Belle felt like her body was doused with ice-cold water after hearing what Nathalie said. She walked closer to the television to hear the news better.
“How can this be?” Nathalie muttered, rooted in her place.
“Let’s go!” Tristan said.
Belle was shocked when someone grabbed her by the elbow, but she quickly recovered when she realized it was Tristan. Not knowing where they were going, she followed anyway.
All four of them went straight to the parking lot. Jacob was in the driver’s seat, Nathalie took the passenger seat, and Tristan and Belle took the backseat.
“How can there be a fire in our neighborhood?” Nathalie whispered as she started sobbing.
“Who’s there around this time?” Belle asked, worried about her friend’s relatives.
Nathalie shook her head, “I don’t know. Maybe my Aunt is home now? Or my Uncle? I don’t know!” she replied, then her sobbing grew louder.
From the De Clarion Empire, it would take them thirty to forty-five minutes to reach Nathalie’s neighborhood. But with Jacob’s speed, they made it in approximately twenty minutes.
They quickly got out of the car as soon as they arrived. Standing at the arch entrance of the neighborhood, they could already feel the heat coming from the raging fire.
People were screaming, running around, and trying to save whatever they could from their homes. Women were crying, while men were working trying to extinguish the fire.
“What the hell is going on?” Nathalie asked no one in particular, still in disbelief at what she was seeing.
“Can you try calling your Aunt so we can find them easily?” Jacob urged, but Nathalie’s hands were shaking terribly.
Belle took the phone from her friend and started looking into her contact list. When she finally found the person she was looking for, she immediately made a call.
“Aunt Fely, this is Belle. Where are you right now?” she quickly asked, covering her nose as she started feeling suffocated from the smoke.
“We’re close to the entrance,” Nathalie’s Aunt replied. She was also crying.
Belle looked around to see if she could find them. Fortunately, Aunt Fely and her husband were just a few feet away from them.
“They’re there!” Belle exclaimed as she walked up to Nathalie’s Aunt. The rest of her company trailed behind her.
“Nathalie!” Aunt Fely exclaimed, hugging her niece while crying incessantly.
“What happened?” Nathalie asked as she let go of her.
Fely shook her head, pointed at her husband, then wiped her face. It seemed like she couldn’t even tell her niece what happened or she must be having a hard time talking, as she was too emotional.
“Uncle, what happened?” Nathalie asked again.
“The fire… The fire started in our backyard,” then the man started crying. “I don’t know how it happened. No matter how I think of it, I don’t think it will flare up the way it did.”
“Did the fire start strong?” Jacob pried.
Nelson nodded at him before wiping the sweat on his forehead. “When it started, it quickly spread on our fences, we had no choice but to run outside. We weren’t even able to get our clothes at least.”
“Was there any explosion before the fire started?” Belle asked.
Nathalie’s uncle paused for a few seconds to think before shaking his head at Belle. “But some of our neighbors were saying that the scent of gasoline was strong. They could already smell it even before the fire began.”
Belle, Tristan, and Jacob eyed each other. Not sure whether they were all feeling the same, but Belle felt like the fire incident was premeditated.
Tristan pulled Belle closer by the waist, handing her a handkerchief to cover her nose as she started coughing. Jacob did the same for Nathalie, but she used the handkerchief to blow her nose and wipe her tears instead.
The group of six people can’t do anything. They can only watch the fire engulfing the entire neighborhood.
When it was finally extinguished and the emotions calmed down, Belle turned to her friend. “Let’s go to my house, you can stay there in the meantime,” she suggested.
Fely and Nelson looked at her, their foreheads creased. “Will it be okay?” Fely asked, feeling a little wary, as she used to scold Belle when she visited their home.
“Yes Aunt, there’s no one else there with me,” she assured the middle-aged woman.
Fely turned to her husband as if asking for approval. Nelson, on the other hand, nodded and smiled at his wife before wiping her face.
Belle turned around to look at the remains of the incident. She can’t help but feel bothered. As if something’s eating her inside.
‘I hope I’m wrong,’ she muttered to herself. When she first heard the news, she suddenly thought of Joyce for an unknown reason.
Maybe it was because Nathalie had an encounter with her and Vernice earlier that day. But since she’s still unsure, she chose not to talk about it.
“Let them ride with Jacob, let’s just take a cab,” Tristan suggested.
When she nodded, Nathalie’s aunt and uncle stood up. Jacob led the way to the car and the couple followed.
“You go with them,” Belle told her friend. Nathalie nodded, hugging and thanking Belle for her hospitality.
Tristan and Belle then walked to the main road to find a cab. Just a few seconds after, they were also on their way to Belle’s house.
Meanwhile, Vernice was on her way back to the car when her phone rang, “Did you watch the news?” Joyce asked as soon as she answered the call.
Vernice let out a hearty laugh, “I’m still here actually,” she bragged.
Joyce’s brows furrowed, “You watched it live?”
“Yes, darling! The place is just five minutes away from me. I drove here as soon as the news started,” she giggled.
Joyce hummed, picking on her nails, she laid down on her couch, “Did you like it? I bet Nathalie loved our surprise!”
Both women were talking as if they did something to be proud of. They planned to seek revenge against Nathalie and they succeeded.
What they didn’t know was that, aside from Nathalie’s family, what they did affect more than 200 families. Approximately one thousand people lost their clothes and other important stuff.
“Thank you, Joyce! I really appreciate you getting back at her for me,” Vernice stated, making her voice sound as sweet and as convincing as possible.
Joyce smirked at the other line. She indeed wants exact revenge because of what Nathalie did to Vernice earlier. But more importantly, she is Belle’s friend.
She pursued this revenge against Nathalie to make Belle feel her wrath. She wanted her to realize that with what she was doing, Joyce’s anger wouldn’t be focused on her alone.
“Are you still there?” Vernice asked when the woman didn’t respond. Joyce again hummed on the phone, “I got a surprise for you too, but I don’t think you’ll like it.”
Joyce sat straight, resting her feet on her coffee table. “What is it?” she asked.
“I saw the quartet here, Belle, Tristan, Nathalie, and Jacob. Your lover and ‘best friend’ looked really sweet. They were even hugging each other in the middle of the heat of the fire.”
Vernice stopped herself from giggling. It wasn’t true that Belle and Tristan were hugging. She just said that to anger Joyce.
She smiled when she heard something crash on the other line. As if Joyce was trashing her place. True enough, Joyce did kick the coffee table after hearing what Vernice said.
“You mean Tristan went to that awful place with Belle?” she sneered.
Vernice responded while nodding her head slowly. She could tell that Joyce was outraged. Now all she’s looking forward to is what she will do against Belle.
“That golddigger!” she roared. Vernice moved the phone away from her ears by a few inches as Joyce’s voice grew louder.
Her eardrum almost burst because of her, and Vernice felt a bit irritated. Regardless, she’s still happy at the outcome of what she did, of what they did.
She felt like they had just hit two birds with one stone in one night and she couldn’t wait to inform Esme about it. She was sure her mom would be proud of her.
As soon as Joyce ended the call, Vernice turned on her heel to head for her car. She drove to the Williams Villa and ran towards her parents’ bedroom to call her mom out.
“What is it? What happened?” Esme asked nervously.
She was worried that her daughter would get into trouble again. Seeing how she was hurried with her movements, Esme assumed she had done something stupid again.
“Have you seen the news about the fire?” Esme nodded at her daughter in response. “Joyce did that,” she bragged.
Esme raised an eyebrow at her, “I thought it was you with how you’re so smug about it.”
“Well, she did that because she avenged me, against Nathalie.”
Esme’s eyes widened in shock. She’d heard of the fire incident but she didn’t know that it was Nathalie’s neighborhood.
Seeing the confused look on her face, Vernice filled in on the details. She also told her mother how she lied to Joyce about Belle and Tristan to anger the vicious woman.
“That’s actually good! I’m so proud of you my little devil!” her mother exclaimed, hugging her and kissing the top of her head.
Vernice couldn’t help but smile. They are slowly succeeding with their plans. ‘After getting rid of Belle, Joyce is next!.’