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Home / Romance Short Story / Burned Alive by the Ones I Loved / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Burned Alive by the Ones I Loved: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes. The glaring incandescent light hanging over my head made my eyes water."He's awake! Mr. Aaron Bradshaw is awake!"As soon as the words were out of the nurse's mouth, a figure rushed up to my bedside. It was my wife, Delilah Rowland.Her hair was disheveled, her white shirt was stained with large patches of black ashes, and the backs of her hands were red, swollen, and blistered."Ron! You nearly scared me to death! I don't even know how Dakota and I are supposed to live without you if something terrible happened to you!"Her voice was hoarse from crying, looking the picture of a deeply loving wife who'd almost lost her beloved husband.Several of our neighbors had gathered outside the ward, including Jessica Wade, who'd saved me. They couldn't help wiping their tears away as they watched the "touching" scene playing out before them."A woman like Lila is so hard to come by. Aaron's been paralyzed waist down for five years, and she'd been caring for him for all

Chapter 2

Dakota sighed and turned to the police officers, beginning her account in a clear and logical manner."It's my mom's birthday today, officer. Dad always thought that his paralysis and bedridden state were a burden to us, so he insisted on making one of her favorite dishes for her to celebrate her birthday."But Mom and I had only just gotten to the stairwell when we thought we smelled something burning. Mom dashed upstairs like a madwoman at once, but the security door was quite old, and the fire inside had caused the metal in the lock to swell and deform, making it impossible for us to turn the key."She then pointed at Delilah's blistered hands and said, "Look at the state of my mom's hands! Those blisters would only have happened if she had tried forcefully pulling at the door to save Dad."If she had been planning to kill Dad, then why did she even bother with the door?"She sounded very sincere, and her logic was also impeccable. After all, she was one of the top students in

Chapter 3

On the day I was discharged from the hospital, Delilah pushed me out in my wheelchair and carefully draped a blanket over my lap. She even crouched down to tie up my shoelaces with everybody watching her.The passing patients saw her and exclaimed, "Look at her! She's such a good woman, still being so attentive even while caring for her paralyzed husband."I gripped the voice recorder tightly in my hand, which was hidden inside my sleeve. I had asked a young man in the same ward to secretly buy it for me earlier.After getting back home, Delilah and Dakota both helped me onto the bed.While they were gone to fetch me some water from the kitchen, I dialed Elijah Santos' number. He was the head of the HOA in our area."Mr. Santos, can you please come over to my place? I have some 'truths' I want to reveal about the fire a few days ago. I'm afraid… I'm afraid that I won't have the chance to say it again next time," I said, my voice shaky.Elijah was a very kind-hearted person. In le

Chapter 4

Mom and Dad arrived the next morning.I couldn't hold my tears back when I finally saw them. However, before I'd even greeted them, Dad slapped me hard in the face and yelled at me."Aaron Bradshaw! You've certainly grown some guts, haven't you? Dakota already told me everything! How dare you frame Delilah for murder in front of all the other neighbors? How do you think Dakota is supposed to face anyone at college now?"Mom sat next to him and coldly added, "Do you even know that Delilah practically emptied her savings trying to cure you? And yet, you repaid her by spouting ridiculous nonsense like this just for attention! You're shaming and humiliating the entire Bradshaw family!""But Mom, Dad, she really did try to kill me in the fire…"I cried as I pulled my collar down, trying to show them the hidden needle marks on my body. However, Delilah beat me to it and fell to her knees with her red-rimmed eyes."I'm sorry, Mom, Dad! It's all my fault! It's my fault for not taking bet

Chapter 5

Over the next month, I resigned myself to fate. I stopped begging and crying for help.Even if Delilah approached me with the stun gun, I no longer flinched at her and just endured it numbly.People eventually thought of me as the disabled husband who'd finally become grateful toward his wife. And when Elijah came to visit me again later, I held Delilah's hand in mine and said, "I'm sorry for the last time, Mr. Santos."Lila has been treating me very well. I'm the one who dragged her down and caused trouble for her."Delilah tightly held my hand in return, looking comforted as though her efforts had finally been acknowledged by me.After the neighbors left, Dakota rolled her eyes coldly at me and said, "You should have done this earlier. By the way, I have a Civil Law exam next month, and they're also doing a background check then. You'd better not be causing any trouble for me.""Got it. I won't be causing any trouble for you, Dakota."I lowered my eyes as I spoke in a calm, do

Chapter 6

The sudden voice shattered the tense atmosphere.Delilah's hand trembled violently, and her grip on my chin suddenly loosened.I turned my head and spat out all of the deadly pills in my throat, also throwing up some of my bile and stomach acid in the meantime. Then, I gasped loudly and greedily for sweet air.Standing at the door was a young man in casual clothing with a reporter tag around his neck. His cameraperson and assistant holding a mic were also standing behind him."W-Who are you?" Delilah asked, her face turning pale at that instant."Are you…Ms. Delilah Rowland?" the reporter asked hesitantly, obviously shocked by what he'd just witnessed.I once again witnessed just how much of a psychopath Delilah truly was as she quickly regained her composure after only a few seconds of panic. She tugged at her clothes and put on a mask of suppressed sorrow."Yes, I'm her. Is there something you need?""Ah, yes, Ms. Rowland. We're from the 'Person of the Year' Awards program. M

Chapter 7

When had Delilah and Dakota even forged this diagnosis report?This was absolutely terrifying. They were already well-prepared to cut me off from the outside world from the start. And once they succeeded, I would undoubtedly end up on their chopping board, and they could do anything to me as they pleased."As for the pills," Dakota said, bending over and picking up one of them. She continued calmly and said, "These are sedatives that the doctor prescribed to him. Dad has severe violent tendencies when he has one of his episodes."He tried biting off his own tongue earlier, and Mom tried to stop him from doing that. That's how she accidentally left those prints on his neck."She then turned to look at the cameraperson and the assistant with the mic, carefully taking two stacks of bills from her pocket and pretending to give them her business card while stuffing the bills into their pockets.She spoke in a low voice. "What happens behind our doors will stay behind our doors. My mom

Chapter 8

"No… No! Don't do it! Just kill me outright, Delilah! Just kill me instead!" I screamed in despair, flailing my arms about as I tried to knock the syringe away.However, Delilah pounced on me with a sadistic grin on her face, pinning my arms behind my back."Come on, Ron. Be good and hold still. It won't hurt anymore after the injection," she breathed into my ear. "Didn't you say that you wanted to come with us to the awards ceremony? I'm just helping you realize your dreams."Tomorrow, you're going to be the quietest, most well-behaved, and most obedient prop in the entire venue."The cold needle pierced into the vein in my arm, and the liquid was mercilessly injected into my body."Ah—"She clamped a hand over my mouth, and I could only whimper softly in despair.Minutes later, I felt my body go limp, as if all of my strength had been drained out of my body. Delilah clapped her hands in glee when she saw my current state.She then grabbed the expensive wine from the table and

Chapter 9

"Now let's all put our hands together to welcome the final award winner onstage tonight—Ms. Delilah Rowland, a model wife who has been creating miracles with her love and perseverance for five years, and her outstanding daughter, Dakota Bradshaw!"The event host's passionate voice rang out from the stage, followed by thunderous applause from the audience.Delilah took a deep breath, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. She then pushed my wheelchair onstage as she and Dakota walked onto the stage under the spotlight.Many people in the audience let out sighs of pity when they saw me in my state in the wheelchair. Some of them even began getting teary-eyed just looking at us.The host came up to us and asked in a choked voice, "Ms. Rowland, I felt so touched when I watched you push your husband onstage. I heard that something unfortunate happened to him last night, all of a sudden?"Delilah took the microphone from him and spoke in a calculated, choked voice, saying, "It's tr

Chapter 10

The entire venue fell hush in an instant.Delilah's smile froze on her face. She whirled around to stare at the large screen, her eyes widening and pupils contracting sharply.Her ferocious face had just appeared on the huge screen behind her.The video was from three days ago, after she'd gotten tipsy from the alcohol and sat by my bed, bragging about how she'd managed to outsmart the police and set me up in the fire.Then, the scene changed. Dakota's cold voice appeared."...Just wait until I've passed the Civil Service Examination. I'll send him to the cheapest, most remote nursing home and let him fend for himself."The scene changed once again. It was a video of Delilah pinning me down on the bed while stabbing me repeatedly in the leg with the stung gun. She was laughing and cackling in glee as I let out screams and cries of agony."No! Turn the video off! Turn it off!" Delilah screamed, running to the edge of the stage as she yelled at the multimedia person-in-charge. "Th

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