Chapter 4

Harry's POV

Silence stretched between us for several seconds.

A flicker of panic crossed Giselle's face. "Harry, don't get the wrong idea. Steven's place is too far from his workplace, so I bought him a condo closer to work."

She said it as if there were nothing unusual about it. But half the money she'd used to buy that condo had come from my hard-earned savings!

Trembling with anger, I shoved past her and stepped inside.

What I saw sent a chill through my entire body. Everything was in pairs, and all of it had clearly been used. The place looked like the home of a couple who'd been living together for years.

So all those nights she had claimed she was working late at the office, she'd actually been here with Steven.

I looked up and saw him coming down the stairs, wearing my custom-made wedding suit. When he spotted me, a smug smile spread across his face.

That suit meant everything to me. It was made from the silk and gemstones in my dad's wedding suit. Every time I tried it on, I felt as though he were still by my side, watching over me as I prepared to start a happy marriage of my own.

"Take it off!" I roared.

Steven's eyes immediately welled with tears.

Giselle grabbed my arm and yanked me aside, her face twisted with anger. "Steven was just trying to help. He tried on your wedding suit so it could be altered for a perfect fit. Why are you yelling like that?"

The suit had been altered to the point where I could hardly recognize it. I couldn't stop trembling. "You know how much that suit means to me!"

Giselle fell silent, unable to respond.

Steven seemed to collect himself and continued down the stairs, apparently hoping to calm us both down.

But as soon as he reached the bottom, he stumbled toward a table where a scented candle was burning. The table rocked as he grabbed at it to steady himself, knocking the candle over.

The flame caught the sleeve of his suit jacket.

"Ah!" Steven screamed as the fire spread.

He frantically tried to shrug off the burning jacket as I rushed over to help him.

I grabbed the jacket and tried to pull it off him, but the flames caught my sleeves. A searing pain shot through my skin. I screamed and desperately tried to smother the flames, but they kept spreading.

Steven finally managed to slip out of the jacket, which fell onto the rug, setting it ablaze.

Yet the woman who had once promised to protect me for the rest of my life rushed straight toward Steven. "Are you burned?"

Steven shook his head, his eyes red and brimming with tears. "I'm fine. I don't know why Harry tripped me. If I hadn't fallen, none of this would've happened. It's such a shame about the suit—"

"How can you still be worrying about the suit at a time like this?" Giselle said gently to him, then shot me a furious glare.

Without another thought, she helped Steven out of the condo, leaving me behind.

The fire raged around me as thick smoke filled the room. Through the crackling flames, I heard Steven shout, "Harry's still inside!"

"Forget about him now! Don't you realize you're hurt? He can get out on his own!" Giselle shouted back.

The smoke grew thicker. I coughed until my chest burned, and every movement sent fresh waves of pain through my burned skin. But nothing hurt more than watching Giselle disappear into the distance without looking back even once.

Tears slipped down my cheeks. The woman who had once pulled me out of hell had dragged me right back into it.

I staggered out through the smoke, clutching my burned arms.

Just then, a notification appeared on my phone, reminding me that my flight was about to depart.

A moment later, another message came through from our wedding planner, asking me to confirm the arrangements. Without hesitation, I tapped "Confirm".

If Giselle and Steven wanted the wedding I'd spent so much time planning, they could have it.

...

Third-Person POV

Giselle rushed Steven to the hospital and stayed by his side, comforting him while the doctors treated his burns and bandaged his wounds.

Only after the doctors assured her that he was out of danger did she finally relax and look around.

However, Harry was nowhere to be seen. Her heart skipped a beat. She'd assumed he would follow them to the hospital.

She hurried back to the condo as fast as she could. But the moment she stepped inside, she realized something was wrong.