ManyWriters

When I received the evidence from my client, I almost choked.
He said, his voice seething with anger, "This is the man my wife is sleeping with. She lied to me, tricked me into marrying her! None of it was real!"
My eyes were glued to the name—Alexander Mitchell.
"You know him?"
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
"He's my husband of seven years."
Days later, I was kidnapped and thrown into an abandoned courthouse. The acrid stench of gasoline stung my nostrils, and then, a spark from a lighter sent flames roaring to life.
I screamed with every fiber of my being, a raw, desperate cry torn from my soul, "Alexander..."
I heard footsteps outside the door and a desperate hope flared within me—he had heard me.
But he just walked away, holding the woman in his arms, without so much as a backward glance.
I thought I was going to die in that inferno, but fate gave me a chance to fight back.
This time, it's their turn to pay the price.

Guilty as Charged

As soon as the voice died down, Alexander’s brow furrowed as he glanced my way.


The thick, acrid smell of gasoline assaulted my senses. Someone had just doused me in it.


My entire body trembled as I realized what was about to happen.


I struggled to make a sound, but my hands and feet were bound tight, and my mouth was gagged completely.


I was blindfolded. There was no way Alexander could recognize me.


He gave me a single, indifferent glance before quickly looking away, his gaze locking tensely onto Isabella.


The kidnappers shoved Isabella toward him, then flicked open a lighter and tossed it onto the gasoline.


Alexander looked at the advancing flames, then down at Isabella in his arms.


A flicker of conflict and anguish crossed his face.


But in the end, he chose to turn and walk away, pretending he had seen nothing at all.


As the flames leaped toward me, I felt the searing heat of their tongues.


Chapter 6