The Betrayal That Scorched My Life Novel by Selene Crow _ Novel





The Betrayal That Scorched My Life Chapter 01

The day before the model competition, I was trapped inside my home as a sudden fire raged.
By the time I was rescued, my face was lacerated and charred, with severe burns covering large areas of my body.
Outside the operating room, my mother wept hysterically, relentlessly blaming herself for accidentally locking the door.
My fiancé mobilized every dermatologist in the city, vowing to restore my original appearance.
But just outside the surgery doors, I overheard my mother’s hesitant voice.
"Seb, even if it was to help Vanessa Timberlake win the modeling competition, wasn't it too much to deliberately set the fire and lock the door, burning Victoria Timberlake beyond recognition?"
Sebastian Pitt snorted coldly. "If Victoria wasn't so vain and selfish, I wouldn't have had to resort to this. She knows Vanessa has depression, yet she still flaunts her figure in front of her all day long. All she lost is a face and some skin, but Vanessa lost her happiness. This is what she owes Vanessa."
"Don't worry, I'll still marry Victoria.
With the title of Mrs. Pitt, no one will dare gossip even if she ends up scary-looking.
Considering how well I'm treating her, she should be grateful."
Destroying my health and my career is called treating me well?
I gritted my teeth hard, while coldness and pain ravaged my chest.
The man I loved deeply, the mother who doted on me—I didn't want either of them anymore.
...
"Hold off on the surgery. Have all the specialists wait outside."
The doctor, who had just put on his gloves, looked shocked. "Mr. Pitt, Ms. Timberlake's burns are too severe, and her throat has been damaged by the smoke. Without immediate surgery, she won't just lose her voice. Her face and skin will be completely ruined."
Hearing this, my mom felt a pang of conscience. "Seb, Victoria is hurt so badly. There's no way she can participate in the modeling competition tomorrow anyway. Why don't we just let her have the surgery..."
"Ruined is fine," he stated flatly.
"If she gets the surgery now, with her vain, selfish nature, even if she can't win the crown herself, she'll find a way to sabotage Vanessa's chances.
Only by keeping her hovering between life and death can we kill any thought of bullying Vanessa.
This will temper her character. It's for her own good."
He picked up a moist cotton swab and gently dabbed my cracked lips.
His words, however, were a dagger to the heart.
"I promised Vanessa that the championship of this modeling competition would be hers. I will not let anyone stand in her way."
With a soft sigh, my mother immediately instructed the doctor, "Just administer pain relief for now. Perform basic disinfection on the facial and bodily burns. Be gentle. Don't let her suffer too much."
No one noticed my body trembling uncontrollably, as if a blade had been driven straight through my heart without warning.
The pain was so sharp it stole my breath.
So, the fire wasn't an accident at all.
It was orchestrated by the man I had loved for years, just to clear me away as an obstacle for Vanessa.
Even my mother, who had always doted on me, was an accomplice.
They stood outside the door, ignoring my desperate cries for help from just the other side, their minds filled only with relief that I was finally being destroyed.
Pain assaulted my chest, and my throat, feeling like it was being sliced by knives, violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Mom hurriedly reached out, only to realize there was nowhere on my body she could touch.
Her eyes turned red with distress. "Victoria, Mom is here. Does it hurt a lot? Don't be afraid, Mom will always be with you."
Sebastian shouted in exasperation, "Why haven't the dermatologists arrived yet?"
"If anything happens to my wife, this hospital will be shut down for good."
The doctor, who was clearly already briefed, stammered an explanation.
"Mr. Pitt, we're urging them as we speak. There's been a traffic accident, their car is stuck on the road. The earliest they can arrive is tomorrow."
Sebastian kicked him out the door. "Get out."
Turning back, he crouched before me with a face full of feigned remorse.
"Darling, I'm so sorry. It's my fault for arriving too late, for letting you suffer like this.
I promise you, whatever the cost, I will restore your skin and your face. You will walk the runway again."
I stared numbly at his masterful performance, my voice a bitter whisper.
"Will I really... recover?"
"Absolutely. Without a doubt."
His confident, hollow assurance only magnified how foolish I had been.
To remove me as an obstacle for Vanessa, this man—who went from school uniforms to wedding dress with me and vowed to love me forever—used lie after lie to personally send me to a dead end.
And the mother who had cradled me in her palms, who had treasured me as her most precious gem, had ultimately chosen to raise the butcher's knife against me.
All for the sake of Vanessa, her two-faced adopted daughter.
At that moment, I desperately wanted to scream and ask them why they were being so cruel.
But every word I might have uttered turned to dust in my heart, freezing over inch by inch into a dead silence.
Several doctors approached with antiseptic supplies.
Taking in the horrific sight of my burns, their faces filled with pity and regret.
"Ms. Timberlake, the dermatology specialists haven't arrived yet. We can only perform a basic disinfection for now. Please try to bear with it."
Yet the excruciating pain from the burns pierced through my entire being.
When the antiseptic solution made contact, it felt as if I were being thrown back into the raging flames.
Fragile blood vessels ruptured, staining the sheets with a mix of fresh blood and the oozing pus from my wounds.
My mother watched the scene, her hand clamped tightly over her mouth, her body shaking with muffled sobs.
Sebastian’s eyes were rimmed red, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white, as if he wished he could endure this pain for me.
Their concern seemed so utterly genuine.
Only I knew, everything was fake.
Only the lies and the hurt were real.

READ FULL NOVEL HERE