The flames erupted immediately, roaring higher than I thought possible. I could see the windows shattering, the roof collapsing, and the rooms where my laughter had once lived now swallowed by fire. The scent of smoke and burning wood stung my nose, and my heart twisted. Every memory of him, every promise, every lie… everything vanished into the flames.
Alaric’s voice came from behind me, steady and calm. “Are you okay, Chloe?”
I nodded, but my lips barely moved. “I’m fine. I’m free now.”
He didn’t argue. He knew better.
I glanced back once at the burning house.
And I felt it. The emptiness. The cold, crushing void.
But I kept moving. Step by step, toward the helicopter. I climbed aboard, the engine shaking the night, the wind whipping my hair, the flames behind me like a warning to anyone who thought they could ever hold me again.
“This is it. Goodbye, Drake. Goodbye, everything you ever promised.”
The helicopter lifted into the sky, cutting through the darkness toward the ocean, and I let the wind carry away the last pieces of what he thought he owned.
I was gone.
