- 5.
Jake’s face went white.
“What the hell happened? What kind of hotel
is this? How could there be a fire?”
He could see the smoke rising in the distance,
and his face darkened.
“If anything happens to my sister, I’m going to
burn this place to the ground.”
Mom, hearing the news, nearly collapsed. She
stumbled toward the fire.
By the time they got there, the room was
engulfed in flames, and the fire trucks were
nowhere in sight.
Jake grabbed the man I was supposed to
marry, yelling.
“Where’s my sister? What happened to her?”
Terrified, the guy spilled everything. He
couldn’t hide his disgust for me.
“Who cares about that cripple? Her
く
wheelchair got burned, she couldn’t even
escape. I wouldn’t have agreed to marry that
monster, it’s a gift that she’s gone…”
Jake punched him in the face.
“You left my sister to die? If anything
happens to her, I’ll make sure your family
never works again.”
The guy started to shake, and his legs started
to leak, it was gross.
Jake shoved him away and stared at the fire,
his face hard, regret filling his eyes.
He shouldn’t have left Cassie alone with that
loser.
She was his sister. He’d watched her grow up.
They’d been together for almost twenty years.
When she was little, he swore he’d always
protect her.
He couldn’t just stand by and watch her die.
Jake took a step toward the fire, but Tiffany
grabbed him.
く
“Jake, what about me? What about our
baby?”
Jake froze.
The flames were consuming the room.
He gave up, hugging Tiffany.
“Tiffany, I’m so sorry, I let Cassie down.”
Tiffany said, “Jake, it’s better this way. It’s
not your fault.”
Mom looked up, and punched Tiffany in the
face.
“It’s your fault! She wouldn’t have gone.
through any of this it it wasn’t for you!”
Mom started hitting Tiffany over and over
again.
Jake pulled Tiffany behind him.
“Mom, stop it! She’s pregnant.
Mom looked at him, crying.
“I don’t care about my grandson! Give me
back my daughter!”
She hit Tiffany, crying.
<
“Give me back my daughter!”
Tiffany had enough, and slapped Mom.
“Shut up! I’m not the one who killed her!”
Mom stood still, tears streaming down her
face. She pointed at Jake.
“Yes, I did, with you!”
“If we hadn’t told her roommates to bully her,
if we hadn’t accused her of bullying, if we
hadn’t sent her to marry that pig…”
“Cassie was so kind. We hurt her so badly. I
don’t deserve to be her mother, and you don’t
deserve to be her brother.”
Mom started crying, hitting her chest.
Jake hugged her.
“Mom, it’s my fault. I made this happen.”
The phone rang.
His secretary sounded worried.
“Mr. Peterson, there’s been a change. You’ve
been kicked out of the board.”
