Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

Chapter 502

By now, the house was nothing but a hollowed-out skeleton, charred and broken.

After the firefighters finished, the garden was a muddy swamp, waterlogged and ruined.

Sooty puddles oozed across the scorched earth-everything, in that instant, was lost.

Orson spoke carefully: "Ms. Lloyd set up a candle timer in the kitchen. By the time anyone noticed, it was already too late."

Rupert stood stone-faced in front of what was left of the house, letting the bitter wind tangle his hair and sting his eyes.

Through the thick haze of smoke, he could almost make out two shadows under the blackened beams, one tall, one small.

He reached out, desperate to grab them, but Sylvia's voice echoed in his mind.

"Rupert, I hate you."

"The day I moved in, I set this place to burn."

And Sylvia had done it.

She burned away every last thing in that house.

Even those fleeting days of happiness.

Suddenly, Rupert thought of something. Without a second's hesitation, he turned and dashed through the mud-churned garden, heading for the veggie patch.

The soil, pounded by fire hoses, had been stripped bare, exposing the seeds they'd planted just days before.

Rupert crouched down, scooping up a handful of earth, searching for any sign of life.

He crushed a seed between his fingers-it was rotten through.

knuckles white as he

Spring would never come.

even leave him

did hate him, enough to destroy everything-and

now she'd forgotten it

bright line of blood blooming

had soaked through his bandages,

"Mr. Rupert!"

...

night sky,

was dim and silent. The only light came from the window, illuminating the silhouette of

around his waist, tall and proud, but

the gloom, smoke curling around his pale face. His eyes reflected nothing

crushed it into an ashtray

even notice, just

that moment, the

thick cloud of smoke. He marched over and snatched the cigarette

you even care about your

pulling out another cigarette. He

knocked and

the specialists from Boston are ready. First flight

"Okay."

dropped to the lighter in his hand,

and smacked the lighter away. "What the

cigarette between his fingers, replied

around the medical

to kill herself? Are you really that

smart, Rupert. Haven't you seen how