The Day Our Promise Breaks

Night had fallen. Under cover of darkness, Dahlia drove a car belonging to one of the male orderlies from the psychiatric hospital to Maple Garden.

She parked across from the building where Evelyn lived, in one of the ground- level parking spots.

Sitting in the car, she watched as Evelyn and Josephine went upstairs, her eyes narrowing with poisonous intent as she fixed her gaze on the windows of their floor.

She waited, watching, until the lights finally went out.

Another hour passed. Only when she was certain they were asleep did Dahlia quietly open the trunk.

She dragged out a massive metal gas can, nearly half as heavy as she was.

The world was silent.

Struggling under the weight, Dahlia crept upstairs, picked the lock to Evelyn's apartment, and slipped inside.

Moving with chilling precision, she unscrewed the cap of the gas can. The sharp tang of gasoline quickly filled the air as the clear liquid gushed onto the hardwood floor.

When the living room was soaked, she carried what remained-about a third of the can-to the master and second bedroom doors, dousing each threshold. Finally, she walked to the front door, pulled a lighter from her pocket, and in the flickering flame, her face twisted into a vicious, hateful smile.

She flicked the lighter and tossed it toward the master bedroom.

The gasoline caught fire instantly.

As flames erupted, Dahlia's voice, full of venom and curses, rang out: "Evelyn, go to hell!"

If she had to live in agony, then Evelyn had no right to happiness. Evelyn needed to die-and Charles, too, needed to know what it meant to live in torment.

Slamming the door shut, Dahlia poured the rest of the gasoline across it, cutting off any hope of escape for Evelyn and her daughter.

Within moments, panicked screams echoed from inside.

"Mom!" Evelyn's frantic cry was followed by violent coughing.

The gasoline Dahlia had poured was overwhelming-thick, black smoke rolled through the apartment.

Woken by the choking fumes, Evelyn's first thought was for Josephine and she tried to reach the master bedroom. But most of the room was already engulfed in flames. Trapped in a corner, she couldn't even reach the door.

There was no water. There was no way through the fire.

Her phone was charging in the living room-she couldn't even call for help.

The smoke thickened, the blaze roared louder.

When she tried to shout for help, every breath only brought more searing smoke into her lungs.

Tears and snot streamed down her face as she coughed uncontrollably, pressing her sleeve over her nose and mouth in a desperate attempt to breathe.

She had no idea how her mother was faring in the other room, no dea if rescue was on the way. All she could feel was the agonizing burn in her throat, the growing difficulty of breathing, the searing pain on her skin.

Her knees buckled. She collapsed onto the floor, her consciousness slipping away.

Charles had gotten into the habit of waiting outside Evelyn's building after work every day.

But, after Mrs. Sue's warning, he didn't want to annoy them, so he only drove over late at night when the neighborhood was quiet.

Tonight, just as he arrived, he saw a familiar silhouette slip out of Evelyn's building.

Scarves wrapped tight, a baseball cap pulled low, the figure kept her head down, moving with furtive unease.

They'd spent a decade together-Charles recognized Dahlia instantly.

Seeing Dahlia, who should have been in the psychiatric hospital, leaving Evelyn's building, a chilkran down his spine. A sense of dread overwhelmed him.

He looked up at Evelyn's floor on instinct.

From the window, he saw flames—bright, wild, and consuming.

Charles's face turned ashen.

As Dahlia tried to flee, Charles didn't hesitate—he slammed his foot on the gasnoveldrama

and rammed the car straight at her.

Caught off guard, Dahlia was thrown violently to the ground.

Charles leapt out of the car, ignoring the writhing, injured Dahlia, dialing 911 as he sprinted toward the blazing building.

The thought of Eve and Ms.

Josephine trapped inside tightened his chest with terror, but he forced himself to stay calm as he plunged into the fire.