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When I next opened my eyes, I found myself lying in a small room at the crematorium.
I shot upright, my head whipping around to scan the dim surroundings. No one. Only the low hum of countless furnaces, actively
running.
I didn’t know why I was here, but then I faintly heard Chloe’s voice from beyond the door.
“Just burn what’s left,” Chloe cooed, her voice sickeningly sweet. “It’s not like he’s a whole body anymore, anyway. My snakes just love meat, you know?”
My scalp prickled. Slowly, I rose from the floor, taking hesitant steps towards the door. There, I saw Chloe, whining and batting her eyelashes at Lucas. “Lucas, you have to help me find those videos,” she insisted. “Scott’s dead now, but I still haven’t gotten my hands on my stuff. I’m not letting it go.”
Lucas’s arm was still around Chloe’s shoulders, but his brow furrowed slightly. “Even if you’re pissed, you can’t take Anna’s body and
feed it to snakes.”
Before Chloe could even open her mouth to reply, the words clawed their way out of me, my voice a raw, trembling whisper. “What did you just say? My brother’s body… it was fed to snakes?”
Lucas’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting mine with a complicated, unreadable expression.
Chloe, however, just scoffed, her voice dripping with arrogance. “What was I supposed to do? The crematorium was packed today, they couldn’t even make space for Anna’s body. So I just had someone put his corpse in the zoo Lucas bought.”
“Who knew they’d gotten the spot wrong and put it in the snake pit?” she continued, a casual wave of her hand. “The little snakes had been starving for days, so they just had a few bites. No big deal.”
Finally, Chloe eyed me with pure disdain. “Mrs. Thorne,” she sneered, “don’t be so dramatic. He’s dead, isn’t he? What’s the big deal?”
At that moment, my head felt like it was going to explode.
My heart hammered, breathless with a rage I couldn’t contain. I lunged forward, my hands locking around Chloe’s throat.
Chloe’s
eyes
rolled back, already fading, when Lucas tore my hands from her.
“Anna Reed!” Lucas’s voice was sharp with anger, a low snarl. “I’ve told you countless times, don’t bully Chloe. Even you can’t keep pushing my boundaries like this!”
I screamed, a raw, wild sound tearing from my throat. “She killed my father, she killed my brother, and she fed his body to snakes! Who the hell is bullying whom?! Lucas, tell me! Tell me!”
“You’re insane,” Lucas said, his gaze filled with profound disappointment. “I’ll have someone arrange a cooler place for you. You need to
calm down.”
With that, he gave a subtle nod to the bodyguards behind him.
They dragged me to the cold storage room, the one meant for bodies.
Locked behind the heavy iron door, I pounded on it, my control shattering, my cries raw with desperate anguish.
Lucas, however, remained indifferent to my sorrow.
I sobbed until my throat was raw, my body collapsing to the frigid floor, before the heavy iron door finally, slowly, creaked open.
18:03
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Lucas stood over me, a half–smoked cigarette clutched between his fingers. He inhaled deeply, then released a plume of smoke, his voice laced with condescension. “Wife,” he drawled, “tonight is Chloe’s birthday party. She’s chosen to overlook your… recent behavior and invited you. Consider it your chance to make amends.”
A twisted smile played on his lips. “I’ve got a surprise for you. You’re going to love it. So, if you agree, just give me a smile, okay?”
“I promise, it will be something you’ll never forget.”
