They Wanted Her Gone, Now They Kneel by Evelyn Marlowe novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Cutting Ties And Calling Off The Engagement

When Scarlett Joyner was trapped between life and death in a burning building, her fiancé—Connor Jude—was busy celebrating another woman’s birthday.
Smoke swallowed the stairwell. Heat clawed down her throat, searing her lungs with every breath. The fire alarm shrieked like something dying. With trembling fingers, she dialed Connor’s number—the one person she still believed would come for her.
He answered.
Not with panic.
Not with concern.
With irritation.
“Are you out of your mind?” he snapped. “Why do you have to pull this kind of stunt today? The more you keep rejecting Rebecca, the more you’re pushing me away!”
Scarlett tried to speak. Smoke tore at her vocal cords, leaving her choking on ash.
He didn’t wait.
“Fine. I already bought you a gift. Stop acting up and come to Rebecca’s birthday party right now. Don’t embarrass me.”
The call went dead.
What Connor never knew—
was that the one who had set the fire, the one who wanted Scarlett burned alive—
was his precious Rebecca.
A violent crash exploded beside her. Glass shattered, raining down like blades, cutting short every explanation Scarlett never got to give.
And in that instant, something inside her finally snapped.
No tears.
No screaming.
No begging.
With the firefighters’ help, Scarlett walked out of the inferno on her own two feet.
Outside, sirens wailed through the night. Thick black smoke coiled into the sky, blotting out the stars. She borrowed a phone. Her hands were steady now—unnervingly calm—as she dialed a number she hadn’t called in years.
“Grandma,” she said quietly. “I’ve decided. I’m coming back to Jandale. I’ll acknowledge my real family at your birthday banquet. Fifteen days from now.”
The line went silent—then the voice on the other end burst with emotion.
“Fifteen days?” the woman asked, suddenly anxious. “Why wait? Is it because of those adoptive brothers of yours? Or your fiancé?”
Scarlett lifted her gaze to the smoke-choked sky.
She had stayed away from Jandale all these years out of gratitude—repaying the Joyner family for raising her.
But tonight, that one-sided loyalty had burned to ashes.
“Why not come back today?” her grandmother pressed. “I’ll open the gates of Jandale for you. I’ll elevate the Joyners and the Judes—give them everything they’ve ever wanted.”
Scarlett smiled faintly and shook her head.
“No need. I’ll stay fifteen more days to wrap things up.” Her voice was calm. Final. “And as for the Joyner and Jude families—I want nothing to do with them ever again.”
Three hours later, outside Diamond Hall at the Globerra Hotel, Scarlett’s back throbbed with pain.
The bleeding had stopped. The burns were roughly treated. Antiseptic clung to her clothes, sharp and bitter in her nose.
She hadn’t had time to change.
Still wearing a knee-length white dress soaked through with blood, Scarlett lifted her leg and kicked the banquet hall doors open.
The laughter inside died instantly.
Music cut off. Conversations froze.
Every head turned.
And then they saw her eyes.
Wild. Hollow. Desperate.
A shudder rippled through the room.
The oversized coat hanging off her shoulders couldn’t hide the bloodstained skirt beneath. Her calves were blistered and slashed, wounds barely closed. She walked forward, step by step.
Fresh blood seeped through the bandages.
It was unbearable to watch.
Connor’s face drained of color. Pain and alarm flashed across his features. He took a step toward her—almost running—
Until Rebecca Joyner’s voice cut cleanly through the silence.
“Scarlett,” Rebecca said softly, her wounded innocence flawless. “If you were upset, you could’ve told me. I wouldn’t have held a birthday party. But why didn’t you say anything earlier? Why come now—just to humiliate me?”
Her fingers tightened around Connor’s arm.
He leaned toward her instinctively.
The concern in his eyes vanished, replaced by irritation.
Scarlett had been suspicious of him and Rebecca for months. He was tired of it. And today—of all days—Rebecca’s first birthday since being officially recognized by the Joyner family—Scarlett dared to lie about a fire and storm in like this.
Enough.
“Scully, what exactly are you trying to pull?” Connor snapped. “Don’t forget—if Rebecca hadn’t spoken up for you back then, you’d have been kicked out of the Joyner family a long time ago. You owe her.”
Scarlett stopped.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
Her lashes trembled as memories surged back.
Six years ago, the Joyners had mistaken her for their biological daughter. Because of the alliance between the Joyner and Jude families, Connor had naturally become her fiancé.
They met.
They dated.
They fell in love.
To outsiders, they were perfect.
Then, last year—just as they were preparing to announce their engagement—Connor found Rebecca and secretly arranged a DNA test.
She was the real heiress.
From that moment on, everything changed.
Her adoptive parents grew distant. Her brothers turned cold. Scarlett felt no jealousy. She gathered medicinal herbs from the mountains for Rebecca’s fragile body. She introduced her to her own mentor.
But after Stanley Joyner used family connections to force Rebecca into Scarlett’s research team, Rebecca plagiarized her report and submitted it for a major award.
When confronted, Rebecca only said, “I didn’t know Scarlett was researching the same topic.”
There was no proof.
Scarlett was furious. Powerless.
The whole Joyner family turned on her.
Denton, the eldest, said coldly, “Sure, you’ve won awards—but the school only respected the Joyner name.”
Eugene sneered, “Rebecca earned hers through hard work.” Don’t slander her out of jealousy.”
Stanley added flatly, “Without our resources, you’d have won nothing. You didn’t get any awards this year, did you? That says everything.”
Connor looked at her with disappointment. “Academic fraud is serious. Do you have evidence? If not, it’s slander. Scully—you’ve gone too far.”
She’d tried to leave the Joyner family more than once.
Each time, they dragged her back.
Especially Stanley—always sending gifts, offering warmth that felt just real enough.
She’d been an orphan her entire life.
She wanted a family too badly.
Just as Scarlett was still lost in thought, suddenly—
Her three brothers stepped forward, blocking her path.
Denton sneered. “You show up like this just to ruin the party? Where did you learn such pathetic tricks?”
“You stole six years from Rebecca,” Eugene said bluntly. “Now you want to ruin her birthday too?”
Stanley’s voice was low, threatening. “Go change your clothes. Apologize to Rebecca in front of everyone. If she forgives you, you can stay in the Joyner family.”
Even now—after she’d already decided to cut ties—her heart still ached so badly she could barely breathe.
Earlier that day, she’d gone out to buy Rebecca a birthday gift.
That was when she overheard them.
“That mistaken identity? No,” one brother said. “We only kept her because her kidney matched. If your condition hadn’t worsened, we would’ve done the transplant years ago.”
“Don’t worry,” another one said, “It’s just one kidney. She won’t die. We’ll compensate her—buy her a house or something.”
“Yeah, just schedule it after the birthday. I’ll tell her I’m doing a study. Put her under anesthesia. She won’t suspect a thing.”
Rebecca sounded hesitated.
Then agreed.
Scarlett had stood outside the door, frozen, plunging into an icy abyss.
The family warmth she clung to—
was nothing but a trap to harvest her kidney.
She hadn’t dared burst in.
She was powerless.
So she ran home. Cried until she had nothing left. Decided to leave.
The moment she opened her apartment door, someone struck her from behind.
As consciousness faded, she saw the thug accept a thick stack of cash—
from Rebecca.
That was why, trapped in the fire, she hadn’t called the Joyners.
Connor had been her last hope.
The memories slammed into her all at once.
Scarlett pressed a hand to her chest, trembling. Blood filled her mouth as she forced herself to breathe.
I’ll never want anything to do with the Joyner family again.
Never.
She inhaled slowly, steadying herself.
“As you wish,” she said quietly. “I’m here to tell you—I’m leaving the Joyner family.”
She didn’t notice Stanley’s clenched fists or his ragged breathing.
She brushed past him and walked straight to the stage.
Her white dress, soaked in blood, bloomed like a rose caught in a storm.
Her cold gaze swept over the stunned Connor and Rebecca.
She picked up a glass of wine.
A single tear fell—splashed into the red liquid.
“Today,” Scarlett said clearly, her voice carrying through the hall, “I ask everyone here to bear witness.”
“I am officially calling off my engagement to Connor Jude.”
Then she turned to Rebecca.
“And congratulations—to the true Joyner heiress. I am leaving the Joyner family of my own free will.”
“From this moment on,” she said softly, mercilessly, “our lives have nothing to do with each other.”