We argued.
He forgot the plan.
He passed out in the guest room.
Simone arrived.
She assumed Derek had already left.
She started the fire.
Then she drove away.
I woke.
Escaped.
Realized Derek was inside.
And went back for the man who had helped plan my death.
I saved him from his own murder plot.
When Detective Reed explained it, I vomited.
For days afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking about the moment I turned back toward the house.
I could have stayed outside.
Derek would have died.
Instead, I sacrificed my face, my arm, and months of my life to save him.
And he knew.
He woke in the hospital knowing exactly why the fire had started.
He watched doctors operate on me.
He held my hand.
He promised to stay.
Then, once he understood I would survive, he began planning how to leave before investigators discovered the truth.
PART 6 — THE SECOND FIRE