Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The moment I heard my boyfriend, Cyrus Mitchell, was trapped inside our burning house, I rushed back without a second thought.

I dragged what I thought was his body out through the thick smoke and collapsed on the lawn.

Only then did I realize I was holding a silicone rescue dummy.

A burst of roaring laughter echoed from the neighboring townhouse.

"That idiot Gwen fell for it again!"

Through the half-open window next door, I saw Cyrus lounging on a plush leather sofa, scrolling through his phone without a single scratch on him.

"That's prank number forty-seven," someone cheered. "Just three more until we hit fifty and wrap this whole bet up!"

"She had it coming. Who told her to steal Nina's scholarship back in college? Nina is Cyrus's true love, so he vowed to date Gwen just to torment her fifty times over."

I bent over, gasping for air as my lungs burned.

The relationship I had cherished and protected with my entire soul was nothing more than a cruel game to them.

I stood outside the door, trembling uncontrollably.

Both of my arms were severely scorched and blistered from the flames, throbbing with excruciating pain.

The mockery from the window kept drilling into my ears.

"Think she'll run back in for round two once she realizes it's just a mannequin?"

"Probably! Remember when Cyrus faked being locked in the campus storage room? She smashed open every single locked door in the building, racked up eighty grand in property damages, and spent years working three jobs to pay it off!"

"Classic trailer-trash behavior, trying to play the heroic savior. It's hilarious!"

Cyrus's calm voice cut through their banter.

"Alright, that's enough. I already dialed 911 for the fire."

"Don't actually kill her," he added casually. "I'm not done playing with her yet."

Those words shattered what was left of my world.

My vision blurred, and the next thing I knew, paramedics were lifting me onto a stretcher and fitting an oxygen mask over my face.

As the rough edge of the gurney scraped against my raw, burned skin, a jolt of agony shot through my body.

A compassionate paramedic noticed and gently asked where it hurt.

Tears welled up in my eyes as my chest tightened.

"Everything hurts," I whispered.

It wasn't just the burns on my skin.

My heart felt like it had been shredded to pieces.

Darkness crept in, and I surrendered to exhaustion.

In my haze, memories of meeting Cyrus flooded back.

He had walked into my life like a guardian angel, showering me with affection and teaching an insecure orphan what it felt like to be loved.

He was a wealthy heir who claimed to admire my resilience and swore to protect me from the world.

Then came our sophomore year, when I went into massive debt after trying to rescue him from that staged lock-in.

My stubborn pride kept me from asking him for help until I collapsed from working three exhausting shifts a day.

He found me in the emergency room, weeping as if his heart was breaking.

He paid off the eighty thousand dollars and promised he would never let me suffer again.

I had wept with gratitude, believing fate had finally shown me mercy.

When I opened my eyes in the hospital room, Cyrus was nowhere to be found.

Only my best friend, Sadie, sat by my bedside, wiping away her tears.

"The doctor said you need at least two weeks of bed rest," Sadie choked out. "Is Cyrus really worth all this?"

I forced a faint smile and squeezed her trembling hand.

"Sadie, in two weeks... can you buy me a train ticket to anywhere far away?"

Anywhere, as long as it was away from Cyrus.