Chapter 160

Claire's POV My lungs burned with each desperate breath, the acrid smoke turning every intake into a struggle against my body's reflexive rejection of the toxic air. I pressed my face against the floor where oxygen still existed in thin pockets, my vision swimming as carbon monoxide poisoning began clouding my thoughts. The filing cabinet I'd been using as shelter felt like my tomb, surrounded by scattered documents that would soon become fuel for the flames I could hear crackling somewhere beyond the sealed door. This was how I was going to die. Trapped in a basement records room, murdered by someone who had planned every detail with meticulous precision. The locked door, the missing phone, the convenient absence of other employees—all of it orchestrated to ensure no one would find me until it was far too late. My throat closed against another wave of smoke as I tried to call for help again, but only a broken whisper emerged. The sound of my own voice, weak and desperate, drove home t