Chapter 9
The villa went up in flames–a towering inferno that left nothing behind]
The fake corpse took Genesis’s place in death, burning in the fire ||
When the fire first started. Mrs. Emery remembered Genesis was still locked in her room. But Isaiah had specifically warned before leaving that
no one was allowed near that room
As the flames grew bigger, Mrs. Emery panicked and finally called Isaiah.[]
The moment he picked up, she was nearly in tears: “Isaiah, the house is on fire! Miss Genesis is still upstairs-“]
“Hello? Fire? How did it catch fire?”
But it was Cameron’s voice coming through the phone.
Then Sadie’s voice came through: “Whose call? What’s on fire?”
Cameron explained briefly, and Mrs. Emory sounded even more frantic: “Oh my God, Genesis is still locked in that upstairs room! I don’t have the key–please tell Isaiah to come back quick!“||
Cameron was about to respond when Sadie suddenly grabbed his wrist ||
“Let me handle this.”
“Mrs. Emery, it’s Sadie. I’ll tell Isaiah right away and have him rush back. You need to get out of there before you get hurt.“]
Mrs. Emery agreed and left the villa within minutes.
But after hanging up, Sadie didn’t tell Isaiah anything–instead, she deleted the call log
Cameron grabbed her hand: “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to tell Isaiah? This is someone’s life!“]|
Sadie shook him off, her eyes red with tears and her voice vicious: “Cam, I was groomed to be his wife for thirteen years. Because of Genesis, I Jost everything
“Now our son has to sneak around just to see his own dad. I’ve waited eighteen years for this wedding–you don’t want me to walk down the aisle without a groom, do you?”
“We didn’t start the fire, and we can’t save her anyway. How is this our fault?”
Cameron said nothing, just stared at her.
Feeling guilty, Sadie squeezed out a few tears: “Please, Cam. Just pretend you never heard anything, okay?–||
Her tears swayed him. After a long hesitation, he finally spoke; I didn’t hear anything.“]
Sadie immediately stopped crying and flashed an innocent smile: “I knew you’d always have my back.“]]
“Sadie, why do you
have my phone
my phone? Did someone call?“]
Isaiah walked in with his sleeves rolled up. Sadie’s heart jumped as she quickly hid the phone.
“No, just a spam call. I accidentally picked up.“]
Isaiah laughed at her nervous expression and parted her head: “Why so jumpy? No big deal. I’m not mad.”
Sadie quickly forced a smile and sweetly agreed.]
The wedding started on time, but suddenly the guests got restless and started rushing toward the door
Isaiah was confused until
til he heard someone in the crowd say: “Theard there’s a fire on the east side–don’t know where exactly.”
“Someone on my social media posted a video. The flames are massive–even the fire trucks are struggling.”
East side?
That’s where the villa was.]
Panic shot through Isaiah’s chest. He started to head out to check, but Sadie grabbed him: “The wedding’s about to start–where are you going?”
Isaiah realized it looked bad and went to grab his phone to check the situation.]]
Sadie was ready for this. She pulled out his phone with a guilty expression: “Im so sorry–1 dropped it earlier and now it won’t turn on. But I just checked with Mrs. Emery, and everything’s fine at home.“[]
Despite Sadie’s reassurance, Isaiah’s panic only grew.
But since she’d already checked, he didn’t investigate the strange feeling further, chalking it up to wedding nerves.[]
The guests‘ excitement came and went quickly–soon they were all seated again.
Isaiah offered his arm and walked down the aisle again, only this time with a different bride
But with every step, his heart felt emptier, like something crucial was slipping away and he couldn’t catch it
When he reached the officiant, the pain in his chest made him break out in a cold sweat[]
Sadie quietly asked if he was okay. Isaiah shook his head, breathing heavily
Even after the ceremony ended, that dread still chung to him. He didn’t even change out of his suit–just grabbed his car keys to head home, but Sadie stopped him again []
“Where are you going, Isaidh? This is our wedding night, and little Axel’s been asking for his daddy too.
