Chapter 1 · Flame-Kissed Revenge

Chapter 1

When Edward Harrington died, he left every penny of his fortune to his first love, Lillian Grace. All I got was a letter, and each word a blade.

[You and I could've all walked out of that fire unscathed, Vivian Shaw, but you charged in like a heroine, ruined your face, and guilt-tripped me into marriage.

I played sick for years and kept you out of my bed for Lillian. When I'm gone, give my ashes to her. She and I will share a grave. The house, the money, the life you lived? It's what you owe her. Pay it back.]

I read it, rage flooding my lungs, and collapsed.

I woke to smoke, flames licking my skin, back at the fire that started it all.

Through the blaze, I saw Edward and Lillian clutching each other, stumbling blind.

I unclenched my fist, smiled coldly, and turned toward the exit.

This time, I would not be the heroine. I would watch them burn.

*****

The moment I came to, a scorching wave of heat blasted into my face. Choking smoke clawed its way into my nose, scorching my lungs and making every breath agony.

I snapped my eyes open.

No cold white banners hanging by my sickbed. No letter with words sharp enough to cut. All around me was just fire, hungry, wild, devouring everything.

The beams overhead crackled and threatened to collapse, thick black smoke swirling all around as heat twisted the air, burning so fiercely it felt like my skin would shrivel up.

I could tell this was the back wing of Harrington Manor. 'Am I really standing in the very place where that life-changing fire broke out?' I thought, my heart pounding wildly.

I looked down at my hands. They were smooth, unmarked. No calluses from a decade of labor, no crescent-shaped scars from the night I'd driven my nails into my own palms.

My dress was of common, rough-spun fabric, not the silks and satins befitting the future Lady Harrington.

Had I really come back? Back to the twelfth year of the Evercrest era, the night my nightmare began?

"Cough... Ed, I'm so scared... Are we going to die here?" A delicate, helpless voice, thick with tears, pierced through the roar of the flames, grating against my ears.

I jerked my head up.

Through the dancing fire and choking smoke, I saw them. A couple locked in an embrace.

Edward Harrington, my husband and heir to Lord Harrington, was shielding a woman protectively in his arms.

His usually aloof features were now etched with a desperate, aching tenderness I had never, not once in ten years by his side, been granted.

The woman in his arms was his cousin, the "love of his life," Lillian Grace.

"Don't be scared, Lily. I won't let anything happen to you." Edward's voice held a gentle firmness I had never heard.

He used his own body to protect her from the flying embers. "Hold onto me. We'll get out of this!"

What a pair of star-crossed lovers, facing death together!

I clawed my nails deep into my palm. The spike of pain was nothing compared to the storm ripping my heart to shreds.

Back then, in my previous life, I'd been a total idiot, storming into the flames for them both.

Seeing them trapped, I'd thrown myself against the fire door blocked by a fallen beam without a second thought. My back was left a charred, ruined mess, my beauty gone forever.

And what did I get in return?

Edward was forced to honor the betrothal and marry me. Thanks to my sacrifice, people all over Kingston hailed him as the loyal, honorable son of Harrington Manor, a man who wouldn't turn his back on his ruined wife.

But after all that, what did I end up with? Ten years of icy silence. He never crossed the threshold of my room.

Anytime he caught sight of my mangled face, he'd avert his eyes so fast, wearing his disgust right where I could see it, like I was something foul he couldn't bear to face.

And after a decade spent tending to him, spooning out medicine and hope he never wanted, all I got in the end was that damned letter, a final blow that shattered me, dragging me down into the darkest pit.

Every word was a blade, each sentence twisting deeper.

Ten years of sacrifice. Ten years of loving him with everything I had. To him, it was all just a cold calculation, a marriage he got trapped in, a nasty burden he couldn't stand.

He seriously thought I was in debt to him. Like I was the one who ruined things, the reason he and Lily ended up as doomed lovers, torn apart. Unbelievable.

Chapter 1

When Edward Harrington died, he left every penny of his fortune to his first love, Lillian Grace. All I got was a letter, and each word a blade.

[You and I could've all walked out of that fire unscathed, Vivian Shaw, but you charged in like a heroine, ruined your face, and guilt-tripped me into marriage.

I read it, rage flooding my lungs, and collapsed.

I woke to smoke, flames licking my skin, back at the fire that started it all.

Through the blaze, I saw Edward and Lillian clutching each other, stumbling blind.

I unclenched my fist, smiled coldly, and turned toward the exit.

This time, I would not be the heroine. I would watch them burn.

*****

The moment I came to, a scorching wave of heat blasted into my face. Choking smoke clawed its way into my nose, scorching my lungs and making every breath agony.

I snapped my eyes open.

No cold white banners hanging by my sickbed. No letter with words sharp enough to cut. All around me was just fire, hungry, wild, devouring everything.

The beams overhead crackled and threatened to collapse, thick black smoke swirling all around as heat twisted the air, burning so fiercely it felt like my skin would shrivel up.

I could tell this was the back wing of Harrington Manor. 'Am I really standing in the very place where that life-changing fire broke out?' I thought, my heart pounding wildly.

I looked down at my hands. They were smooth, unmarked. No calluses from a decade of labor, no crescent-shaped scars from the night I'd driven my nails into my own palms.

My dress was of common, rough-spun fabric, not the silks and satins befitting the future Lady Harrington.

Had I really come back? Back to the twelfth year of the Evercrest era, the night my nightmare began?

"Cough... Ed, I'm so scared... Are we going to die here?" A delicate, helpless voice, thick with tears, pierced through the roar of the flames, grating against my ears.

I jerked my head up.

Through the dancing fire and choking smoke, I saw them. A couple locked in an embrace.

Edward Harrington, my husband and heir to Lord Harrington, was shielding a woman protectively in his arms.

His usually aloof features were now etched with a desperate, aching tenderness I had never, not once in ten years by his side, been granted.

The woman in his arms was his cousin, the "love of his life," Lillian Grace.

"Don't be scared, Lily. I won't let anything happen to you." Edward's voice held a gentle firmness I had never heard.

He used his own body to protect her from the flying embers. "Hold onto me. We'll get out of this!"

What a pair of star-crossed lovers, facing death together!

I clawed my nails deep into my palm. The spike of pain was nothing compared to the storm ripping my heart to shreds.

Back then, in my previous life, I'd been a total idiot, storming into the flames for them both.

Seeing them trapped, I'd thrown myself against the fire door blocked by a fallen beam without a second thought. My back was left a charred, ruined mess, my beauty gone forever.

And what did I get in return?

But after all that, what did I end up with? Ten years of icy silence. He never crossed the threshold of my room.

Anytime he caught sight of my mangled face, he'd avert his eyes so fast, wearing his disgust right where I could see it, like I was something foul he couldn't bear to face.

Every word was a blade, each sentence twisting deeper.

Ten years of sacrifice. Ten years of loving him with everything I had. To him, it was all just a cold calculation, a marriage he got trapped in, a nasty burden he couldn't stand.

He seriously thought I was in debt to him. Like I was the one who ruined things, the reason he and Lily ended up as doomed lovers, torn apart. Unbelievable.