?Chapter 1562:


    Marc’s heart hammered violently against his ribs. Sweat had soakedpletely through his shirt, yet his eyes burned with manic excitement. Crouched behind a massive tree trunk, he kept his gaze locked on the brightly lit vi in the distance.


    He moved in a low crouch, working quickly as he poured elerant across thewn behind the vi. The sharp chemical stench spread through the air instantly, but there was no one around to notice.


    He pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Nina, have you disabled the security system yet?” Without breaching the vi’s defenses, there was no way he could take Ste with him.


    Nina’s low chuckle crackled through as her fingers flew across the keyboard. In the next instant, every light in the vi went dark.


    “Now!”


    The moment the signal came through, Marc vaulted over the perimeter wall without hesitation. The bodyguards stationed around the vi were already rushing inside to investigate the sudden ckout. Seizing his window, Marc sprinted along the outer wall, sshing the remaining elerant across the ground in wide arcs. He hoisted himself through an unlocked window and, groping blindly through the darkness, emptied thest of the container across the interior floor.


    Once it was spent, he eased open a nearby door and pressed himself into the shadows, back t against the wall, gasping as adrenaline surged through him. Only when the footsteps outside faded into silence did he crouch low, flick open the lighter in his trembling hand, and hurl it toward the elerant-soaked floor.


    mes exploded to life instantly. Cold sweat slicked his palms and his throat had gone bone-dry, but he spun around and bolted for the staircase. Nina had told him exactly where to find Ste — second floor, east wing.


    The heat and orange glow of the spreading fire pressed against his back. A flicker of genuine fear passed through him, followed immediately by the thought of Ste soon in his arms, both of them far beyond William’s reach — and that wave of possessive obsession crushed everything else beneath it. The mes leapt higher, devouring the curtains and upholstery with terrifying speed. In what felt like seconds, the entire garden side of the vi had been swallowed. The ze roared upward through the darkness, surging toward the living room and racing for the second floor.


    Marc forced down the manic exhration threatening to overwhelm him and began searching the second floor systematically.


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    At that very moment, Stey fast asleep. Felix was curled into a tight ball on the rug beside her bed, his small body rising and falling with soft, rhythmic snores. The room was utterly peaceful. She had not noticed the power outage, and she had no idea that mes were already consuming the floor below.


    The acrid, choking smell of something burning finally pulled her from sleep.


    She sat up groggily, disoriented. Before she could reach for the bedsidemp, she heard frantic footsteps pounding through the hallway, apanied by distant, panicked shouting.


    “Fire! The back garden is on fire!”


    “Someone call emergency services! Get Mr. Briggs on the phone now!”


    Thick gray smoke began seeping through the crack beneath her bedroom door, carrying with it waves of suffocating heat. Terror jolted her fully awake. She coughed violently, threw herself out of bed, and lunged for the door — only to recoil the moment the metal handle burned her palm.


    More smoke poured through the gaps around the frame. Felix erupted into frantic, high-pitched barking.


    “Felix! Come here!”


    She bent down and scooped him up, uncertain what to do. Tears streamed down her face. The first person who shed through her mind was William. Where was he right now? Did he know what was happening? Would hee for her? Or was this his final punishment — letting her burn?


    The thoughts crashed together inside her skull, making her head throb.


    Just as despair began tightening its grip around her, the door burst inward with explosive force. A tall figure — backlit by roaring mes and shrouded in thick, billowing smoke — charged through the doorway into her room.


    “Stel! Come with me now!”


    A hand grabbed her wrist firmly. His voice was muffled by smoke and chaos — but that silhouette looked like William. Ste squinted desperately, trying to make out his features through the haze, but the smoke stung her eyes and made it impossible to see clearly. Her free hand brushed the fabric of his suit jacket — expensive material, exactly the kind William always wore.


    William. He hade back. He hade back to save her.


    Dizzy and disoriented from the smoke, Ste followed him toward the exit with Felix still clutched in her arms, her consciousness already beginning to blur at the edges. A strong hand held hers. The fear in her heart eased almost miraculously. She found herself leaning on him instinctively, stumbling forward.


    “William…” She tried to call his name, but only a broken, rasping sound escaped her smoke-damaged throat.


    “Do not talk — just follow me!”


    Marc deliberately lowered his voice to a rough growl. He pressed a damp cloth firmly over her mouth and nose and half-dragged, half-carried her toward the vi’s back garden exit, moving as fast as he could.


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