Milo ripped the rag from my mouth and raised his voice in a furious demand. "Are you really Barney Tucker?"

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. I gave him a cold, broken smile. "Now you believe me? Then do the right thing and take Allison to"

Before I could finish, his hand struck across my face with a loud, stinging crack. "Shut up! I'm Susan's husband. So what if you're a Tucker? Doesn't change the fact that you're a homewrecker."

He took out his phone and shoved it in my face. On the screen was a photo of their marriage certificate, the date burning into my mind.

I laughed bitterly, finally understanding why Susan had always worked late these past five years. She hadn't been busy with work at all. She'd been married to Milo.

I had been such a fool, worried about her exhaustion and begging Allison to send talented people to assist her, and what had she done in return? Lying to be with Milo.

In our seven-year relationship, she had spent five of them dating another man. What Milo said wasn't just a punchline. I was indeed an outsider in their relationship.

I laughed until tears streamed down my cheeks. My chest heaved, and I coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.

Milo's face twisted in fury. "Susan loves me. She'd never yell at me. You seduced her, didn't you?"

He gripped my throat. "Answer me!"

In a blind rage, I sank my teeth into his wrist. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, making me gag. I spat a bloody wad at his feet and sneered at him.

He didn't even flinch, just smiled with a crazed glint in his eyes. "Go to hell! Once you're gone, Susan will be mine alone."

He staggered out of the room, then came back with a canister filled with some kind of liquid. He uncapped it and dumped it over me.

The cold splash hit my face, followed by an overwhelming, nauseating stench.

It was unmistakably gasoline. Milo wanted to burn me alive.

Panic surged through me. I grabbed Allison and tried to run toward the door, but it was too late.

The lighter in his hand clicked once, then came the flash. Flames exploded across my clothes, licking upward in hungry tongues.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air. I rolled on the ground, screaming in agony, but the fire only spread faster.

Maybe my cries were too desperate. Allison, who'd been unconscious, suddenly stirred.

Her eyes flew open, and she cried out, "Barney!"

Driven by horror, she tore free from the ropes binding her wrists and ankles, stumbling toward me without hesitation.

Through the haze of pain, I shouted hoarsely, "Don't come closer! You'll die too! Stay back!"

She ignored my warning, slapping at the flames with her bare hands. "Barney, I'll save you. You're gonna be fine!"

The moment her hands met the fire, the skin on them blackened and peeled, revealing raw flesh underneath.

Her pained expression broke my heart, but the moment tears welled up, they were dried by a blast of heat.

Not stopping, she forced a trembling smile to reassure me. "Don't cry, Barney. I'm fine."

I'd never seen her look so broken before. And it was all because of me.

Regret tore through me like a second fire, burning deeper than the flames ever could. I pounded my chest, glaring at Milo with every ounce of hatred in my soul.

It was all my fault. If I hadn't fallen for that heartless woman, none of this would've happened.

"Milo!" I roared. "When my father gets here, I swear I'll kill you!"

He laughed mockingly, gasoline pouring from his hands. He flicked the lighter open again, the flame reflecting in his deranged eyes.

"Still talking big!" he snorted. "It's fine. I'll send you both to hell."

Just as the fire was about to swallow us whole, two voices thundered through the warehouse.

"Stop!" Susan rushed up, her face pale.

"Who dares touch my children?" Wilfred Tucker burst in, flanked by a group of bodyguards.

The moment he saw our burned forms, his face twisted with fury so deep it seemed to shake the earth itself.

Susan collapsed, and Milo froze, his insanity giving way to terror.