My Ex Husband The Alpha His Brother The Rogue novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Chapter 88

-Laila

:

My lungs burn as I hurriedly pick Liam up into my arms and make for the door.

Jammed…

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The knob doesn’t budge no matter how hard I turn. The metal burns into my palm and I recoil with a pained

hiss.

Liam shifts restlessly in my arms, and panic claws through me. I hurry to the bathroom, tugging at the door. But once again, it doesn’t budge.

My eyes scan the room frantically, settling on a clean cloth. I grab it, dousing it with water from the jug on the table, whilst balancing Liam in one hand.

When the cloth is damp enough, I carefully place Liam down on the bed and secure it around his nose and lips.

His uneasy breaths settle by a measure. I quickly grab a chair and run for the door, slamming the chair into the knob repeatedly.

Sweat drips down my forehead, my muscles ache and my palm is red and raw from where I was burned, but I don’t stop.

Not even when the sharp edge of the chair cuts deeply into my palm, blood dripping down to the wooden floorboard.

The smoke is thick in the room already, it keeps seeping in from underneath the door.

A violent cough wracks through me, just as the door finally swings open and I hear the first roar of the flames.

I shrink back with an alarmed shriek.

I have to get us out.

I have to get my son out!

Forcing aside my hesitations, I hurriedly pick Liam up and dash out of the room.

The entire hallway is clouded with thick smoke. I lift a hand to cover my nose. I can barely see a few inches ahead of me, but I catch red embers from the left hallway and so I dash right.

The floorboards creak underneath my weight, like they’ll give way at any moment.

The stairs are on fire. Half the length of it.

I recoil, looking around desperately. But there’s no other way out.

16:48 Thu, Oct 16 M…

Chapter 88

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The path to the balcony doors is doused with flames. The wooden beams creak, threatening to fall.

How did it get this bad so quickly? How could I sleep through the start of the fire?

If it was an accident…why did it spread so quickly from the origin point? Where is Marie? Is she okay?

A thousand thoughts are running through my mind, the fear in my veins is raw and visceral.

Liam shifts in my arms again and I steel myself. Retreating backwards before making a dash for the railing.

I leap over it, clutching Liam closely as I land to the lower floor in an awkward crouch.

My ankles twist and I bite down on my lip to keep in the cry of pain.

“Laila!”

I struggle on my feet to see Marie running towards me from the hallway on the ground floor.

She’s clutching her arm and her eyes are wide with panic.

“Are you alright?!” Marie exclaims, “Oh my, are you hurt?!”

“What happened?” I ask, glancing around as flames crawl along the walls and beams.

Marie’s eyes water. She shakes her head quickly. “I don’t know. I made sure everything was intact before going to bed…”

“I thought I heard someone come in…but then…” She’s cut off as a beam crashes down to the ground far to the left, with a deafening thud.

The air is searing hot. I can barely breathe. Every inhale feels like I’m swallowing ash.

“You have to get out! Quickly!” Marie exclaims, “Come this way!”

I follow after her and she leads me to the back entrance of the lake house. Liam’s still fast asleep and I cradle him tightly.

The flames are spreading too quickly, our retreat is blocked as another beam crashes down.

“Quick! Through the kitchen!” Marie shouts. Her voice is nearly drowned by the crackling flames and the collapsing ceiling above. “There’s a side door!”

I follow blindly, my bare feet slipping over shattered glass and overturned furniture. Every step drags on far too long.

My ankle screams in pain, my feet are cut up by glass shards, my vision stings. I can barely see Marie ahead through the fog of heat.

“Almost there!” she yells back.

The kitchen is a nightmare. The curtains are already on fire, the smell of smoke and melted plastic is thick

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Chapter SS

enough to suffocate

Cabinets creak and crash. I can hear the groan of the ceiling above us.

Marie flings herself against the side door, coughing violently, her arm shielding her face. “It’s stuck!”

D

My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. “Move, move!” I cry, shifting Liam to one arm and grabbing the handle. I pull with all the strength I have left in me, my burned palm slipping. “Come on, come on… please!”

It doesn’t budge.

“Laila!” Marie gasps suddenly, her voice rising into a shriek. “Behind you!”

I spin around. A beam, massive and blazing with flames, breaks away from the ceiling.

I don’t think. I just run.

But Marie….Marie doesn’t move fast enough. She pushes me hard, shoving me and Liam out of the way just as the beam collapses.

The sound… God, the sound…it’s deafening.

Wood splinters and the fire bursts. When the smoke clears, Marie is buried underneath the burning timber.

“Marie!” My scream rips out my throat. I rush back toward her, but the heat is too much. The air bites at my skin. “Marie! No…no, no, no!”

I hear her cough faintly from beneath the beam. “Go, Laila! Get out!” Her voice is weak, strangled.

“I’m not leaving you!” I cry, dropping to my knees. I pull frantically at the beam, but it doesn’t budge, it’s fused to the floor, too heavy and too hot.

My hands blister instantly. “Please, Marie…please!”

Her voice trembles, barely audible over the flames. “Get Liam out. Don’t…don’t let him…”

The rest of her words are drowned.

“Marie!” I scream again, my voice cracking. “I’ll come back for you, I swear! I’ll…

The ceiling above us groans again. I look up just in time to see it start to give.

There’s no more time.

I clutch Liam tighter to my chest, stumbling backward. My head spins from the smoke inhalation, my lungs clawing for air,

The only window left is above the counter. I can barely think, barely move, but I stumble toward it. The glass is already cracked. I grab a metal pot and slam it through. Shards rain down, slicing my arm.

Liam stirs and whimpers in my hold. “Shhh, baby, I’ve got you,” I whisper, coughing, tears streaming down

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mm face

I was trees the pot or the stroke. Or both

I pull

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well up on the counter, every movement excruciating. The edges of the frame tear into my skin as I push Lim out first, his tiny body wrapped in my coat.

My hands are shaking uncontrollably.

“Go baby po…” My voice is hoarse. I don’t even know if he can hear me.

The wand from outside rushes in through the shattered glass. It feels cold against my heated face.

And then the house groans. The entire structure shuddering violently

Timbers snapping and the fire? It consumes everything

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