They Let Me Burn to Save His Mistress

Miriam Howard and I were caught in the inferno together.

Matthew and Carson dashed in, but their focus was solely on Miriam.

“Kiara, you're a Hunt; you've got plenty of people looking out for you, endless ways to escape danger. But Miriam's different—she only has us!”

I yelled for help, yet they didn't hesitate to rescue Miriam, leaving me behind.

With great effort, I found a tiny vent and barely made it out.

Once discharged from the hospital, I returned home, still bandaged and scorched, only to find my clothes strewn across the floor.

“Miriam's been having nightmares ever since, so we gave her your bedroom for comfort. You get it, right?”

Stunned, I glanced at my still-bleeding wounds and silently took out my phone to make a call.

“You promised to love me forever and keep me safe for life. Does that promise still stand?”

==============================

“Wait for me to come back.”

After hanging up, I started gathering up the clothes scattered around.

Watching Matthew and Carson fussing over Miriam, I turned away, expressionless.

I was halfway to the door when someone gripped my shoulder tightly.

“Kiara, I didn’t mean to take your room. Please don’t be upset, okay?”

Miriam's eyes shimmered with tears, her voice pleading. Yet her fingers pressed deliberately into my wound.

As her nails dug deeper, I winced in pain and shook her hand off.

With a slight motion, she theatrically crumpled to the ground.

“Kiara Hunt! How long are you going to be so selfish? I haven't even blamed you for the injury Miriam suffered because of you.”

Matthew, hearing the commotion, hurried over, glaring at me as if I’d done something unthinkable.

The moment Carson saw Miriam fall, he raised a hand toward me.

I defiantly tilted my head back, meeting his eyes, searching for the familiarity that once was.

But his eyes burned with anger, softening only as he turned to help Miriam up, showing her a tenderness he'd never shown me.

“Kiara, please don’t be mad. I’m really sorry. I’ll pack up and leave right away!”

Miriam sobbed endlessly, struggling to pull away from Carson's side.

Carson held her even tighter, his expression growing colder when he looked back at me.

“This is Miriam's spot now. Who are you to think you can send her away?”

I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at him in disbelief.

Who am I?

After twenty years together, do I truly matter less than someone they've known for just a few weeks?

“Stop living in a fantasy. Miriam hurt her leg. Aren’t you the best at treating injuries? Take a look at it—consider it making up for your mistake.”

Matthew’s eyes never left Miriam.

With a wry smile, I looked at my bloodied hands and, for once, refused him.

“With these hands?”

Matthew and Carson glanced at me, a flicker of doubt in their eyes, quickly replaced by disdain.

“What’s the big idea? This isn’t the time for your games!”

I laughed bitterly to myself. To them, the gashes on my face and the blood on my hands were just trivial antics.

They couldn’t see through the real act, but they had already convicted me.

Without delay, I dragged my suitcase back to the Hunt estate.

Matthew, Carson, since you've chosen Miriam, I'll treat these past twenty years like nothing but a dream.

I won't naively trust your promises to protect me ever again.