Chapter6
“Fire! There’s a fire! Somebody help!”
Flames shot into the sky, painting the night a terrifying crimson.
“Find some water! Call the fire department, now!”
Chaos exploded all around, shouts, clashing equipment, the crackle of burning wood.
But Charlotte Wynn stood in the safe zone, unmoving.
She knew panicking would only add to the chaos.
Somewhere in the distance, Bianca Sterling’s tearful voice drifted through the smoke:
“Julian, don’t! You just took a burning beam for me, you’re hurt! She’s not worth risking your life over! What if something happens to you? What would I do without you?”
Their argument faded into the noise.
Charlotte strained to make out their words when suddenly someone shouted her name.
“Charlotte!”
She looked up in a daze and saw Julian Lancaster at the second–floor window of her room, outlined
in firelight. His face was tight with panic.
“Charlotte! Where are you? Say something!”
She forced out a response, only to realize her voice had gone completely hoarse.
Staring at his anxious figure framed by the flames, Charlotte felt a wave of confusion wash over
her.
A voice in her heart screamed:
See? Even with his memory gone, he still came for you. It’s instinctual, bone–deep. He was always
meant to protect you.
But another, colder voice answered:
Don’t forget. Before your rebirth, you already learned the truth, his heart has always been split in
two. One half belongs to Bianca Sterling. The other, to you, was just obligation.
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This isn’t love. So… do you still want it?
The answer surfaced, clear and undeniable.
By then, Julian had already jumped down from the windowsill.
He landed in front of her, blood seeping through the shredded back of his shirt.
His injury was clearly from shielding Bianca earlier.
Bianca came running up too, throwing herself into his arms like she belonged there.
She clung to him tightly before glancing back at Charlotte, her expression full of wounded innocence.
“Miss Wynn,” she said pitifully, “I let go of all the things you did to me before, but why would you go as far as setting this place on fire? You know Julian’s always with me. Did you really want to drag him down with you?”
Charlotte met her theatrics with cold calm and shifted her gaze to Julian.
He was pale, beads of sweat dotting his brow from the pain.
“If I told you it wasn’t me… would you believe me?”
Julian’s eyes darkened. He didn’t speak.
And just like that, Charlotte knew.
He didn’t believe her.
Even after risking his life to pull her from the fire… he still gave more weight to Bianca’s words.
“If you’d hurt Bianca, you’ll have to pay the price,” he said coldly. “I’m sending you to the police station to confess. Maybe punishment will finally teach you some restraint.
Charlotte’s mind flashed to what Bianca had tried to say that day by the shrub, “Of course I want
to…”
Of course Bianca wanted him to fully believe she was the victim.
That way, even if he ever got his memory back, all he’d feel for Charlotte would be disgust.
She silently finished the sentence for her.
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If Bianca felt so threatened by her presence, if Charlotte had never intended to come between them in the first place, then fine.
Let it end this way.
Let Julian’s half–heart be fully etched with loyalty to Bianca.
It could be her way of repaying him for everything he once did for her.
A way to honor the final promise he made to her before he died before: “Let me go.”
Charlotte suddenly smiled, her voice laced with mockery. “Too bad. No one in all of Northbridge
has ever dared to arrest me. And your parents wouldn’t bear to see me locked up either.”
That was the spark.
Julian’s expression shifted instantly, fury flaring in his eyes.
Charlotte stepped closer, her fingertip nearly brushing his chest. “But… you rushed into that fire to find me. Could it be that, deep down, you still care about me? Maybe… you even love me?”
Smack!
Her wrist was slapped away, hard.
A burst of searing pain bloomed.
Julian’s hand shot to her throat.
He laughed coldly, voice shaking with rage.
“Even if there were a dog trapped in there, I would’ve gone in. But you? You’re not even worth
that.”
“And anyway,” he added with a cruel smirk, “you’re far more useful than a dog.”
His eyes glinted like glass. “I chose Bianca. And keeping you, my ‘powerful ex–girlfriend,‘ standing at her side? That’s the best way to make her shine at the engagement party. Don’t you agree?”
Charlotte couldn’t breathe.
Her face turned crimson as she clawed at his hand in vain.
Then suddenly, Julian shoved her away like she was trash.
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Pulling Bianca close, he walked off without looking back.
“Three days from now,” he called over his shoulder, “don’t forget to attend the engagement
party.”
Charlotte collapsed to the ground, coughing violently.
As Bianca glanced back at her with a complicated look, Charlotte gave her a faint, steady smile. “I’ll
be there.”
In three days, her task would finally be complete.
Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster still had reservations about Bianca, but Julian had insisted.
Out of love for their son, they ultimately gave in and began organizing the engagement party. Julian took charge of every detail, sparing no expense.
The event was a spectacle of luxury.
Inside the grand banquet hall, guests mingled beneath crystal chandeliers.
The room buzzed with whispers from Ravenhill’s elite.
But no one could ignore the elephant in the room, the main characters of this lavish affair.
“Her name’s Bianca Sterling?” one guest asked in a low voice. “Didn’t Mr. Lancaster used to be in love with someone else? I thought her name was…”
“You don’t know?” another chimed in. “He went missing a while back. When they found him, he’d lost his memory, and only remembered Miss Sterling as his fiancée.”
“Wasn’t he head over heels for that Charlotte girl before?”
An older gentleman motioned toward the far corner of the hall, where Charlotte stood quietly like a forgotten extra in someone else’s show.
“What a shame,” the man sighed. “They said those two were childhood sweethearts. I even told my granddaughter not to get too close, thought their bond was unshakable.”
He shook his head with regret. “If I’d known it would end like this, I’d have let my granddaughter shoot her shot.”
