Chapter 100
I shook off his hand and said calmly, “Stefan, we have nothing to do with each other anymore. You were the one who fired me. You were the one who broke off our engagement first.“}
Tears of regret welled in his eyes. “I know I was wrong. Please, just give me one more chance. Forgive me, please?“\
I did not want to say another word. I simply said, “No,” and turned to leave.
But I had barely taken a few steps when something hard struck the back of my head and everything went black.
When I came to, I was tied up. Stefan was there too–his wrists bound. He had brought me back to our old apartment and soaked the carpet in gasoline.[
He stood over me, a candle flickering in his hand, his eyes wild with desperation. “Caitlyn, I told you I was wrong. Wouldn’t it be better to just marry me?”
My heart pounded. I forced myself to stay calm and play along. “Stefan, I promise. We’ll get married. Just… put down the lighter first.”
He stared at me for a long moment. Then suddenly, he laughed–a bitter, broken sound. “I knew it. You’re lying to me.”
“You’re just trying to trick me so you can run off to Hayden, aren’t you? You liar. You bitch!“}
With a crazed scream, he hurled the candle to the floor. Flames exploded instantly, racing across the gasoline–soaked carpet.\
have nothing left, Caitlyn,” he muttered. “Come with me. I’ll marry you in the next life.“}
Terror surged through me as the fire roared closer.<
“Stefan, if you want to die, go ahead! But don’t drag me down with you–I don’t want to die!”
But he just lay there, unmoving, as if drunk on despair. He had locked the door and I was still tied up, helpless. The smoke thickened, stinging my eyes and burning my lungs.”
And then… everything went dark.
****
When I woke up, I was in a hospital room, Hayden lying in the bed beside me.”
The news had already broken the full story: [Stefan Hawthorne had deliberately started the fire out of revenge.]}
Hayden had rescued me, but not without getting hurt. He had leapt from the neighboring balcony, charged through the
flames and carried me out.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I looked at him. “It was the fifteenth floor… so dangerous. Why didn’t you wait for the firefighters?“}
Hayden gave a weak cough, his voice raspy but steady. “Your father said that if I wanted to marry you, I had to protect you first.”
He paused, then added with a faint smile, “Besides… we didn’t know when the firefighters would get there. Saving your life mattered more to me than the risk of waiting.”
My heart was so touched that I could not speak. I leaned over and gently hugged him.
After Hayden recovered, we started seeing each other more often. He confessed his feelings and I finally accepted them. We made our relationship official.
On the day of Stefan’s funeral, Hayden even went to pay his respects.
He told me he just wanted to thank Stefan for not marrying me. Because if he had, Hayden would not have had this chance.
When my family later sat down with the Aldrich Family to discuss our marriage, my father turned to my mother–who had returned for the occasion–and grinned at Hayden.”
“Well done. Mission accomplished.“”
(The End)
