Chapter 54: Devil's Hellfire

With a couple of texts and a phone call, Jack’s rusty car pulled up right outside of the mansion’s property, parking on the side of the road. His expression showed concern as I approached the vehicle that looked like it was ready to crumble into pieces or spontaneously self-combust.

“Did you get it?” I asked in a dull voice that I couldn’t control.

“Uh… yeah, yeah I got it… is everything ok with you, SuSu? You look…” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed as he gazed into my olive-green eyes. “You look… sad. I’ve never seen you look sad before. You’ve really got me worried.”

“Good. Be worried.” I mumbled as I took the two jugs full of gasoline out of his passenger’s seat.

Jack’s brown eyes widen with surprise at my blunt honesty. “Huh?? Why? What’s going on!?” an hour ago I had texted him to bring me a lot of gasoline and he did it without question. Until now anyway. He started to connect the dots and his eyes widened with fear as he spoke with hesitation. “Sukia… what are you planning on doing…?”

“Just stay here. I’ll be back later.” I grunted without even looking in his direction or bothering to answer his question. The last thing I wanted was for Jack to know what I was planning. If he knew then he would try to stop me. After all, deep down, Jack was a good man too.

“Sukia, WAIT!” his shout was silenced when I slammed his car door shut and made my way back to the mansion.

I made sure there were no gardeners around to spot me with the gasoline and I avoided all of the windows so that nobody would see me either. That’s right. I thought of the perfect plan to get everybody, maybe even my own mother, to be furious with me and want me gone because I’m nothing but a cutthroat ruffian off the streets. A lowlife woman who might as well be considered a feral animal. Somebody who will never change. Staying the same until the day I die. All of the kindness Gabriel will have been for nothing and my mother’s heart will ache when she finally wakes up and sees that I can’t be changed.

*Maybe… this is for the best…? What if… What if I’M the problem in her life? What if Gabriel is all she needs? I left her behind when she needed help all because I was too weak. What if that makes me the toxicity in her life? If that’s really the case then I…*

I couldn’t continue that thought process. I must’ve been absentmindedly walking, lost in my thoughts the entire time because before I knew it I was standing in the middle of the rose garden with hedges high enough it could still be considered a maze. Without hesitation, I took the gasoline and splashed it on every bush, shrub, hedge, and plant in this well-tended garden. I especially made sure to get the colorful roses soaked with the flammable oil. Once both jugs were completely empty to the point I used up even the last drops I tossed both of them into either a bush or hedge.

After everything around me was soaked, I glanced over my shoulder back at the mansion. There were multiple windows that gave the perfect view of the gorgeous rose garden. By now at least one maid had seen me doing suspicious activities.

*Good. Keep watchin’.*

This wasn’t the first time I had done something like this. To soak somebody’s belongings in gasoline and then smoke a cigarette to admire my work before setting everything ablaze in what I liked to call my everlasting hell fire. And yet, this cigarette that I lit and huffed on didn’t give me any pleasure. In fact, each deep inhale of the smoke only made my chest hurt more. Of all things, Gabriel’s advice on how to spend my mornings crossed my mind.

*A coffee in the morning does sound nicer than a cigarette…*

That single thought proved that I really was going soft. So I told myself that I needed to ignite the old me that was slowly withering away in the warmth and kindness of my new life, not counting the twins. This was all I needed to take in my last inhale from the half-smoked cigarette before I flicked it into the gasoline. Within a split second, everything flashed into licking flames that rapidly spread throughout the garden. Everything turned black swifter than I thought it would. I’ve never burned plants before.

*Guess I better move, eh?*

By the time I walked out of the flaming rose garden, I heard a maid scream and saw everybody within the mansion run outside with shock and horror on their faces as they watched their favorite place on the property burn into an uncontrollable blaze. I caught a glance of another maid frantically talking on the phone, likely calling the firefighters department but we all knew by the time they got here everything would be turned to ashes.

I purposely kept my head turned away from my mother. I could already imagine the devastated look on her face seeing her loved flowers burn to cinders. I saw Gabriel’s hands fly to his head as he stared at his rose garden in disbelief. “S– Sukia, what happened!? How did this happen!?” his voice was frantic but it didn’t hold an ounce of suspicion that I was the one who set it ablaze. His naivety in thinking that I’m a better person than what I pretend to be made me flinch.

“SHE DID IT!!” one of the maids shouted furiously, teary-eyed at the sight of their beloved landmark being stolen. “She poured gasoline everywhere and set it on fire! I saw it through the window!”

Gabriel’s shocked disbelief turned into bewilderment as he looked down at me. “Sukia…? Is this true? Did you do this?”

There was a long silence that left me sick to my stomach. Normally I would’ve lifted my head with pride and announced to the whole world that I was the villain. But this time, it made me feel like filth. With all eyes on me, I kept my gaze on Gabriel alone. “Yeah. I did it.” I hatefully scowled with an aggressive look in my eyes. “The waste of space was an eyesore. I did everybody in this fucking mansion a favor. It’s too bad it didn’t reach this pretty house. The shithole could use a new paint job.”

Everybody gasped at my cruel words. On the corner of my eye, I could see my mother’s hands fly up to her mouth.

*Sorry, Mom…*

Gabriel stared down at me wide-eyed with a look that screamed that he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. And then I saw a hint of pain as if his heart had just been stabbed. In that very second I could tell that he truly did care about me. Gabriel turned his back to me and with a shaky inhale he muttered under his breath. “...I think it’s best you leave, Sukia.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” I spat on the greenest grass I’ve ever come across. “Good riddance to this shitty outhouse!” with that, I shoved my way past a couple of maids, making them gasp in fear that the dangerous criminal off of the streets had even just touched them. As I walked away from them, I could hear hateful whispers between the workers barely louder than the crackling sound of the blaze.

“I knew she was nothing but trouble.”

“Master Gabriel should’ve never allowed that criminal here!”

“Crazy thug belongs on the streets.”

The old me would’ve spun around, grabbed them by their hair, and beat them into apologizing to me and kissing my feet each time they crossed me. But that angry fire inside me was gone now. Along the way, I saw Grace standing there with the biggest smile on her face.

“See you never, mutt.” her voice sounded pleasant yet twistedly teasing.

“You better fucking watch yourself, slut.” I growled under my breath as I passed her.

“Oh, honey,” she swung her phone back and forth like a fan to cool her off. “We both know who the *real* slut is.”