of smoke

ed. For a disoriented moment, she thought she might have dreamed the entire nightmare. B

nic seized her. She scrambled out of bed, her legs unsteady. She threw open the door and was met

ing her life, turning everything to ash. She choked, her lungs filling with the toxic ai

ire. Her eyes darted to the window. It was her only escape. She wrapped a blanket around her

ting her hands and legs on the jagged shards of glass. She landed hard on the grass outside, cough

aramedic wrapped her in a blanket and led her to an ambulance, cleaning and b

n a gurney in a brightly lit emergency room

ed, his face a mask of concern. He reache

said, her voice

, his eyes scanning her for injuries

and his expression softened. "I have to take this," he said apologe

weetheart. No, I'm at the hospital... Yes, Evelyn's here. There was a fire at her apart

pping back into place. "I have to go. Tiffany needs me. But I

flicker of duty, of old habit, but his real concern, his heart, was elsewhere. He had left h

isolation settled over h

numb, her phone, which had miraculously survived in her po

ing her exhaustio

s a v

tment building. A figure, cloaked in shadows, was pouring gasoline around the base of the building, right be

ave, illuminated for a brief second by the growing fire. It wa

ssage appeared

m to protect you. But I think he went too far. This is

and clattered to the floor. The video wa

her the proof. Not to help her, but to torture her. To show her that Ethan was a monster, and that he belonged to Tiffany now. He

. This was not a love triangle. This wa