Chapter 5

Sage's POV

The old district was cordoned off with warning tape.

I bypassed the tape and climbed up that familiar, dilapidated building.

I reached the familiar door number and had just taken out my key to unlock it.

The enormous roar of excavators sounded outside the building.

I ran to the window in terror and looked down.

Several large excavators were leveling this area.

"Wait! There's someone inside!"

I shouted down at them.

But the machinery was too loud. No one could hear me.

Half of this building's load-bearing walls had already been knocked down, and the entire structure was shaking violently.

Glass shattered, dust filled the air.

These people weren't starting tomorrow at all. They'd come early today to clear the site!

Mrs Thornton had lied to me.

Even though I'd signed, she'd never planned to preserve this "Thornton family disgrace."

"Don't demolish it! Don't demolish it!"

I ran downstairs like mad, rushing in front of the excavator and spreading my arms to block it.

The lead worker was startled, quickly stopped the machine, got out, and cursed.

"Crazy woman, you want to die? Thornton Corporation bought this land ages ago. It has to be leveled today!"

"This is my home!"

I screamed.

"What home? You don't even have a property deed. Get lost!"

The workers came up to drag me away.

I clung desperately to a pillar and took out my phone.

At a time like this, the only person I could call for help was the owner of this land.

I dialed Holt's number.

Once, he hung up.

Twice, he hung up.

On the third try, the call finally connected.

Only it wasn't Holt's voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

Melanie's coquettish voice came through the receiver, with a hint of lazy displeasure at being disturbed.

"Holt's in the shower. Miss Sage, be tactful and don't call at a time like this to spoil the mood."

My brain buzzed, going completely blank.

He was at the office this afternoon, and at seven in the evening they were showering.

What kind of shower, it was obvious.

Overwhelming despair flooded over me like a tide.

I clutched my phone tightly.

"Melanie, give the phone to Holt, please... help me give him the phone! Thornton Corporation is demolishing the south district houses, and my things are inside!"

"Oh, the south district house."

Melanie laughed lightly on the other end.

"That was his mother's idea. But Holt also signed the approval just now. After all, trash from that kind of slum really doesn't deserve to exist."

Trash.

The shelf Evan made with his own hands, the height chart Evan drew.

The time we spent keeping each other warm was trash.

"He knew..."

I murmured, tears quietly streaming down.

"He actually knew everything..."

The call was mercilessly disconnected.

The workers lost patience, yanked me aside, and roughly pushed me to the ground.

"Stop wasting time. Start work!"

With a tremendous crash, the small attic that held all my love and hope from three years collapsed under the excavator's swing.

In the dust cloud, I lay on the ground.

For a moment, I felt my heart had also shattered with this building into fragments, buried in the rubble.

I had nothing left.

When I left that ruins, the sky had turned completely dark.

I walked home in a daze, dragging my feet.

My phone vibrated.

It was a text from the assistant:

"Miss Sage, Mr. Thornton is at Nightshade Club in VIP room 888. He wants you to change clothes and come immediately."

I looked at the words on the screen without saying anything.

I didn't change clothes.

I just wore those clothes covered in dirt and dust, put on flat shoes, and took a cab to "Nightshade."