Page 116 of Burning Your Lies

A low grumble passes through his lips. Maybe it’s a plea. Maybe it’s an apology. But it is all too late.

“Welcometo the final table, Xavier. Two are seated, but only one will leave.”

I pour the remaining gasoline onto the table. I pick out the card I want and hold it up in front of him. Standing up, I light a match and bring it to the ace of diamonds. I watch, mesmerised, as the fire burns the card to ashes. Just before it could burn all the way through, I toss it onto the flammable table and jump back as the fire roars.

The orange light reflects in Xavier’s eyes. He stays immobilised as the flames spread across the table.

“I lied before,” I state. “Savannah Hayes hated you enough to die for the greater cause. And she will die in here with you. The police will find traces of my DNA from the hair I will scatter. They will see me entering but never leaving. They will find my jumper and maybe a few fingerprints if there’s anything left for them to pull it from. Maybe they’ll think you got rid of my body. They’ll probably look for my body, but they will never find it. It doesn’t matter though; your victim’s bodies have never been found.”

Manoeuvring around the flame, I stop by Xavier one last time. I pull his chair out before pushing him onto the floor. I drag him through the flames to the hallway. I stand back and watch the flames get closer to him.

He looks up at me and it’s like I can almost hear his scream. His silent pleas fill the space before the flames do.

I admire my wedding rings before tossing them into the foyer and hear them clatter, ready to be engulfed by the fire. I crouch down to his level and smile at him. “I won,” I whisper. “The queen may have been exiled, but she will reign with a new name, in a kingdom so far away nobody will recognise her.” I stand up and take a moment to bask in my winning. “The best hand won.” Opening the door, I look at Xavier one last time. “Game fucking over.”

51

Savannah

The air is stillclammy despite the sun disappearing over the horizon. “Pen! Let’s go, mummy.”

She abandons the sea, and her little legs carry her right into my arms. “I’m hungry.”

I hold her hand in mine as we walk back to our home. I press my finger against the handle and wait for my fingerprint to register. When it does, the door unlocks, and we are embraced by the warm scent of dinner. “We’re home!”

“Perfect timing,” Huxley smiles. “Dinner is just about to be served.”

Walking in step with Elise, I join him in the kitchen. “Smells delicious.”

He ignores me, instead stooping to her level. “I fixed your dollhouse.”

Forgetting all about her hunger, she skips away to her play room to inspect her reformed toy.

I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek against his back. “Any updates?”

“They have officially ruled it as a murder-suicide. Francesca’s story corroborated the evidence we planted. Nobody is looking for you.”

“What about you?”

“Rowan held up his end of the bargain. They found a mutilated body that resembles me. It matches the fingerprints I doctored in the system. My dad…” He lets out a deep breath. “He claimed the body.” His shoulders deflate and he stops moving.

I purse my lips. “Hux…”

There’s a coldness in his voice. “I’m not Hux. Rhys Knight – that is who I am now.”

I release him from my hold. I lean against the counter and watch his blank expression as he goes back to the task at hand. “What if we told them the truth? They would never—”

“Never what, Vanessa? Huxley Ray died. Their eldest son is dead. Hadley is an only child now. The only way Rhys, Vanessa, and Penelope survive is by letting everyone believe that.” He pauses for a moment. When he speaks again, it’s in his usual indifferent tone. “They will cry for some time and then they will get over it.”

Taking his hand in mine, I give it a squeeze. “What about you? You love them.”

His hazel eyes meet mine. “And I love you. This is our chance to be free from the past and our sins. I knew what I was giving up when we devised this plan.”

“What if something happens to them? Don’t you want to…” I shake my head, unable to verbalise my thoughts and worries.

Rejection takes a hold of him and his arms tense. “Do you not want this life anymore?”

“Of course I do! I just don’t want you to have regrets. You didn’t have to give up your life. I would have built a life with Elise.”

---