Chapter 22
Just when Morinne Ayla thought her suffering had reached its peak, Alexander Lowell appeared before her.
Behind him, his bodyguards carried in a heavy metal basin filled with crackling fire, the flames dancing wildly in the dim darkness. They set it down directly in front of her.
“If it weren’t for you,” Alexander said, voice low and emotionless, “Cindy would’ve never gone through that hell. Now it’s
your turn to pay-tenfold.”
His words were quiet, but they struck like thunder.
“No! No, it wasn’t my fault!” Morinne screamed, struggling against the guards holding her down. “Yes, I set that fire at the
theater-but you! You’re the one who pushed me away and refused to save her! Her burns-those were on you! How can
you blame me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t!”
Tears streaked down her face, but no one in the room so much as blinked. Everyone stood still, faces cold and unfeeling.
Alexander grabbed her wrist and, without hesitation, forced her hand into the fire.
The flames roared, instantly engulfing her entire arm. Her scream tore through the air, raw and animalistic. The sickening
scent of burning flesh rose with it.
Alexander flinched slightly at the smell, his brow tightening.
Was it really this painful?
Then what kind of agony had Cynthia gone through-when she had to endure it alone?
If he had acted sooner… if he hadn’t let her go alone that day… none of it would’ve happened.
He clenched his jaw. He was guilty too.
Without warning, Alexander shoved the guards aside and plunged his own hand into the flames.
Agony exploded through his arm, cold sweat beading on his forehead as the heat seared straight into his bones.
The guards panicked, rushing to drag him back. “Mr. Lowell! We need to get you to a hospital-!”
“No,” he rasped, shaking them off. “That day, I made her go alone. This time-I’ll walk the same road she did. That’s only
fair.”
As he stepped outside the building, the skies broke open in a heavy downpour-just like it had rained that day for her.
Rain soaked him to the bone, mixing with the sting of his open burn. Every breath he drew felt like dragging razors into his
lungs.
He walked to the hospital alone, got his injuries treated, and walked all the way back.
Unlike Cynthia, he hadn’t been hit by a speeding scooter. But he couldn’t shake the image of her collapsing by the door,
soaked, scorched, and bruised, with no one there to help her. Not even him.
He had stood by-cold, distant, detached-while she suffered.
And now… now he finally understood what despair felt like.
Alexander pounded his chest again and again, overwhelmed by a tide of regret.
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On his way back to the hotel, he called Cynthia several times.
Unsurprisingly, she did not respond.
Even for a single call.
According to his servants at that time, she had fainted in front of the house, bleeding and broken. No one dared to touch her. It was only after a long time that she finally crawled back into the house on her own.
And now… now he finally understood what despair felt like.
“I’m sorry… it was all my fault… all of it…”
As soon as he returned to the hotel, wounds freshly bandaged, he grabbed his phone and called his assistant.
“Mr. Lowell?” came the cautious voice of Assistant Lee.
“Go to the house,” Alexander ordered, his voice hoarse but sharp. “Get rid of everything that belongs to Morinne Ayla. Burn
- Every last piece.”
There was a long silence.
“Sir… are you sure? She’s still your-your fiancée, isn’t she?”
“Not anymore,” Alexander snapped, irritation flashing in his eyes. “We have no connection. Inform everyone-publicly.
Issue the termination of our engagement.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
Within the hour, Sterling Corporation’s special assistant manager released a statement that lit up every corner of the
business and social world:
“Due to a pattern of inappropriate behavior, Morinne Ayla is no longer affiliated with Mr. Alexander Lowell. Their engagement is hereby terminated. From this moment forward, she has no ties to Mr. Lowell or to Sterling Corporation.”
Chapter 22
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