Ashes of Beauty, Her Fiancé Lit the Fire

Chapter 10

All these years, everyone had believed her lies without question, branding me as vain and selfish. It was taken for granted that they would favor Coco. The moment I showed any emotion, I was labeled cruel and narrow-minded, subjected to endless emotional abuse.

On top of that, Coco's depression had been nothing but a façade.

Behind closed doors, she was a bully, promiscuous, and had trafficked over a dozen children and young women.

The truth, the things I had tried to explain time and again, but was met with cold stares, now hit them like bullets after all these years.

Mom, sobbing uncontrollably, collapsed to her knees, "My daughter, I was wrong. I'm so sorry..."

Jack, shaking, carefully wiped the diamond ring clean with his sleeve, then slipped it into his pocket. He instructed his assistant to take Mom home before dialing Coco's number.

The next day, news of Coco's horrific death in the suburbs dominated the headlines.

When the police arrived, all that remained was a charred, unrecognizable body.

Forensic investigators confirmed that before her death, Coco had been doused with gasoline, burned to the point of almost dying, only for the flames to be extinguished. Then, the process was repeated over and over again, until she was finally burned to death.

Rather than being burned to death, it was more accurate to say she had been tortured to death.

Meanwhile, as several nurses discussed the news, I lay on the operating table, undergoing my sixth skin graft surgery.

The professor, standing nearby with a look of concern in his eyes, asked, "Are you scared?"

I shook my head. After surviving two deadly fires, nothing could scare me anymore.

The professor smiled proudly, "Lily, you're my best student. I'm looking forward to seeing your incredible performance at the international supermodel competition in six months."

Six months later, thanks to the doctors' care and my own resilience, I stood on the supermodel runway, a living testament to my strength.

I didn't disappoint the professor. When I held the championship trophy on that award stage, it felt as if the entire world was shining for me.

Faced with endless applause and bouquets of flowers, I couldn't hold back my tears of joy.

Just as I thought Jack and I would remain strangers forever, he appeared once again.

I had just finished saying goodbye to the last competitor when I saw him standing in the night, cold wind swirling around him.

He was unshaven, disheveled, and his nervous eyes locked on mine. A forced smile spread across his face.

"Lily, I've come to take you home."

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the diamond ring I had intentionally thrown into the fire.

"Look, I still have the ring. Let's go back and get married again. This time, I'll give you the grandest wedding, just like you've always wanted, by the seaside."

His eyes glimmered with deep affection, as if even he believed the words he was saying.

But I couldn't stop the sarcastic laugh that escaped my lips. "If you had any conscience left, you wouldn't even think about asking me to marry you again."

"Do you know how many skin graft surgeries I've had? How many times I've been cut open?"

"Eighteen times. Every time a blade scraped my skin, I told myself this was all because of you."

Jack was broken. Tears of regret fell from his eyes as he whispered, "Lily, I deserve to die a thousand deaths. I don't expect your forgiveness. I only beg you to give me one chance to make things right, please."

I met his gaze, calm and firm. "The best thing you can do to make amends is leave my world. Never show your face to me again."

After a long silence, Jack finally slumped, a bitter, self-mocking smile spreading across his face. "You're right. I'm not worthy to stand by your side anymore. I won't bother you again."

Two weeks after Jack disappeared from my life, I received news from home.

Mom had taken her own life, overdosing on pills. When they found her, she was holding a photo of me as a child.

I sent a generous sum to cover her funeral expenses, ensuring she would be cared for in her final moments.

Jack, in the end, confessed to his crimes, the fire he set that nearly killed me, and his role in Coco's brutal death.

He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

Two years later, I received a letter, accompanied by a massive inheritance from him. Without even glancing at it, I ripped up the letter and tossed it in the trash.

Instead, I donated the entire inheritance to the International Disability Charity Association.

In the years that followed, I was reborn. My life, once dark and suffocating, now shone as brilliantly as the stars and moon.