### Chapter 8
"Randolph, don't leave me here!"
I caught his trouser leg with everything I had left.
"The firefighters will be here soon." He barely glanced down, then wrenched his leg free and strode off, his arm around Lily.
Smoke poured into my throat. I forced my head up and looked toward the high Farley throne at the center of the hall.
As my mind blurred, I half saw the girl I used to be, hand in Randolph's, standing before that throne with her eyes shut, making a wish.
I wished that one day I'd sit up there beside him, that we'd be together, forever and ever.
And then, faint and far off, I saw myself from years ago, throwing myself bravely in front of that boy. He'd wept in a pool of his own blood and sworn to me that he'd spend the rest of his life protecting me with his own.
I'd believed that even if his heart had changed, at the edge of life and death he would keep that promise.
But the promise was light as a flake of ash. He chose his mistress. Not me.
The eaves began to collapse. The fire swallowed everything in front of me, and the scorching waves of heat licked at my skin until it burned.
I curled into myself, both hands over my belly, and shut my eyes.
Baby, I'm sorry. All the beautiful things in this world, Mama will see them with you in the next life.
But when I opened my eyes again, there was a hospital ceiling above me, snow-white.
The nurse saw I was awake and broke into a wide smile. "You're lucky a few kind souls pulled you out. Just some minor burns, thank goodness."
I grabbed her sleeve. "My baby—"
"Don't worry. The baby's perfectly fine."
The tension snapped all at once. I sank back and pressed my hands over my eyes.
Laughter and chatter drifted in from the next room. I wrapped my arms tight around my belly, holding it like the most precious treasure in the world, and the tears broke loose.
My baby. The only family I have.
I didn't dare imagine what I would have done if I'd lost her.
Kieran heard about that night and rushed to the hospital. The sight of me, so worn down, broke his heart.
"You've suffered, Mel." His aged hand closed tight around mine, his eyes full of reluctance to let me go. "Tomorrow night I'll see you out of here. Before then, will you have one last dinner with me? I'm an old man. After this goodbye, who knows if we'll ever meet again."
I agreed.
Randolph had betrayed me, but the old man had always been good to me.
The next evening, my car headed for the old Farley mansion. As we reached a deserted stretch of road, a black SUV suddenly swung in close, and after a shriek of tires it cut across in front of us.
The next moment, the car door was yanked open.
Before I could react, hands hauled me roughly out and shoved me into the SUV.
The door slammed. Fear surged in like a tide. The first thing I did was reach for the phone in my bag and dial Randolph's number, over and over.
I called ninety-nine times. He never picked up.
Beside me, the man in the Transformers mask let out a sneer.
"What's the matter? Can't get through to that unfaithful husband of yours? He's with my sister right now, at her prenatal checkup."
An invisible hand closed around my breath.
"You're Lily's family? Why are you doing this?"
"Get rid of you, and my sister gets to be Mrs. Farley."
The mocking tone turned suddenly cruel. He was like a starving wolf, green light in his eyes, the kind of stare that belongs to a man who licks blood off a blade.
My heart dropped hard, and cold sweat soaked through me.
"Don't kill me, I'll pay you! Whatever Lily's giving you, I'll give you double. No, ten times that!"
Randolph wasn't coming to save me. I only had myself.
The air in the cabin froze for an instant. Then he raised an eyebrow, spun the dagger once in his palm, the cold light flashing.
"Can money compare to family?"
"Five million!" It burst out of me. I forced the fear down and shouted, "No, two million more—do one thing for me, and I'll transfer it right now!"
His pupils shrank.
Seven million. Enough for him to squander for the rest of his life. Whatever scraps Lily threw him for doing her dirty work, what was that worth?
The few seconds of waiting felt like half a lifetime.
"Deal." He spoke again, eyes narrowing. "Tell me. What do you want me to do?"
The shaking ran through my whole body, harder now, not from fear but from the wave of exhaustion that crashed over me once I knew I'd won.
I slid my wedding ring off and handed it to him.
"Find a body about my size. Stage 'my' death."
He took the ring. "A pleasure doing business, Ms. Hughes."
I pulled out my phone and tapped at it like a woman possessed. In the dark of the car came the chime of a transfer landing.
Then I was pushed out of the car. The night thickened, the road ahead like a black beast crouched to devour the universe.
But I didn't dare stop. One hand cradling my belly, I ran with everything I had and never looked back, until at last I flagged down a taxi.
"The airport."
I called the old man. He hurried to soothe me, telling me not to worry, that the private jet and the bodyguards were already arranged.
The city's neon streaked away behind me, the terminal lights swelling larger and larger in my sight. The breath went all the way out of me at last. I laid my palm over my belly and spoke softly.
"Baby, we're about to go and live a new life. Even without a father, you'll be the happiest little princess there is."
And Randolph—what you owe me won't end here.
