I lifted my gaze to the high, arched window of the healing chamber. The first sliver of dawn painted the sky a bruised purple. Today. The day of the Grand Healing Ceremony. The day I was meant to die. A chilling certainty settled deep in my bones.

My thin linen gown, usually white, was now mottled with dark stains. I hadn't realized how much blood I had lost, how much had seeped through the bandages during the night. The fabric clung to me, heavy and cold.

The heavy oak door creaked open. It was Maria, one of the housemaids, a kind woman who often slipped me extra food when Kane wasn't looking. Her eyes widened, her hand flying to her mouth when she saw my blood-soaked gown. Her face crumpled with pity and fear.

"Oh, Mrs. Middleton," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Your dress… it's almost red."

Before Maria could say another word, a small, frantic figure burst past her. It was Cora. My little girl, her face streaked with tears, rushed to me, burying her face in my hip.

"Mommy, Mommy!" she sobbed, clutching me tightly. "Please, let's go! Let's run away! I don't want to stay here anymore! I don't want Kane! He's always mean! I want you, Mommy!"

My heart tore. My brave little girl, her spirit unbroken by this darkness. She still fought. But I was so tired. So utterly, completely drained.

I held her close, stroking her hair. "My sweet girl," I whispered, my voice rough with emotion. "It's too late for me to run. I'm too weak."

"No! It's not too late!" Cora insisted, pulling back, her eyes shining with desperate hope. "We can go back to Serenity Peak! Judson will protect us! He'll make you better!"

A faint smile touched my lips. Judson. My mentor, my rock. He would. But I wouldn' t make it.

"Cora," I said, my voice firm despite the tremor in my hands. "Listen to Mommy. You have to be strong. You have to live. For both of us."

I had to contact Judson. He was the only one I could trust to protect her, to give her a future. I had to let him know, somehow, what was happening.

"And Cora," I continued, looking deep into her eyes, trying to imprint my words onto her young mind. "When you're older, I want you to watch him. Watch Kane. Watch what happens to him. He will get what he deserves. And I want you to remember that your mother was not weak. She fought."

Cora nodded, her small face serious. I knew she would remember. She was perceptive, intelligent. She would be my eyes, my witness. She would carry my legacy.

Kane wanted my life force? He would have it. But he would also face the consequences. And Cora, my beautiful, bright Cora, would be safe. I would ensure she received what was rightfully hers, even if it meant my final breath. My death would be a weapon, not just a sacrifice.

The guards came for me then, their faces grim. Maria averted her gaze, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. Cora clung to me, but they gently pried her away, promising her that Mommy was just going to help Francesca get better. She didn't believe them. I saw the defiance in her eyes.

They led me, not back to the healing chamber, but to the mansion's expansive ballroom, now transformed. A massive, circular altar, crudely constructed from raw timber and draped in dark cloths, dominated the center of the room. It looked less like a healing space and more like a pyre. And beneath it, piled high, were stacks of dry, brittle firewood.

My breath hitched. This wasn't just symbolic. This was terrifyingly literal.

Kane stood at the foot of the altar, his arm around Francesca. She looked radiant, glowing, far from a dying woman. Her hand was intertwined with his, their fingers locked together. They laughed, a bright, joyous sound that grated against the oppressive atmosphere of the room.

"Oh, Kane, are you sure this will work?" Francesca asked, her voice light, playful. "I don't want to die."

"You won't, my love," Kane murmured, pulling her closer, kissing her hair. "You'll be completely cured. You'll live a long, beautiful life with me. I promise. No more pain, no more suffering. You'll never have to worry about anything again."

Francesca smiled, a wide, satisfied grin. "And you, my darling. You'll make sure no one ever hurts me again, won't you? No one will ever come between us."

"Never," Kane vowed, his eyes blazing with a fierce, possessive intensity. "You are mine. And I will burn the world down before I let anyone take you from me."

He gestured to his men. "Place her on the altar."

Rough hands seized me, lifting my weakened body. I was laid on the cold, hard wood, my head resting on a block of stone. My eyes swept across the faces in the room. Kane, Francesca, Chloe, the doctors, the guards. All of them complicit. All of them watching.

As they bound my wrists and ankles with thick leather straps, my mind drifted back. Our wedding day. The vows we exchanged. "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."

Death. It was here. But the love, the cherishing, the health parts… they had long since withered. His vows were dust. He had broken every single one. And in this moment, looking at him, a flicker of something new ignited within me. Not hope, not love, but a cold, burning clarity. He would pay. One way or another, Kane House would pay.

A guard, with a smirk on his face, knelt and put a torch to the firewood beneath the altar. The dry timber crackled, then caught, sending tendrils of smoke curling upwards. The heat, faint at first, began to intensify. My heart hammered against my ribs, but a strange calm settled over me. This was it.

"Elaina!" Kane's voice cut through the rising heat. "Begin the chanting! The ancient incantations! Now!"

His voice was impatient, almost bored. He just wanted it over. He wanted Francesca, healthy and whole. He wanted his fantasy.

"Remember, my love," he called out, his voice carrying over the crackling flames. "Just a little longer. And then, we'll be together again. You'll be mine again. Forever."

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped my lips. Mine again? My spirit, long since broken, now found a final, defiant strength. Never. I would never be his again. Not even in death.

My throat was parched, my voice barely a whisper. But I began to chant, not the ancient healing incantations Kane demanded, but the words my heart dictated. Words of farewell. Words of release. Words of righteous anger.

I regret every second I wasted loving you. We are over.

From now on, you and I are nothing but strangers, Kane House.

My own blood, drawn in countless rituals, stained the altar beneath me. I traced a delicate, painful symbol on the wood with my bleeding fingertip. Not a healing rune, but a sigil of memory. A promise.

The flames licked higher, hotter. Acrid smoke filled my lungs, making me cough, but I kept chanting, kept drawing strength from the fire, from my fury. The smoke thickened, blurring Kane's face, blurring Francesca's smug smile. They became indistinct shapes, fading into the inferno.

My body may burn, Kane, but my spirit will not be broken. My essence will not be yours to control.

I closed my eyes. My last wish. To be brought back to Serenity Peak. To Judson. To the place where I had truly belonged, before Kane' s darkness consumed me.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek cut through the crackling of the flames.

"MOMMY!"

My eyes snapped open. Cora. She had broken free from her captors, her small frame darting through the crowd, her face a mask of terror and desperation. She was running towards the altar, towards me, her tiny lungs screaming my name.

"Daddy, no! Stop it! Please, stop the fire!" Cora cried, her voice raw with agony. She reached Kane, clutching at his trousers. "Francesca isn't sick! She's lying! I heard her laughing! She told Chloe she was never sick!"

A ripple of unease went through the assembled crowd. Kane's face, already contorted with annoyance, twisted into a snarl. He roughly pushed Cora away.

"Cora, get back! This is not your place!" he bellowed. "She's delirious! Go back to your room!"

But Cora was relentless. She scrambled back to him, grabbing his arm again, her small fingers digging into his suit jacket. "Daddy, please! Mommy isn't chanting for healing! She's saying goodbye! She's telling you she hates you! She's leaving us!"

The flames roared, consuming the altar, the smoke billowing upwards, thick and suffocating. I could no longer see Kane, no longer see Cora. Just the orange and black maw of the fire.

Kane bent down, pulling Cora close, his face inches from hers. "What did you say?" he hissed, his voice dangerously low. "What nonsense are you spouting? Your mother is doing a sacred healing ritual. If you continue to curse Francesca, I will lock you away for good. Do you understand?"

His blind faith in Francesca, his utter denial of my suffering, of Cora's truth, was absolute. He was a monster, consumed by his own delusion.

Cora, however, was past fear. She looked up at him, her eyes fierce and determined. "You killed Mommy!" she shrieked, her voice cracking. "You killed her for a liar! I hate you, Daddy! I hate you!"

And then, with a primal scream of despair, she twisted free from his grasp and tried to throw herself into the roaring flames. Towards me.