In the chaos, Daniela hastily lit the gasoline on the floor.
Thick smoke filled the air, and flames erupted violently, climbing the curtains, devouring the bedframe, turning the guest room into an inferno that roared against the old walls of the Valente estate. The fire moved with a hunger that felt almost personal.
Having just been discharged from the hospital, I quickly succumbed to the fumes, my body growing weak as I collapsed to the ground. The smoke was everywhere. In my lungs, behind my eyes, pressing down on my chest like a hand.
Through the haze, I heard Dominic's voice.
"Seraphina!"
Then came the sounds of soldiers and household staff trying to stop him.
"Boss, it's too dangerous! Wait for the extinguishers, we've got men coming from the south wing—"
"Move! Seraphina is still inside!"
His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. For one moment, one fraction of a second that I would carry with me across an ocean, I heard something in it that I had not heard in nine years. Something raw. Something real.
In the end, he ignored their warnings and rushed into the flames.
What he didn't expect was to find Daniela inside too.