He Blocked My Call on April Fools' ,His Father Burned AliveChapter 1
The old house was on fire. I called John Stewart immediately. He was a rescue squad captain. If anyone could help, it was him.
"John, the old house is on fire! Your dad drank too much and he's still asleep inside! You have to get your team here now—!"
Before I could even finish, John hung up.
Two minutes later, a voice message came through.
"Stella Delgado, even if it's April Fools' Day, you shouldn't joke about something like this!"
"I know you're jealous because I went out alone with Denise, but it's her birthday. I have to stay with her until it's over, so stop bothering me!"
I stared at the inferno raging in front of me, frozen.
I scrambled to record a video and sent it to him. In the footage, you could clearly hear my father-in-law's agonized screams.
But the moment the message went through, a red exclamation mark appeared beside it.
John had blocked me. He'd actually blocked me so I wouldn't disturb him again.
The old house sat deep in the mountains, at the end of roads so rough they barely qualified as roads. Even if I called 911, they wouldn't make it here until morning.
I started calling John over and over, frantic, desperate.
I called until my phone died. Until the screen went black. I never got through.
I collapsed to the ground as my father-in-law's screams tore through the night, raw and guttural, until they didn't.
It wasn't until the following dawn, sitting in the ashes of what had been a home, that I finally saw John.
——
He'd been chatting and laughing with Denise Simmons as they walked up. The moment he saw the wreckage, he went rigid.
Eight years of marriage. Even though the last two years had worn us down to something thin and colorless, this was still life and death. His father's life and death.
I gathered what little strength I had left and stood, wanting to comfort him.
"John, I'm so sor—"
"Sorry? Don't you dare say sorry to me!"
He cut me off, voice like a blade. He jabbed a finger at the scorched earth behind me and screamed in my face.
"Stella, are you out of your mind?!"
"Over an April Fools' prank, you actually burned down the house? I spent over four hundred thousand dollars building this place!"
"Denise kept warning me. She said something was off with you, told me I needed to keep a closer eye on you. I didn't listen. Turns out she was right all along. You really are that stupid!"