Richard Thomas hurried into the hospital building, his chest tight and his mind a tangled ss. His heart ached with every step he took. Just a few hours ago, he had received a call from the apartnt manager, the kind of call no one should ever have to answer. There had been a fire. A fire in his ho. A deadly, consuming fire.
The building had been evacuated, the tenants dragged out in panic and rushed into safety. Everyone had been taken away. Everyone-except those inside his house. His family. They had been trapped.
His fists clenched as he stumbled forward, his breath coming in sharp bursts. It had to be Marianne’s doing. He could not think of anyone else. Because according to the first reports he had heard, there was only one person who had survived the flas. Marianne. Only her. She had been outside. Why had she been outside when everyone else was trapped and unable to co out?
If it had been in the past, he would have believed it was fate but now. Now he knew better/
He shook his head violently, refusing to let the thought sink in. No. No, no, no. He would not believe it. He could not. He refused to accept that everyone else—his family, his loved ones—had been taken by the explosion. An explosion caused by Marianne.
As he reached the reception, his steps faltered. His eyes caught a familiar figure standing there, and in that instant, he froze. His entire body stiffened, rage tearing through his veins like fire.
Barely able to hold himself back, he stord toward her, his hands shaking. His vision blurred, his fury all-consuming. Before he could think, before he could even draw another breath, his hand shot out. He grabbed her by the throat.
"You bitch!" His voice cracked, raw with grief and hatred. "You are responsible for this!"
The mont stretched, his fingers tightened, his mind filled with the image of flas devouring everything he loved. But before he could squeeze the life out of her, strong arms dragged him back. Security had rushed forward, pulling him away as he struggled, shouting, clawing to reach her.
Marianne stumbled, her eyes wide, her hands pressed to her throat. And then she started to cry. Hot, heavy tears spilled down her cheeks as she choked out words between sobs.
"I told you, officer!" she cried desperately, her voice trembling. "I told you he would bla ! But it is not his fault... it is not."
She turned then, her gaze falling on Richard, her whole body shaking with grief.
"Richard!" she wailed, reaching toward him even as he fought against the guards. "I didn’t think this would happen. I was only celebrating! I know you want to bla , I know you hate right now, but it wasn’t ! It wasn’t!"
Her cries grew harsher, her hands trembling as she clutched at her chest.
"It was lanie!" Marianne scread. "It was her! She cheated on Adam with Cadence, and when he discovered it-when he found out-he was furious. It was him, Richard. He was angry... and he must have done this. You don’t know."
"lanie..." she breathed, her lips trembling around the na. "She pretended to be lody. And she is pregnant. Only Adam knew that our lody was actually lanie because he planned everything with her.
"Do you understand what that ans? Our lody—the daughter we raised with our own hands, the child we loved and protected—she is no longer with us. She is confined to a ntal institution now, Richard. Locked away like she never mattered. And why?" Marianne’s voice cracked again, her whisper shaking with grief and fury. "Because of lanie."
Her words fell like poison, every sentence deliberate, dripping into Richard’s ears as she edged closer.
"She did it with Adam," Marianne continued, her eyes narrowing, her tone thick with accusation. "Together they plotted this, step by step, dragging lody down into madness. They wanted revenge. Don’t you see it? All of this... everything... was for her grandmother. That’s why they did it. To destroy us. To destroy our family."
"But that was not enough for lanie! When she discovered that lody had soone she liked, lanie seduced him also! But she made a crucial mistake! She got pregnant! I thought she was lody and I just wanted to celebrate our happiness. I never expected this..."
At that point in ti, Richard went still. His body stopped struggling, his breath leveled, and a strange calmness ca over him like a sudden wave. It was sharp, almost unnatural, but steady enough to cool the fire in his chest.
This was not Marianne grieving. This was not her ruminating about lanie being pregnant or about lody losing her fragile balance. No—this was different. She was gloating. Every word she had spoken carried it, hidden beneath the tears. She was telling him in the worst way possible, not because she had to, but because she wanted him to lash out. She wanted him to lose control. She wanted him to strike at her and ruin himself. She was even orchestrating this mont, piece by piece.
He stilled even more. And the sudden stillness unsettled the people restraining him. Their grip loosened in hesitation, uncertain whether the danger had passed.
Slowly, carefully, Richard stepped forward. He began to cover the distance between them, moving one asured step at a ti. His pace was deliberate, his shoulders lowered, his hands unclenched, his whole body carrying the ssage that he was not a threat.
And then, just as she looked up at him, he asked," Marianne. What did I ever do to you? Just answer this one question..."
In that mont, Marianne smiled. "You? You took everything from . You took my father. My mother. Even myself. So, of course I had to take everything from you."
"When? When did I do anything like that? In all these years, when have you seen sothing unscrupulous that would hurt soone?
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