Selena's will remained weak. Witnessing Tiffany break Tiffany's own leg, Selena's heart wavered, and the image haunted her.

Sandra's face contorted with hatred. "Didn't we agree on the plan, Sandra?" she seethed. Sandra had explicitly stated her intention to burn Eric alive after tying him up—revenge was her only priority. But Selena, in Sandra's view, had betrayed her again.

Sandra's eyes burned red. Sighting a car, her heart leaped. Recognizing the license plate, she wondered if Kenneth was inside. Thoughts raced through her mind.

Meanwhile, in the thatched hut, Selena's grip loosened. As she reached for a black card near the door, a scream pierced the air.

"Mom, don't be stupid! Let go of Eric!"

It was Sandra, her voice laced with sobs and anger at Selena's incompetence and their shared misfortune. Grief and fear warred within her. "Mom, don't be stupid! Let go of Eric and turn yourself in!"

Sandra's shout jolted Selena back to reality. She tightened her grip on the dagger she'd almost dropped, abandoning the black card. Sandra's words were a stark reminder: even without killing Eric, kidnapping charges guaranteed imprisonment, or worse, execution. What was the point of the money then?

Selena's eyes flashed with ferocity. Tiffany's gaze remained cold. Had Sandra not intervened, Selena would have released Eric long ago.

Tiffany remained silent, her phone buzzing twice. A text message appeared: "982% 14:12 Sat, Oct 12." Chapter 155, two minutes remaining. It was Jeremy's signal—he would arrive in two minutes.

However, Sandra knelt, pleading, "Mom, don't do anything stupid. Let go of Eric! I beg you!" Tears streamed down her face. Tiffany sneered silently. Sandra's timely appearance suggested complicity, perhaps even masterminding the entire plot. Tiffany mused, "One minute left."

Tiffany sighed and said, "Selena, let bygones be bygones. Sandra wants you to be well. You're no longer a wanted criminal; she'd be happy for you." This was a calculated manipulation to sow discord. Tiffany knew Sandra was actually trying to stop Selena, wanting her death.

Selena wavered at Tiffany’s words. Indeed, since Selena had orchestrated Sandra's affair with Jordan, their mother-daughter bond had fractured. Their alliance was opportunistic, easily severed.

Selena was lost in thought. A minute passed. Jeremy, using the terrain to his advantage, approached the hut. Just as he was about to strike, Sandra sensed something and burst in, screaming, "If you want to kill Eric, you'll have to kill me, too!"

Suddenly, sparks erupted. A wave of intense heat engulfed the hut, igniting a raging fire.

"Eric!" Tiffany cried. Uncertain of Jeremy's success, she tried to rush into the flames, but Kenneth arrived first. Tiffany watched, stunned, as Kenneth plunged into the fire, simply instructing her, "Stay here and don't move."

[Chapter 153]

Tiffany, struggling to rise, felt her phone vibrate three times—Jeremy's signal that he and Eric were safe. Relieved, she slumped to the ground.

Inside the burning hut, Sandra screamed, using Selena as a stepping stone to escape. But Kenneth's arrival changed everything. Sandra fell, her face burning. Selena, seeing her daughter's plight, instinctively reached out to help. In that instant, a knife plunged into Selena's heart.

Amidst the flames, Selena gazed at Sandra. "I hate you. I've never had a mother like you," Sandra declared. Selena felt a deeper pain than the fire, a wound inflicted by her daughter's words.

Selena collapsed. Kenneth rushed in, cradling the panicked Sandra. They escaped the fire; Selena did not.

Selena remained conscious, her thoughts drifting back to Sandra's birth. The happy family, the promises of a bright futurewhen had it all gone wrong? Their insatiable greed, their willingness to kill for wealth—it had consumed them all. Selena understood too late, her eyes slowly closing as the flames consumed her.

The website reference has been removed as it is irrelevant to the text cleanup. The inconsistent chapter numbering has also been noted but not fixed as it suggests an issue with the source material rather than the writing itself.