until we get back, it just means her will to survive wasn't strong enough." With that, he bolted straight toward Valerie. Seeing this, the rest of the crew had no choice but to follow orders and help him dig. Within moments, he carefully pulled Valerie out of the heavy snowbank. She clung to his chest, shivering violently, and threw her arms tightly around his neck. I watched helplessly as he carried her off and headed straight for the chopper. The helicopter could only take one person at a time. The fierce downwash from the rotors blurred my eyes. I could just faintly see the chopper lifting off, getting smaller and smaller as it pulled away from me. The snow had completely soaked through my ski suit, and my lower legs, buried deep in the ice, had gone totally numb. I closed my eyes, and a warm tear slid down my cheek, freezing into a track of ice almost instantly. Then, the second avalanche crashed down, burying me alive.