Anna’s POV:
The explosion threw me like a rag doll. I hit the ground hard, pain shooting through every
bone in my body
People were screaming, running away in panic. No one stopped to help, no one called for help, just chans and fear,
I struggled to stay conscious, my fingers fumbling in my purse for my phone. Everything hurt. My vision blurred at the edges.
Then I saw him. Blake. Running toward the burning car like a man possessed. My heart seized as he dove straight into the flames without hesitation
‘Is that Blake Wright?‘ someone whispered nearby. “The CEO of Wright Group?”
“Holy shit, he just ran into a burning car!”
I wanted to scream, to tell him I wasn’t in there, but my voice was trapped in my throat. All I could do was watch in horror as he frantically checked the passenger seat first, then moved to the back. His desperate voice carried over the crackling flames.
“Anna! ANNA!”
I’d never heard such raw fear in his voice before. He yanked open the back door with his bare hands, not caring about the blood that streaked his palms.
My chest tightened watching him search for me with such desperation. The smoke billowed around him, the flames growing higher, yet he kept searching, calling my name.
I tried to call out, but my voice was too weak. I could only watch as he risked his life, believing I was trapped inside.
Someone finally called for help. “That’s Blake Wright from Wright Group! Someone call 911!”
Tears streamed down my face as I watched him. Despite everything between us, despite Claire, despite the broken trust and cold shoulders… he was willing to die trying to save me.
Blake’s POV:
I dragged the driver out first, then pulled Scarlett from the backseat. Her head was bleeding, but she was alive.
Rage boiled inside me like molten lava. I knew she was behind this. All of it.
My hands found her throat. “Where the fuck is Anna? Where did you hide her?!”
When she came to, she didn’t look afraid. Instead, a twisted smile spread across her bloody face.
The sight ignited something primal in me, and my grip tightened.
‘Blake Wright losing control? Never thought I’d see the day,” she rasped.
‘Where. The. Hell. Is. She. Each word came out like a bullet, my voice barely recognizable even to myself.
“Dead by now,” Scarlett whispered, her eyes gleaming with sick satisfaction. “Such a shame you’ll never get to see he
this.”
And she’ll never see you like
I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my teeth might crack. The pressure in my hands increased. “Where is she?”
‘I made sure to pour extra gasoline on the front… just to be thorough,” she laughed weakly. “Wouldn’t want any chance of survival.”
“You fucking psycho,” I hissed through gritted teeth, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
If Anna was dead… I didn’t know what I’d do.
1/3
Chapter 226
The murderous intent flowing through me was foreign and terrifying, yet somehow appropriate.
If she’d hurt Anna, there would be no power on earth that could save her from what I’d do.
“I’ve had a miserable life,” Scarlett choked out, blood trickling from her mouth. “And you… you gave me hope and then crushed it.”
“You were never anything to me,” I growled.
“That’s just it,‘ she spat. ‘Nothing was real. It was all for her. Always for Anna.”
Her eyes were wild, desperate. “There are no good people in this world. I’m done trying to please anyone, including you,
“We had a contract!” I reminded her, my voice deadly quiet.
Blood bubbled between her lips as she smiled. “Don’t hate me, Blake. I just wanted you to feel what I feel. You’ve always gotten everything you wanted. It was time you learned what it’s like to want something you can’t have.”
“Kill me,” she challenged. “I don’t understand… I tried so hard to make everyone happy. Why couldn’t I earn anyone’s real love?”
“Stop talking bullshit. You think I fucking won’t? My voice was barely human, more growl than words.
She smiled through bloody teeth. “Go ahead. Anna and I will keep each other company in hell. I actually liked her, you know. If it weren’t for you, maybe we could have been friends.”
“You don’t deserve to speak her goddamn name! And she’s not dead, you sick bitch!”
Her eyes flashed with cruel amusement. “Then where is she?”
My hands tightened around Scarlett’s throat, rage consuming every rational thought. I was beyond reason, beyond control.
In that moment, I didn’t recognize myself. I didn’t care.
‘Blake!”
That voice. Her voice.
I froze, the world suddenly silent except for the crackling flames. Slowly, I turned.
Anna stood there. Alive. Breathing.
I dropped Scarlett without a second thought, like discarding trash. I got to my feet but couldn’t move forward. My body refused to cooperate, paralyzed by the fear that she might vanish if I blinked.
Time stopped. I was distantly aware of my appearance–my custom suit filthy with soot and dust, my hands covered in blood. Nothing like the composed executive I presented to the world. None of that mattered.
Anna looked as battered as I felt. One of her arms hung limply at her side. Her face was smudged with dirt, hair wild around her shoulders.
The burning car cast an orange glow over everything, the heat searing against my back. We stood less than fifteen feet apart, but it might as well have been
an ocean.
“Anna… isn’t dead?”
With just one sentence from Scarlett, my tightly wound emotions suddenly collapsed.
I knew it wasn’t my imagination.
A flood of emotions surged through me, and with every ounce of strength I had, I ran towards Anna.