Jealousy Alpha's Regret novel Chapter 210

Jealousy Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 210

“Iris!” Sebastien’s voice came from the other side of the debris. “Are you alright?”

I coughed, waving away the dust. “I’m fine.”

There was a moment of silence, then the sound of movement. I turned to see Sebastien climbing over the fallen beam, his expensive shoes slipping on the charred wood. His face was smudged with soot, his eyes intense as he jumped down beside me.

He’s always been like this, I thought with a pang of something like nostalgia. Running toward danger instead of away from it.

We continued through the ruined hallway until we reached my father’s study. The door was still standing, but the lock had been warped by the heat. I reached for the handle instinctively.

“Shit!” I jerked my hand back as the metal seared my palm. The pain was sharp and immediate, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Don’t use your hands,” Sebastien said from behind me. “Kick it open.”

I nodded, taking a step back. Positioning myself, I delivered a sharp kick next to the lock. The door shuddered but held. I kicked again, harder this time, and the door swung open with a groan of protesting metal.

I dropped immediately into a crouch as a wave of heat and smoke billowed out. The room beyond was barely recognizable. The antique desk where my father had worked was reduced to charred remnants. Bookshelves had collapsed, their contents now nothing but ash. The portrait of my grandfather that had hung over the fireplace was gone, leaving only a darkened rectangle on the wall.

“This was Dad’s favorite room,” I whispered, a lump forming in my throat.

I scanned the wreckage, noting that the fire had been most intense here. This wasn’t random–the fire had started in this room. Someone had targeted my father’s study specifically.

My eyes landed on a metal safe in the corner, partially obscured by fallen debris. Relief washed over me. “It’s still there.”

The safe was made of a special alloy designed to withstand high temperatures. My father had shown it to me years ago, telling me it contained something important he was saving for me. “When you’re ready,” he’d said, “you’ll find a way to open it.”

I moved carefully across the room, stepping over fallen beams and shattered glass. The metal box was hot to the touch, but not searing like the doorknob had been. I ran my fingers over its surface, searching for damage, but found none.

“What is that?” Sebastien asked, coming to stand beside me,

“Something my father left for me.” I didn’t elaborate,

Sebastien seemed to understand. Without a word, he shrugged off his suit jacket and wrapped it around the box. “Let me carry it.”

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10:56 Tue, Apr 28

Chapter 210

I hesitated, then nodded. The box was heavy, and we still had to navigate our way out of the unstable building. “Thanks.”

He lifted the wrapped box carefully. “Ready to go?”

I took one last look around the ruined study, trying to commit to memory what little remained of my father’s sanctuary. “Yes.”

As we stepped back into the hallway, a deep rumbling sound came from somewhere beneath us. Sebastien froze, his head tilting as he

listened. “That’s not good.”

I smelled it before I saw it–fresh smoke, sharper and more immediate than the lingering remnants from earlier. “The fire’s started again,” I said, my voice tight. “And it’s coming from downstairs.”

Sebastien cursed under his breath. “We need to move. Now.”

We hurried back the way we’d come, but the smoke

Was thicker, rising up from the floor below. Each breath became more difficult than

desperate to escape the suffocating air.

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