Chapter 2

In their eyes, I was the villain who stole Daisy’s youth.

I was the ruthless manipulator who forced her down the aisle with dirty tactics.

I was the monster who kept two soulmates apart.

To them, I was absolute scum.

Dad’s ragged, wheezing breaths dragged me back to reality.

His asthma was life-threatening, and he had inhaled massive amounts of toxic smoke.

Every second we delayed brought him closer to the grave.

I drew a sharp breath, walked to the corner, and picked up a loose brick.

In my past life, surrounded by roaring flames, panic had swallowed my mind.

I called Daisy over and over, desperate for a lifeline.

Right at the brink of despair, she finally picked up.

She rushed in and dragged us out of the inferno.

Yet that same evening, her childhood sweetheart, Julian Reed, slit his wrists because she missed their movie date.

When Daisy cleared out Julian's belongings, she found a letter.

Only then did she realize that Julian’s last living relative had passed away that morning. He had invited her to the movies to confess his love, hoping to build a family with her.

Afterward, Daisy held a five-day vigil by his casket.

For five days, she neither ate nor slept, a walking corpse.

On the sixth day, she acted like a completely different person.

She showed zero resentment, smiled warmly, and cooked a celebration dinner for us.

She claimed that surviving a disaster guaranteed a blessed life.

She had always been terrified of pregnancy, yet that night, she gently proposed that we should finally have a baby of our own.

I was ecstatic. I genuinely believed my years of quiet devotion had finally melted her heart.

I thought she finally loved me back.

That very night, she locked the doors, doused the rooms in gasoline, and set the house ablaze.

Agonized screams tore through the smoke as I dragged my burned body toward the bathroom.

Daisy slammed her combat boot onto the side of my face, her voice dripping with pure venom.

"It’s all your fault! If it weren't for you, Julian would still be breathing! You should have burned in that fire! I'm dragging your whole damn family down to keep him company!"

"Why couldn't you just let me go? If it wasn't for you, I'd already be with the man I truly love!"

"And your pathetic father always looked down on me, handing me his leftover charity like I was a stray dog!"

I wanted to scream my innocence for both myself and my dad.

Had she forgotten that years ago, when she was cornered in an alley by violent thugs, I nearly lost my life fighting them off to save her?

Back then, overwhelmed with gratitude, she practically begged to be with me. I never forced her into a single thing.

And my father? He simply pitied an orphan girl trying to make it alone in the city, so he gave her everything he had to offer.

Daisy didn't want to hear a word of it. She took a chef's knife and plunged it straight into my heart.

Clutching a framed photo of Julian, she lay down among the leaping flames.

Tears tracked through the soot on her cheeks as she whispered softly.

"Julian, I avenged you."

"Don't be afraid. I'm coming to see you. We'll be together forever now."

Only in my dying breath did I realize she had never let Julian go.

Whenever I left town on business trips, she secretly met up with him.

I lied to myself again and again, pretending they were just close childhood friends.

Reality slapped me in the face every single time.

In her heart, I didn't hold a candle to Julian.

Flames were already licking the rooftop edge.

I had no time left. I took the brick and slammed it hard against my own forehead.

Blood gushed down my face, stinging my eyes, and my voice came out raw.

"Chloe, everything is on me! It has nothing to do with my parents! Let them go!"

The paramedic beside her froze, eyes wide in shock.

"My dad has severe asthma! He won't survive another minute up here!"

"I'm begging you, save my parents!"