My Last Plea Was His Worst Mistake Chapter 07

My Last Plea Was His Worst Mistake Chapter 07

Chloe was escorted into the interview room still wearing that same white knit dress.

She burst into tears the moment she sat down.

“Ethan, I’m so scared.”

That line had always worked before.

Ethan would hand her tissues, frown with concern, and shield her from every question.

But this time, the tissue box sat right beside his hand—and he didn’t touch it.

Wyatt slid a surveillance screenshot across the table.

The image was grainy, but the silver bell bracelet on Chloe’s wrist was unmistakable.

Ethan recognized it. He’d given it to her, saying the sound would calm her nerves since she was easily frightened.

Now it was evidence.

Chloe glanced at it, and her tears fell faster.

“I had just been walking through the area. I’d heard there was a pharmacy in the basement and meant to pick up medication.”

Wyatt’s voice turned cold.

“Why would a simple trip to get medication lead you down a restricted storage-only corridor with no public access?”

Chloe bit her lip.

“I took a wrong turn.”

A second report was pushed in front of her.

“We found accelerant residue in both the document storage room on the east wing basement and the utility closet on the west wing.”

Chloe stopped crying.

She gave a hard swallow, forcing down the damning words she was desperate to blurt out.

Wyatt continued.

“The mall had been closed for years. The only things in that document room were old ledgers for a charity fund. Chloe, were you really there to buy medicine?”

Chloe kept her head down, rubbing the hem of her dress until the soft knit fabric started to pill.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ethan finally spoke.

“Did you see Luna?”

“No.”

The answer came too fast.

Wyatt played a restored video clip.

The footage was dark.

In it, I was trapped behind a metal door, my face covered in ash.

Chloe stood outside, shaking her bell bracelet. Her voice was cold as ice.

“Luna, you’ve always been so good at taking what’s mine, haven’t you? Who do you think he’ll believe—you or me?”

I pounded on the door from inside.

“Chloe, open the door! There’s a child in here!”

Chloe laughed.

“Whether that child lives or dies is up to you. As for you—I hope you burn clean away.”

The video ended. Only the faint hum of electronics filled the silence.

All the color had drained from Chloe’s face.

Ethan sat across from her, hollowed out, his shoulders slowly caving in.

Chloe lunged forward and grabbed his sleeve.

“Ethan, this was never supposed to spiral like this! I only planned to burn those ledgers to cover my tracks! I had zero idea Luna would wander down there, and I never imagined the flames would race out of control so quickly.”

Ethan looked at the hand gripping his sleeve. The scrape on her wrist was barely visible.

But my charred finger bone had his name fused into it.

He raised his hand.

Chloe thought he was reaching for her and leaned in, sobbing.

Instead, he pried her fingers off one by one.

“Keep your hands off me.”

Chloe froze.

Then she screamed.

“You’re blaming me now? Who are you to heap all this blame solely on me?”

She laughed through her tears, makeup smearing across her face, the fragile act completely gone.

“She called you begging for help and you hung up on her! She screamed for you to save her and you called her a drama queen! You gave the order to seal that door! All I did was lock a basement entrance—you’re the one who killed her!”

Ethan gripped the edge of the table, steadying himself.

After a long silence, he forced two words out.

“Take her away.”

Officers grabbed Chloe’s arms and dragged her out. She kept screaming his name.

Ethan didn’t look at her.

His eyes stayed fixed on the frozen video frame.

In it, my ash-covered face stared through the metal door at the camera.

It was the last time I ever looked at this world. The last time I waited for him to save me.