My gaze followed him.
A girl in a white dress stood with her back to me, chatting and laughing with a group of friends.
As if sensing eyes on her, she turned.
Our gazes locked.
My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a gasp.
*How?*
How could there be someone in this world who looked exactly like me?
She froze for a split second.
Her eyes raked over me. Up. Down.
Then her lips curled into a disdainful, icy smile.
She turned her back on me and walked away.
I hitched up the hem of my gown and ran after her.
"Wait! Please, wait a moment!"
The girl quickened her pace.
"Wait—*ah!*"
My heel slipped. My knees slammed into the floor.
I tried to scramble up, but the floor lurched beneath me.
I hadn't slipped.
The building was shaking.
"Why is there a timer here?!" someone screamed.
"Oh god! It's a bomb!"
Panic erupted around me, but I couldn't focus on the screams. The girl was already heading up the stairs.
"Wait!"
I stumbled across the trembling floor, desperate to catch her.
A sickening *creak* echoed from the ceiling.
"Stop running! Look out!"
"The chandelier! It's falling!"
My eyes stayed locked on the girl's retreating figure. "Wait! I just have two questions!"
"Nora!"
A massive force slammed into me from the side.
Brandon tackled me, his arms wrapping around my body as we rolled across the fracturing granite.
*CRASH!*
The crystal chandelier shattered exactly where I'd been standing a second ago, smashing a crater into the floor.
Before I could speak, a violent tremor tore through the building.
I screamed.
Immediately, I was engulfed in a solid, protective embrace.
Brandon shielded me with his body.
Just like before.
When the tremors subsided, he dragged me out of the building and onto the pavement. He collapsed over me, kneeling, pinning me to the ground.
Warm blood from his forehead dripped onto my cheek, mixing with the ash in the air.
His teeth clenched. His face twisted with fury.
"Are you *crazy?*"
For a moment, I was back in the car wreck.
Him hovering over me. Blocking the danger. Refusing to let our bodies touch more than necessary.
"Bran—"
"Fire! Hurry, put out the fire! There are people still inside!"
The screams of the survivors shattered the moment.
Brandon went rigid.
Ignoring his injuries, he staggered to his feet.
His eyes darted frantically across the crowd of evacuees, scanning, searching.
Panic seized him. His eyes turned bloodshot.
He spun around and sprinted back toward the burning building.
"Brandon!"
I tried to chase him, but security guards grabbed my arms, holding me back.
Brandon's silhouette disappeared into the wall of smoke and fire.
"Brandon!!" I screamed.
My legs gave out.
The roar of the flames and the cracking of timber threatened to swallow my sanity.
"Miss, you can't go in!" The guard's grip tightened. "We'll stop Mr. Mason. The building is sealed off!"
"Sealed off..."
Tears streamed down my face. "Then... can the people inside still get out?"
"In this situation..." The guard grimaced. "Those who didn't make it out... they're likely gone."
My knees buckled completely. The guard had to hold me upright.
That meant... that girl...
"Nora Thomas!"
The voice cut through the chaos.
My head snapped up.
Brandon Mason was walking toward me. Soot and blood smeared his face.
"Brandon! You—"
*Smack!*
The force of his hand whipped my head to the side.
The slap silenced the "Are you okay?" on the tip of my tongue.
"It was you, wasn't it?" He roared, his voice shaking with rage. "You followed me here on purpose! You set this up to kill her!"
In our five years of miserable marriage in the past life, he had never laid a hand on me.
Now, he looked ready to tear me apart, straining against the security guards struggling to restrain him.
I clutched my stinging cheek and stared at him.
He looked at me with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Like I was a stranger.
Like I was a monster.
