CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE : FLAMES

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE : FLAMES
Jennifer said, and I could barely breathe.

I could feel my lungs tightening.

And if my brain had figured out how to open my mouth, I would have been wheezing by now.

“I even tried to keep him with me with Kayla.

I told him I was pregnant, and do you know what he did?

He barely cared, he was still ready to leave again and continue searching for you cluelessly.

He had to be forced to fucking marry me?

Me! The one woman who had loved him his entire life.

He married me just so Kayla would not be an illigitimate child, and nothing else.

And even after our marriage, Ethan barely wasted seconds with me because he left immediately to continue searching for you.

He looked for you around the continent till he ran fucking mad and had to be admitted into a psychiatric ward!” She roared.

I felt my legs give out from beneath me, as I fell to my knees in staring at Jennifer in shock.

“Why are you telling me this now?” I whispered brokenly, feeling a piece of my heart chip away as Jennifer’s words echoed endlessly in my head.

“Why am I telling all this to you?” She repeated my question as she laughed, like she found something funny in them.

Then, she snarled.

“So you can see how far Ethan is willing to go for you.

I need you to understand why you needed to die the last time.

The entire world told Ethan you were dead, and he was only chasing a ghost.

Yet, he never stopped looking for you.

Just imagine what he would have done if he had known you were alive,” She hissed.

“And most importantly.

I needed you to die with the guilt knowing Ethan was faithful to you, and you missed your chance with him, all because of me.

Even now Leah, I will still win in the end,” she said proudly.

“You are a despicable woman, Jennifer.

Do you think Ethan would love you after doing all this?

You’ll only make him hate you the more!” I growled.

A soft laughter filled the air, as she shook her head at me sadly.

“Of course he’ll love me.

And why wouldn’t he?

I look exactly like you don’t I?” She said coldly

“Let me tell you a secret Leah.

Consider it your dying wish.

Today, when you die, you’ll die as Jennifer, and be buried as Jennifer.

No one would know it was you, because your face would be burnt to ashes.

And as for me, I’ll walk back into Ethan’s life as you.

I’ll take over your family, I’ll be the mother to your children, and the wife that Ethan always deserved.

And he’ll shower me with the amount of love he carried for you, and that’s because I look exactly like you.

Now tell me Leah.

Who won at the end?” Her voice dripped with smugness as she uttered those words.

I knew I was walking into a trap earlier.

But I would have never anticipated Jennifer to be this evil.

“Stand up, Leah.

Take the fuel close to you and the match box and light yourself on fire,” Jennifer snarled.

I could hear the seriousness in her tone.

My brain tried to think of a way out, and I was stuck.

“Don’t forget I have your children’s life on the line.

I’ve told you beforehand.

I have nothing to lose Leah,” she hissed seeing my hesitation.

I swallowed, tears clinging to my eyes and blurring my vision.

“Five seconds Leah!

I give you just five seconds. 

And any second later and I’ll be serving your children’s heads to you.

And your time starts now.

Five!” She yelled.

The winds blew harsher, as my hair flew to my face in disarray.

“Four!” Jennifer’s voice came again, her gun still pointed directly at me.

I steeled my spine, knowing I had no other choice.

I had to protect my children, even if it cost me my life.

I could only pray that Ethan would be able to protect them from Jennifer when I was dead.

My hands wrapped around the handle of the container Jennifer said was filled with fuel.

Turning it open, I poured it down my head without hesitation.

This awful smell of gasoline filled the air, and I was soaked in it.

My body quivered, shaking with tears as I struggled to keep myself strong.

Jennifer was not wrong.

She had won.

And this time, I could not escape my death.

“Two!” She yelled.

And I picked the match box.

Taking a stick, and striking it against the body, I watched as it caught flames.

My gaze looked up to Jennifer’s eyes.

They gleamed in contempt watching the flames dance beneath her gaze.

“You better keep your words, Jennifer.

Take my children to Ethan once I’m gone,” I bit out through my trembling lips.

“One!” Her voice echoed.

My children’s tearful faces flashed between my mind, as more tears streamed down my face.

“I’m sorry,” the whisper left my lips.

And at the same time, my entire form engulfed in heat as the flames touched my clothes.

Pain was the first thing I felt as a loud scream ripped out from my throat.

But then, my shout was followed by an even louder one.

“Leah!”

My head snapped up, to see Ethan’s panicked face running towards me.

But I knew he was too late already.