Chapter 4

In the living room, Martha had set all the curtains on fire. Thick black smoke swirled overhead, and the smoke alarm blared. Martha didn't care. She paused to glance toward the bedroom. Hearing no movement, she went back to pouring alcohol over the sofa and wooden chairs. The flames illuminated her greedy expression, eventually burning through the security cables.

The hospital came into view. As Chloe was wheeled into a room, I stared at the frozen security footage, took a deep breath, and called the fire department. Cautiously, I used a public phone outside rather than my cell. After reporting the address, I slumped against the wall in exhaustion. I despised Leo, the illegitimate son, but I couldn't let a child burn to death the way I had.

Back at the apartment complex, I hid in a secluded corner. Sure enough, I spotted Julian nearby. He was lingering downstairs, holding a bag of fruit. He was waiting. Waiting for the fire to grow completely out of control.

But before smoke even started billowing from the windows, the wail of approaching fire engines reached him. In my past life, the firefighters had arrived too late, long after the smoke had sealed off the hallways. This time, my call brought them much earlier, vastly improving the chances of a rescue.

Julian's brow furrowed in frustration. He dropped the bag of fruit and bolted. I thought he was rushing off to establish an alibi. But a moment later, a familiar car emerged from the underground parking garage and stopped dead in the fire lane. Julian got out, tossed the keys down a storm drain, and walked away.

When the fire trucks arrived, they were completely blocked by the abandoned car. A fire that could have been easily contained raged on until the entire floor was engulfed in flames, the hallways choked with thick, black smoke. Firefighters stormed the building, but the blaze was too intense for them to reach the residents on the twelfth floor.

Then, Julian reappeared.

He rushed up to apologize to the firefighters. "I'm so sorry. I lost my keys and couldn't find them anywhere. That's why I couldn't move it."

Before anyone could reprimand him, he stared up at the burning building and let out a heart-wrenching scream. "That's my home! How did it catch fire? My wife and daughter are still inside!"

He made a frantic dash toward the inferno, only to be held back by onlookers. The angry murmurs about his car blocking the fire lane immediately died down, replaced by a wave of heartfelt sympathy. After all, who could bear the guilt of losing their family because their own mistake had delayed the rescue?

A firefighter looked at Julian with deep regret. "We heard a child crying for help, but the fire was just too intense. We couldn't reach them."

Julian, acting as if he had been struck by lightning, collapsed dramatically into a nearby flowerbed, feigning a dead faint. Despite his disheveled state, he kept calling out for Chloe and me with theatrical devotion.

"My wife, my daughter... what do I do without you?"

"I can't live without you!"

"Take me with you! Please, don't leave me alone in this world!"

As the news cameras and livestreams zoomed in on Julian’s performance, I stepped out of the crowd.

He looked up.

The color drained from his face.