Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The next second, a voice I knew too well came through the phone.
Thankfully, the team handling my plan was right beside me.
Their service was thorough–unsurprising, given the price tag.
They had assured me the job wouldn’t be marked as complete until I was safely out of the country and untraceable.
Panicking, I quickly whispered the situation to the man beside me and handed him the phone.
reacted immediately, the kind of calm efficiency that only comes with experience.
After a brief pause, he spoke into the phone with practiced ease:
“Hello? Is this the owner of 1205? I’m your neighbor. Your house is on fire–badly. The flames are spreading fast, and while I’ve already called the fire department, they haven’t arrived yet.”
“This phone fell out of a window, and it sounds like someone inside is still trying to call for help. If you know them, you read to get here increderety
Before Ethan could respond, he hung up.
“Don’t worry,” he said to me, his tone reassuring.
“He’ll be too busy dealing with the fire to suspect anything.”
I nodded, but the knot in my stomach refused to loosen
“Are you sure this staged death plan is foolproof? What if the fire isn’t strong enough to destroy the evidence-*
He interrupted with a light chuckle.
“Ms. Sullivan, I promise, this isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve handled plenty of cases just like yours–most of our clients are women, actually, with eerily similar stories.”
“As long as you followed the instructions to set the fire, there’s no chance of anything being left behind. I calculated the structure’s location and the time it would take for rescue teams to arrive.” “By the time they get there, the place will be nothing but ashes. No one will doubt that you were lostin the flames.”
I managed a faint smile, though my heart felt heavier with each word.
So many people, all running from the same kind of heartbreak.
For years, I thought I was different.
I thought I was lucky to have someone like Ethan–a man who seemed so perfect.
Now I see it for what it was: survivor’s bias.
I wasn’t special.
I was just another face in a sea of broken dreams.
Ethan had even chosen our house number based on my birthday, calling it “our forever home.”
Now it was nothing more than my burial ground.
Looking back, I realized his love had always been surface–level
Eight years together, and we had never truly connected.
I didn’t know him–and, frankly, I never had to.
Photos Lies and Fire
Chapter 5
Once I boarded the plane, I sat quietly with the team’s handler.
Rows ahead of me, a group of young women, all studying abroad, chattered noisily.
The plane hadn’t even taken off, and their conversation was already buzzing with excitement.
“I’m so bummed! I wanted to see Ethan Wood’s wedding–it was going to be epic. I’ve shipped their relationship for years, and now I can’t even watch it because stupid school starts tomorrow!”
“Same here! My family owns the hotel he rented out, and I was so excited to see it all up close. Then the school announced last–minute exams. Ugh, I’m so pissed!”
“Don’t worry. The livestream’s going to be insane. There’ll be so many camera angles, you could probably rewatch it for days!”
When Ethan’s business took off, our love story became a sensation online.
People couldn’t stop talking about how we were the perfect couple–how he had stayed loyal to his first love despite his fame and fortune.
The anticipation for his proposal had been almost religious, with fans eagerly following every detail of his plans to pop the question.
I guess they’ll all be disappointed now.
Choosing to “die in the fire” was my way of ending things with the same drama as our eight years together. It was the last shred of dignity I could offer
this story.
The plane finally took off, and the chatter ahead of me died down as the girls settled into their seats.
I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting exhaustion take over.
Midflight, the agent sitting next to me noticed I hadn’t touched the food and pulled a sandwich out of his bag.
“It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll keep you going. You should eat–you look like you’ve lost a lot of weight over the past week.”
Even a stranger could see how much I’d been through.
And yet, the man who once vowed to love me forever hadn’t noticed a thing.
But that’s how people are, isn’t it?
Their hearts instinctively gravitate toward whoever matters most to them.
For Ethan, that person was never me.
Unbalanced love?
I’m done with it.
