Chapter 231

Branded in the inferno, Abigail felt her consciousness slipping away. The floorboards beneath her feet groaned and cracked. The terror of being burned alive drained all the strength from her body.

“Abby!” Wyatt’s voice came from outside the door.

Her ears felt muffled, as if covered by a thick membrane, but she turned toward the door anyway. The security door was made of iron and hadn’t caught fire, but a bookcase just inside the entrance was engulfed in flames, blocking her only escape route.

“Abby! Someone save my Abby!” Wyatt’s frantic screams pierced through the roar of the fire.

Abigail stood frozen, her mind racing. Even if she called for help, she didn’t know anyone who could help her now.

A deafening crash shattered the moment as the thick glass windows exploded from the intense heat inside the room. Flames burst outward like hungry serpents, and the scorching air hit Abigail like a physical blow. Her skin burned and her hair curled from the heat as she covered her mouth, struggling to breathe through the smoke. Her eyes fixed on the door, her only escape route.

Just when she thought she was going to die, the door burst open with a violent kick. Wyatt rushed forward to enter, but the roaring flames at the doorway forced him back. “Get wet blankets! Now!” he shouted.

Gabriel and Bianca scrambled to help, draping soaked blankets over Wyatt’s shoulders.

Like Superman, Wyatt charged through the flames without hesitation. He reached Abigail, who had collapsed from smoke inhalation and the searing pain that wracked her entire body.

“Come on, Dad! Hurry!” Gabriel yelled from the doorway while grabbing water buckets from the servants. He and Bianca desperately threw water onto the warped, burning floorboards. Tears streamed down Bianca’s face as she watched.

Wyatt supported Abigail’s weight, coughing violently as he dragged her toward safety. Her body bore multiple burns, and each step was agony. Her lungs felt like they were being torn apart with every breath. They were almost at the door when the blazing bookcase made an ominous groaning sound.

Before Abigail could process what was happening, Wyatt shoved her forward with all his strength, pushing her through the doorway. A flaming wooden beam crashed down exactly where she had been standing, striking Wyatt instead. Abigail collapsed at the room’s entrance, watching in horror as the flaming wood pinned Wyatt beneath it.

“Dad!” Gabriel screamed through his tears, rushing forward recklessly to pull him free.

Bianca was frantic. “Get water! Now!” They threw bucket after bucket onto the flaming wood. Gabriel, Bianca, and the housekeeper coughed violently as thick smoke filled their lungs. When they finally dragged Wyatt out, he was barely conscious. His eyes searched for Abigail.

She couldn’t speak. The exposed skin on her face and body showed severe burns, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness.

By the time the fire department arrived, Gibson Villa was nearly destroyed. When Ralph returned from his wild night out, ready to face prison after one last hurrah, and Stephen finally showed up, Abigail and Wyatt were being loaded into ambulances.

“Where the hell were you?!” Gabriel’s voice cracked with desperation he’d never felt before. Rage took over as he kicked Stephen hard in the stomach. “You’re always out running wild, then come home just to fight with your mother. You keep calling out for Abby—well, she almost burned to death in her room tonight! Where were you?”

Stephen collapsed on the ground without a word.

“That backstabbing Daniella set the fire in the middle of the night, trying to burn Abigail alive, then ran off like a coward. Get up and find her!” Gabriel had no time for grief—the Gibson family was falling apart at the seams. The Gibson family’s fifty-million-dollar mansion had crumbled to nothing.

Bianca stood there, covered in ash and soot. “I’m going to the hospital.” When they wheeled Abigail out, Bianca saw the burns covering her body. The sight left her with feelings she couldn’t name. She had never imagined Daniella could have done this.

Stephen struggled to his feet and caught sight of Ralph nearby. Tears streamed down his face as he stood there like a lost puppy. He’d been ready to go to prison—why did this have to happen to the Gibson family now?

“I’ll help your family one last time,” Ralph said. Despite his hardened heart, he could see the Gibsons were on the verge of total collapse. Daniella had not only landed them with prison sentences but now had nearly destroyed the entire family. This was what came of the Gibsons’ enabling. Abigail didn’t deserve any of it.

When Abigail woke up, the pain was gone. Her face and body were wrapped in gauze bandages. Bianca’s face lit up the moment she saw her daughter’s eyes open. “Abby, you’re finally awake! Are you hungry? I’ll go get you something to eat.”

“Grandpa…” Abigail’s voice came out as a painful rasp, her throat burning with each word. At the mention of Wyatt, tears suddenly spilled from Bianca’s eyes.

Chapter 232