He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 05

He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 05

I snatched the key from the floor and ran.

The night was cold. My tires chewed up the gravel roads of rural Virginia, the sound setting my teeth on edge. The fox-hunting charity race was tomorrow. The stables should have been quiet, but Graham had locked Nora there.

Just for a “lesson.”

I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white. The stable fire from the future I’d seen—the one disguised as an accident, the one that had burned away everything I had—scorched my mind again and again.

The stable doors were ajar. I pushed them open, and the rich scent of hay and leather hit me. Two of Graham’s bodyguards were leaning against a stall, smoking.

They saw me and straightened lazily, unsurprised. “Mrs. Lockwood,” one said, his tone faintly insolent. “Sir’s orders. Miss Blake needs to cool off, so she doesn’t say the wrong thing at the race tomorrow.”

“Where is she?” My voice was flat.

The guard jerked his chin toward a separate tack room at the far end of the stable. The heavy wooden door was shut tight, a silent coffin.

My heart sank. Nora was claustrophobic.

“Open the door.”

“Sorry, madam. Sir’s orders are she stays until dawn.”

I didn’t waste another word. I went to the fire hose on the other side of the stable, cranked the valve, and aimed the nozzle at a mountain of hay bales. A powerful jet of water soaked the expensive alfalfa.

“What are you doing?” The guards’ faces changed. They couldn’t afford to be responsible for that much ruined feed.

While they scrambled to shut off the water, I sprinted to the storage room and jammed the cold brass key into the lock.

With a click, the door opened.

Nora was curled in a corner, her face pale, trembling all over. When she saw me, she nearly burst into tears. “Ava… I thought I was going to die in here…”

“It’s all right. I’m getting you out.” I helped her up and pulled her toward the exit.

Just as we reached the stable door, Nora stopped and pulled her hand from mine. “Wait, Ava! The documents!”

“What documents?”

“The ones I hid in the hayloft! I was up all night putting them together for you—preliminary evidence of Graham transferring foundation assets through shell companies.” Her voice was frantic. “I have to get them. They’re the key to taking him down.”

Ignoring my protests, she turned and ran toward the hayloft.

At that moment, the two bodyguards realized what was happening and blocked our path. “Trying to run?”

They charged. The scene descended into chaos. I grabbed a nearby riding crop to fend off one guard while the other rushed toward Nora, who was already climbing the hay bales.

“Give me that!” the guard shouted, trying to snatch the manila envelope Nora had just pulled from the hay.

“Get away from me!” Nora clutched the files.

In the struggle, the guard shoved her. Hard.

It all happened too fast.

Nora’s body arced through the air before she fell from the edge of the second-floor hayloft.

There was a sickening thud.

She landed on her back, her body smashing against the hard cement floor.

The world stopped.

The viciousness on the guards’ faces vanished, replaced by pure fear. They looked at Nora, lying motionless on the ground, exchanged a terrified glance, and ran.

Before they left, they locked the stable door from the outside.

“Nora!” I threw myself toward her, half-lifting her into my arms.

Her eyes were open, her lips moving, but no sound came out. Agony twisted her features, and a cold sweat soaked her hair.

“Don’t be scared, Nora. Don’t be scared…” My tears streamed down my face, my voice shaking. “I’m calling an ambulance. You’ll be fine.”

I pounded on the door, screaming until the wood splintered and cold air rushed in. I dragged Nora out.

The rescue operation lasted nine hours.

I sat in the stark white hospital corridor all night, the smell of hay still clinging to me.

When the doctor finally removed his mask, his eyes a mixture of exhaustion and sympathy, I knew my worst fears had come true.

“She’s alive,” he said. “But her twelfth thoracic vertebra suffered a burst fracture. The spinal nerve damage is irreversible… She’ll never walk again.”

Permanent paralysis from the waist down.

In that moment, my world collapsed.

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the corridor, but it brought no warmth. My phone vibrated four times.

The first message was from my lawyer.
[Ava, the divorce hearing is set for next Wednesday.]

The second was from Bennett Shaw.
[I’m waiting outside the courthouse. We need to talk about the foundation restructuring.]

The third was from Graham.
[Last night was just a small lesson. I hope you and your friend have learned to behave. Don’t push me into doing something worse.]

The fourth was from an unknown number.
[Image.jpg]

The photo showed Nora’s beloved Hanoverian, the one she was meant to ride in the charity race. The saddle was exquisite, the horse’s mane gleaming.

[What a shame. Looks like she won’t get a chance to ride it. I hear terrible accidents can happen when riders fall from horses, can’t they?]

I stared at the messages, and the tears in my eyes dried instantly.

Pain, guilt, despair… every emotion burned to ash, leaving only a cold, dead silence.

I stood and walked out of the hospital.

Outside the courthouse, Bennett was waiting. He wore a dark gray suit, his expression calm. Concern flickered in his eyes when he saw my pale face, but he didn’t ask.

My lawyer had the documents ready.

I picked up the pen and signed my name on a proxy voting authorization for the Hart Foundation. My hand was perfectly steady.

Then I handed the document to Bennett.

“Bennett,” I said, looking him in the eye, each word perfectly clear. “Help me settle this.”

“I want Graham and Piper to pay for everything.”