ROMARE: She’s Dead

“Sir Romare!”

I heard the firefighters screaming for me to step back, but I couldn’t. Confusion gripped my chest and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my company that was being reduced to nothing but ashes.

What had happened? What has gone wrong? I had no idea who set the fire, my workers who’d been called weren’t saying anything coherent either, each of them claiming they had no idea what happened. Not even the management field could give me any damn explanation.

Did they leave something flammable on?

“Romare,” a familiar voice called and I turned to see my younger brother who’d stepped down from the car approaching me. “Are you okay? I heard what happened and had to rush over here.”

“I’m fine, Adam, what are you doing here?” I asked, focusing on the company that was being watered down.

I could see him frown from my peripheral vision and glanced at him. “Why are you here? Weren’t you going to travel today?”

He grumbled under his breath and cleared his throat. “I was. But I couldn’t after I heard what happened to you. I mean, I had to come make sure you were okay.”

“Really?” I narrowed my eyes on him, my gaze zeroing on him from head to toe. “Surprising, but I’m fine.” Adam and I had never been that close, maybe when we were younger, but over the years not at all. There was just something about him that always put me off, but I could never question or suspect him on anything. He was my family after all and family mattered a lot to me.

He may do a lot of questionable things sometimes, but this couldn’t be his handwork. He’d have no reason to burn down my company, it would make no se—

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I fumbled for it, pulling it out to glance at the screen. My dad was calling me directly. Why? He would never call unless something happened and—

It couldn’t be the case of another company burning down, right?

I answered.

“Dad—“

“Romare, come home, right now!”

“What? Why?”

“Your mate, she’s missing. We can’t—“

“What?” My heart skipped a beat, a sudden kind of pain, dragging across my chest like a knife. “What are you talking about? What happened to her?”

“Romare, you need to come back. The room you had her in, has burned down to ashes. We don’t know if she burned in there or if she escaped. But it’s likely the latter. If she escaped, we should have found—“

I hung up the phone, shoving it into my pocket, and snatched the car key from Adam.

“Where are we going?” Adam asked.

I pulled the door open and got into the driver’s seat. “Home.” And I started the car engine, taking a quick reverse to speed off into the road.

“Where are we going, Romare?” Adam asked. I didn’t answer him, my mind was completely elsewhere. Herlo missing? I didn’t want to think of the latter, because there was no way she could be dead. I’d seen her that morning, curled up on the floor inside the duvet I’d had the maids give her.

She was fine, she looked completely fine and peaceful, despite her heat still messing with her. What could have gone wrong? How did the house catch fire? Nothing was making sense to me. My company caught fire and so did the house, It was almost as if this was planned which was likely the truth.

But who could have done this? What were they trying to achieve? I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel just to figure something out.

“Romare—-“

“Not right now, Adam!” I shouted at him, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. I drove into the parking lot and stepped down, tossing the key over to him to rush over and come to a halt at the sight of the manor that was almost burnt to nothing.

What the fuck?

What was happening?

“Herlo!!!” I stormed closer, glancing from left to right for any signs of her. “HERLO!!!”

Nothing.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I slowly turned and stared at every single one of them. They all made it out alive, the workers, my father, and Adam, they were all fine, except one person. Herlo…

How…how could that even be possible? How could they all be fine, but not her?

“Where is she?” I questioned, storming towards the workers and my father. “Dad, where is she?”

“Romare, I have no idea what you—“

“How did every single one of you make it out alive, but not her? Where is she?” Rage raced up my spine, my body trembling in the excruciating pain burning in my chest. It felt like hundreds of knives were being jabbed right into the very center of my heart.

“Where the hell is she? Dad, Adam! Answer me!”

“She’s dead,” my father said, stone-faced as if he wanted me to face the truth.

“Lies. That’s a lie.”

“Do you see her anywhere, son? She’s dead, face it.”

“Do not tell me that.”

“I have to! I know she’s your mate and this is going to hurt, but you have to face it. Your mate is gone, you are going to find a way to endure the pain and fight it.”

My twitching eyes moved from every one of them, finding the entire scene ridiculous. Is this a joke? “How are you all fine with no scratch, but her, Herlo, my mate is nowhere to be seen. You are telling me she’s dead!—“

”Because she is!”

“That’s a lie! SHE IS NOT DEAD!”

“Romare, you have to listen to fa—“ Adam stepped in front of me, reaching to grab my arm, but I wrapped my fingers around his throat, dragging him closer until there was no space between us.

I was losing my mind.

“Adam.” He was trembling in my grasp, his face paling to the shade of purple. “Where. The. Fuck. Is. My. Mate?”