The Inferno of Retribution

My dormmate, Summer Lodge, always uses heavy-duty electrical appliances to cook in our dorm. I kindly remind her that it's a fire hazard and that she'll get a demerit if the college finds her out, but she snaps at me and tells me to mind my own business.

One day, her oven bursts into flames and burns one of our dormmates—the daughter of an affluent family—to death. When the college investigates the matter to apportion the blame, Summer and another dormmate push the blame on me.

I'm expelled and cyberbullied. My dead dormmate's boyfriend even comes after me for revenge. He shoves me and my family into the furnace at a crematorium.

When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day when Summer decides to make a meal with the oven.

An old oven in a corner was emitting wisps of smoke. Summer Lodge and Jean Starr discussed where they wanted to buy groceries. I was dazed when I saw this familiar scene.

"We're going to the market, Michelle. Touch my oven, and I'll ensure you don't get behavior points this semester," Summer threatened.

Her words jolted me back to reality. I hurriedly turned on the voice recorder on my phone and ran over to the oven to unplug it. Then, I grabbed it and ran out of the dorm.

"Have you lost your mind, Michelle? Why are you taking my oven?" Summer ran after me and grabbed my arm.

"I'm handing it over to the resident assistant!" I raised my voice, attracting the attention of the other students. "You're breaking the rules by using forbidden electrical appliances in the dorm, Summer! Can you bear the consequences if a fire breaks out?"

Summer was taken aback. Then, her expression turned ugly. "How is it any of your business if I'm cooking in the dorm? I'm not the only one, am I? Why don't you become a firefighter or police officer if you're so righteous and upstanding?"

She snatched the oven back and looked at the people watching us. She snapped, "Mind your own business! Or do you want your points docked?"

Summer was the vice president of the student council. She was in charge of checking the cleanliness of the dorms and ensuring there were no contraband electrical appliances.

The grades she gave for these things would be counted toward the students' overall grades. That, in turn, would affect one's chances for scholarships and their overall placement.

She liked to abuse her power and lord it over everyone. Everyone hated her but didn't dare to offend her. In my past life, I was like that, too.

When Summer checked the dorms and found students using high-power electrical appliances, she reported and confiscated them. Even when the students pleaded for mercy, she didn't give in.

She would always say, "I can't do anything about it. It's the college's rules. You can get the dean to change the rules if you're against them."

Yet she herself used various high-power electrical appliances in our dorm, including an electric cooker, oven, hairdryer, and even radiator.

My father used to be a firefighter and had always taught me to be aware of fire hazards. So, whenever Summer used these appliances, I would tell her not to because they were dangerous.

She would repeatedly tell me off, saying I was sticking my nose where it wasn't needed. Because of that, we'd never been on good terms.

I'd reported Summer to the resident assistant once. The latter had agreed to look into the matter, but Summer had heard about it that afternoon. She and a few student council members had locked me in the dorm and taught me a lesson. She'd even warned me to watch my back.

From then on, I had no choice but to turn a blind eye to the matter.

Today, however, I was acting so boldly because of my rebirth. In my past life, on this very day, Summer and Jean had gone to the market after putting something to cook in the oven. I'd gone out with a friend to buy some things.

When I returned, the dorm was already on fire. Summer had been terrified at the sight of the flames. She'd muttered to Jean, "How could this happen? Nothing's ever gone wrong with that oven."

Jean was more terrified than her. She'd trembled all over. "I-I don't know. Maybe it wasn't the oven."

After the fire had been extinguished, the firefighters had carried a charred body out of our dorm. It belonged to Adeline Gray, another one of our dormmates.

Adeline was the daughter of an affluent family; her boyfriend was the son of the city's richest man. That night, Adeline passed away from the burns. The firefighters had also determined that the cause of the fire was the oven.

Adeline had been soundly asleep in the dorm after taking some flu medication. She'd only woken up when the flames were licking her skin. So, she'd burned to death.

The college administration took Summer, Jean, and me in for questioning. I didn't expect the other two to blame me. Even the resident assistant acted as a witness and claimed that she'd confiscated many electrical appliances from me.

I had no evidence to show that the oven belonged to Summer, and the college administration didn't believe a word I said. I'd been expelled and forced to compensate the college for the damage, which totaled several hundred thousand dollars.

I thought the college hadn't called the cops on me because they didn't want news of the fire and Adeline's death to spread. In truth, it was because Adeline's boyfriend had forced them to keep the news under wraps. He'd lost his mind after Adeline's death and wanted revenge.

After I was expelled and went home, he'd abducted me and my family before throwing us into a crematorium furnace. The temperature was high enough to burn us to crisps.

The memory made me feel like the fire was still eating away at me, but I couldn't help shuddering.

I was causing such a fuss and attracting so much attention so I could create some witnesses for my case. This was far from enough, though.