###Chapter 8
After hanging up the phone, I took a taxi home and quickly packed my luggage. As for the things Cedric gave me, I didn't want any of them.
Then, I waited quietly for the day of the party—the very moment of my departure.
I put on a black dress, which shocked the maid when she saw me. "Madam, today is your wedding anniversary party with Mr. Larkin. Isn't this dress a bit inappropriate?"
I just replied nonchalantly, "Should I wear extravagant clothes to 'mourn' my child when her first week of passing hasn't even ended?"
The maid's eyes instantly reddened. "Madam, please accept my condolences."
I handed her a USB drive and instructed, "Once the party begins, play this. It contains memories of Cedric and me being 'deeply in love.'"
"Yes, Madam, I will make sure it's done," she said, carefully tucking the drive away before heading out.
The back garden was dazzling with lights. Sandra, arm in arm with Cedric, dressed in matching silver outfits, greeted the guests with a beaming smile. It was as if she were the true hostess.
Seeing me dressed in all black, Cedric frowned and warned me impatiently, "Tonight is very important. If you want to keep your status as Mrs. Larkin, you'd better behave."
My seventy-year-old foster mother was also there. She scanned me with an arrogant gaze and remarked, "Still such a low-class thing, even after all these decades."
Before I could answer, Sandra offered a polite smile.
"Don't take it to heart," she said softly. "Macie just feels that I stole Cedric away after I came back. Ultimately, it's all my fault."
Her generosity only deepened his sympathy for her and Cedric's disgust toward me.
"You're the one who did something wrong," he said coldly, staring at me. "You can't blame anyone else."
Yes, I was wrong.
Wrong for being blind and foolish, for trusting false affection and for not handing over the empty title of "Mrs. Larkin" sooner.
I slightly twitched the corner of my mouth and walked silently to the corner.
Cedric stared at my retreating figure, suddenly realizing that I had lost a lot of weight in just a few days. The silhouette before him seemed to merge with the memory of the first time he had seen me, lonely as a ghost at the Lancasters' residence years ago, making his heart twitch inexplicably.
I sat alone in the corner, waiting for the party to officially begin and counting down until Frank's arrival.
Suddenly, a terrified scream from Sandra echoed from the pool area. "No! Who are you? Did my sister send you? Cedric, help!"
Cedric, who was greeting guests, spun around to see her being dragged away by two men. The dress over her chest had been torn to shreds, exposing a large area of skin.
The man's eyes widened in fury and he rushed over, punching the two men to the ground several times.
The bodyguards quickly secured the scene. Meanwhile, the two men collapsed to the ground, pointing at me in the corner. "It's Madam Macie. She paid us to ruin this lady at the party!"
I backed away, knowing something was wrong. This must be another of Sandra's schemes.
Cedric's gaze shot toward me as if he wanted to swallow me alive. "Seize her!"
Not long after, I was bound hand and foot by the bodyguards and thrown into the dark, damp warehouse.
The door opened again and Cedric appeared, protecting the tearful Sandra, followed by several burly men. When I saw those faces that had haunted my nightmares, my blood froze and I trembled uncontrollably.
Right then, my wicked sister secretly flashed a malicious smile.
I shook my head frantically with tears in my eyes. "Cedric, it wasn't me ... it really wasn't me! Please, don't do this!"
But the coldness in Cedric's eyes just deepened. "This is just giving you a taste of your own medicine."
After saying that, he stopped looking at me and led Sandra out the door.
In the darkness that isolated me from everything, those filthy laughs drew closer. "You're getting old, but I didn't expect you to still have such charm."
"Get away, you jerks!" I screamed.
Unfortunately, my arms were pinned down by hands like iron claws and my desperate struggles were in vain.
At that moment, a loud crash shattered the window glass. Several tall, swift figures burst through and subdued the men in an instant.
It was Frank! He had finally arrived.
That man strode over and pulled me, trembling like a leaf, to my feet. "Am I too late?"
My face was deathly pale and I collapsed into his arms, utterly exhausted. "No, you're just in time."
He took off his coat to wrap around me, a beastly fire burning in his eyes. "Don't worry, I will make them regret this for the rest of their lives."
As we left the warehouse, Frank placed a lit torch into my hand.
Without any hesitation, I raised my arm and threw it behind me. Flames instantly surged upward, devouring screams and the past.
"Let's go," I said softly, never turning back.
By the time Cedric discovered the warehouse was on fire, the woman he had deceived for half his life had already "died" in the blaze. And he would soon learn exactly what was rising from the ashes.
