Chapter 94

Chapter 94

When Aurora saw Blair, she instinctively frowned, then immediately glanced over at Jason.

From the way Blair spoke, the two of them clearly knew each other already. Could it be that Aurora's kidnapping before had also been orchestrated by Jason behind the scenes?

Before Aurora could say anything, Blair suddenly lunged forward and snatched the lighter out of Jason's hand.

"I heard everything outside. You're going back on your word."

Blair wore a miserable smile, but there was no warmth left in it.

All the excitement she'd shown when they first met seemed like it had been an act.

Now, standing in front of Jason, Blair smiled with cold resolve. "When Mr. Coldridge first chose to work with you, I made it very clear — I wanted Aurora gone from here for good!"

"Even if I couldn't get her killed, she could at least be driven out of this city. That was your promise to me. But you used my trust in you, used what I knew about Simon, let me do all your dirty work — and now you want to protect your own reputation and stick to your little plan. I won't stand for it!"

Blair had already made up her mind on the way here.

Every confrontation with Aurora had ended in her own humiliation, and she hadn't been able to reach Simon for days.

Blair had decided to go all in. Even if it meant taking Aurora down with her, she didn't care.

It was at that moment Aurora caught the unhinged edge in Blair's voice. She looked over at her — and sure enough, Blair was still wearing the same clothes she'd had on the day she came running to the Coldridge Estate.

The hem of her white dress was torn and ragged, with faint traces of blood still on it. Every time Blair had shown up to cause trouble lately, she'd looked exactly like this — wild and unraveling.

That's when it hit Aurora. She knew what Blair was about to do.

"Blair, calm down!"

Thankfully, Jason's men had already untied Aurora's restraints. "Alright..."

Jason stood still, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes as he stared at Blair. "What do you think you're doing?"

But Blair kept stepping backward, one step at a time, until she reached a precise spot.

Jason's expression changed instantly. "Blair, don't do anything stupid!"

"Too bad. It's already too late."

Blair let out a hollow laugh. "None of you will help me. So I'll do it myself."

"Every day Aurora is alive, I suffer. So today, I'm putting an end to this."

The smile on Blair's face grew wider and wilder, as if she'd finally figured out exactly what she needed to do. She turned and walked toward the explosives — steady, certain, without looking back.

"Aurora, do you know? From the very first day I heard your name, I made you my enemy. At first I thought there were other people standing between me and Simon. But then I realized — it was only ever you."

Aurora could barely hear what came after.

Because she heard the bomb start counting down. Beep. Beep. Beep.

In the small, cramped warehouse, the sound cut through everything.

"Jason!"

Aurora turned to him for help. "Have you forgotten what you just told me? Right now you should be—"

But before she could finish, she watched Jason's men grab him and bolt toward the warehouse exit.

In their rush to save themselves, they seemed to have completely forgotten they were the ones who'd brought Aurora here.

As for Blair, she stood beside Aurora laughing, half out of her mind. "You've been tied up so long, you probably don't have the strength to run, do you?"

"That's fine. That's exactly what I wanted. I waited outside for so long just for this... Aurora, you're finally in my hands."

Blair kept talking, kept laughing — loud and unhinged.

Aurora felt a bone-deep chill crawl up her spine.

She shuddered, tuned Blair out, and desperately tried to run.

Blair looked completely unhinged, but in that moment, her eyes were locked onto Aurora with sharp focus.

The second she saw Aurora move toward the exit, Blair threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Aurora's waist.

She held on with everything she had, refusing to let her go, her voice turning shrill. "You're not leaving, Aurora!"

"We're dying here together today!"

"Why do you get to have everything? Why do you get Simon's love?"

Blair muttered into Aurora's ear, gripping tighter. Aurora fought to break free.

But it was no use.

She'd been tied to that chair for too long. She barely had any strength left, and Blair was holding on like she had no intention of ever letting go.

"I decided on the way here — I'm taking you with me."

Blair knew she had nothing left.

She used to think she could win Simon's love. But the longer she worked at the company, the more she saw that the only person Simon truly cared about was Aurora.

"If I can drag you down with me, then at least it was all worth something. Don't you think?"

Blair whispered in Aurora's ear. As she felt Aurora's strength fading, her laughter grew louder and more frantic.

Aurora gripped the doorframe with both hands, her fingers turning white. She was trying desperately to pull herself out, but she couldn't break free.

The beeping of the bomb grew louder and louder, as if the final countdown had begun.

Blair murmured dreamily, "You don't have to be so scared. The bomb is far enough away... it probably won't kill us outright. But we won't exactly be living normal lives after this either."

"You've lost your mind! Let go of me right now and we can both still make it out!"

Aurora tried to reach whatever was left of Blair's sanity. "What does this get you? Are you really throwing away the rest of your life?"

"What rest of my life?"

Blair's voice cut through the countdown, sharp and raw. "The moment Simon stopped wanting me, I stopped having a future. Don't you get that?"

"You've completely lost it. Even if you don't have a future, I still—"

Blair stared at her, grip unyielding, and burst out laughing. "Doesn't matter. After today's explosion, neither of us will have anything."

Then — the countdown stopped.

Aurora heard something.

Footsteps, rushing in. Someone yanked Blair away, then threw themselves over Aurora, shielding her.

Blair was shoved hard and hit the ground with a thud.

Then the explosion came.

When Aurora opened her eyes, all she could see was a suited chest — white shirt, black jacket.

The air smelled of gunpowder and smoke. Before she could make out who it was, everything went dark.

The blast swallowed the old warehouse whole, and the entire building was consumed by fire.