Before I could react, a deafening boom split the air, and heat scorched everything in its path.
The walls crumbled, and the ceiling crashed down. I was slammed to the floor, pinned beneath a chunk of debris. Blood trickled down my face.
I saw Serena nearby, also trapped, but a slab of wall still shielded her, giving her a chance.
Thick, choking smoke clawed its way into my throat with every gasp.
My lungs burned, and my vision swam.
Then, just before I blacked out, I heard it.
“Claire!”
It was Damian’s voice.
Then, I heard the panicked shouts of his men.
“Sir! It’s too dangerous! You can’t go in! Rescue’s already on the way—”
“Get out of my way! Claire’s still in there!”
He ran in.
Through the smoke and fire, he spotted Serena first.
She was pinned beneath the fallen wall, weakly calling out to Damian for help. “Damian, help me…”
His heart skipped a beat. He rushed to her, lifting the rubble from her body with his bare hands.
“Hang on, Serena!”
He picked up the dust-covered Serena in a hurry, only to turn and find me also lying crushed under a collapsed wall.
Our eyes locked. He hesitated just for a second.
As my blood-blurred vision swam, I saw him bite down hard, then turn his back on me.
Leaving me buried in the rubble, alone in the smoke.
The heat seared my skin, and the thick smoke clawed its way down my throat. Every breath felt like torture.
I knew only one thing. If I gave up now, I would really die.
No! I had to live.
Even if it was only to see the day Damian would regret this so deeply it tore him apart!
I clenched my jaw, pushed against the fallen wall with all the strength I had left, and slowly, inch by inch, crawled toward the hidden emergency tunnel I remembered from the house’s blueprints.
It was the only fireproof section of the entire villa. The air vent at the end led out behind the garden wall. Maybe, just maybe, I had a chance.
Come on, faster…
Then I saw it.
It was the moon over the garden, the freedom I never dared to hope I would see again.
I collapsed into the rose bushes, thorns tearing into my cheeks until they bled, but I did not feel anything. Instead, I laughed. I laughed freely, wildly, like I had not in years.
In the end, I got into that black Rolls-Royce waiting outside and headed for the airport.
After checking in my luggage, I boarded the flight to Landale, coughing all the way.
Just before takeoff, a message from Damian lit up my phone: [I don’t have time for your games. Come see me now.]
The old me might have dropped everything, my pride included, and ran back to him without a second thought.
Not anymore.
I simply powered off my phone, pulled out the SIM card, and tossed it in the trash.
The plane took off. The landscape slowly faded beneath the clouds.
Damian and I were done now. Forever.
