CHAPTER 10 — THE NIGHT THE HOUSE BURNED
CHAPTER 10 — THE NIGHT THE HOUSE BURNED
The first thing Ethan heard was the siren.
The second was Marcus shouting.
“Get down!”
A bullet struck the side of the car.
Mia screamed.
Ethan pulled her behind the concrete barrier as another shot shattered the windshield.
Marcus fired back.
“Move!”
They ran.
Rain poured over the street, mixing with the smoke already rising from somewhere in the distance.
Ethan looked toward Marcus.
“Who is shooting at us?”
Marcus didn't answer.
He was staring at his phone.
“The house.”
“What house?”
“The Cole mansion.”
Ethan's blood froze.
“My children are there?”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“But the evidence is.”
Mia understood immediately.
“The recordings.”
“And the trust documents.”
“And the proof about Victoria.”
Marcus nodded.
“They're burning it.”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
His security system was already showing an emergency alert.
FIRE DETECTED — MAIN RESIDENCE.
The mansion had caught fire.
Not one room.
Not one floor.
The entire eastern wing.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“No.”
Mia grabbed his arm.
“Ethan.”
He was already running toward the car.
“We're going back.”
Marcus stopped him.
“You can't.”
“That's my house.”
“They want you to go there.”
“My family lived there.”
“And that's exactly why it's a trap.”
Ethan turned.
“My father's records are inside.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Your father's records are not what they're after.”
“Then what?”
Marcus looked at Mia.
“They want the last recording.”
Mia's heart dropped.
“The original?”
Marcus nodded.
“The one Richard made before he died.”
Ethan stared.
“It's still there?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Marcus answered quietly.
“Inside the walls.”
Twenty minutes later, Ethan's convoy reached the mansion.
Flames consumed the eastern wing.
Firefighters surrounded the property.
Water sprayed into the night.
Guests and neighbors stood behind police barricades.
The mansion that had once symbolized the Cole family's power was becoming a black skeleton beneath the sky.
Mia stared in horror.
“My room…”
Ethan looked at her.
“We'll rebuild.”
She shook her head.
“That's not what I'm afraid of.”
“What?”
“My mother's letter.”
Ethan's face changed.
The letter was still inside the house.
So was the red box.
So were the children's drawings.
The photographs.
Everything connecting Mia to the past.
Ethan turned toward the firefighters.
“Can anyone enter?”
“No.”
The fire chief stepped forward.
“The structure is unstable.”
“I own this property.”
“I know who you are.”
“Then let me in.”
“No.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“My wife—”
The chief interrupted.
“I don't care how much money you have. I won't let you walk into a collapsing building.”
Ethan looked at the flames.
Then at Marcus.
Marcus whispered:
“There's another entrance.”
The old underground tunnel.
Ethan had forgotten it existed.
His grandfather had built it decades ago to connect the mansion to the guesthouse.
Marcus led them through the woods.
A steel door was hidden beneath vines.
Ethan opened it.
Heat immediately rushed through the tunnel.
Mia covered her mouth.
Smoke was already spreading underground.
“We have maybe five minutes,” Marcus said.
“Then move.”
They entered.
The mansion looked nothing like home.
Ceilings were collapsing.
Paintings burned.
The grand staircase was covered in smoke.
Mia stumbled.
Ethan caught her.
“Stay close.”
They reached the library.
Half the ceiling had fallen.
The hidden camera was gone.
The wall where the second recording had been stored was burning.
Ethan rushed toward it.
Marcus grabbed him.
“Not there.”
“Where?”
“Your father's study.”
They ran.
The study door was locked.
Ethan kicked it open.
The room was filled with smoke.
Most of the furniture had burned.
But one wall remained untouched.
Marcus pointed.
“There.”
A small metal panel.
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a cassette.
And a photograph.
Mia took the photograph.
Her hands trembled.
It showed Richard, Elena, Lucas—
and a fourth person.
A young woman.
Mia stared.
“Who is she?”
Marcus looked at the photograph.
His face changed.
“I thought she was dead.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
Marcus didn't answer.
Then the fire alarm screamed.
A beam collapsed behind them.
Mia screamed.
“Go!”
They grabbed the cassette and ran.
But the tunnel entrance was blocked.
Fire had reached the underground passage.
Ethan looked around.
“No.”
Marcus pointed toward the opposite wall.
“There is another way.”
“Where?”
“The old wine cellar.”
They ran.
The cellar was filling with smoke.
Ethan found the emergency door.
It wouldn't open.
He pulled.
Nothing.
Marcus tried.
Nothing.
Mia looked around.
“There!”
A metal lever.
She pulled it.
The door opened.
Cold night air rushed inside.
They escaped seconds before the ceiling collapsed.
Outside, Ethan dropped to his knees.
The mansion burned behind him.
Mia sat beside him.
Neither spoke.
Then Marcus looked at the cassette.
“We have it.”
Ethan nodded.
“But there's a problem.”
“What?”
Marcus pointed toward the fire.
“The original recording wasn't on that tape.”
Mia looked at him.
“Then what's this?”
Marcus stared at the cassette.
“A copy.”
“Where's the original?”
He hesitated.
“In the house.”
Ethan looked back at the flames.
“You're saying the evidence we risked our lives for is only a copy?”
Marcus nodded.
“And the original contains something Richard didn't want anyone to hear.”
“What?”
Marcus's eyes darkened.
“Who ordered his death.”
The fire burned until dawn.
By sunrise, the Cole mansion was barely standing.
News helicopters hovered overhead.
Reporters surrounded the property.
And social media exploded.
COLE MANSION DESTROYED IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE
BILLIONAIRE'S FAMILY HOME ENGULFED IN FLAMES
ARSON SUSPECTED
But one story dominated the others.
A photograph of Victoria.
She had been seen leaving a private airport at 3:00 a.m.
She was smiling.
Mia stared at the image.
“She knew.”
Ethan nodded.
“She knew the house would burn.”
Marcus looked at the photograph.
“She didn't order it.”
Mia turned.
“Then who did?”
Marcus didn't answer.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
“Did you find the recording?”
Marcus's face became pale.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed.
“You already know.”
Marcus looked toward Ethan.
The call ended.
Ethan stared at him.
“Who was that?”
Marcus swallowed.
“My mother.”
Silence.
Mia whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
Marcus nodded.
“She knows we have the copy.”
Ethan looked at the ruined mansion.
“What does she want?”
Marcus answered:
“The original.”
They returned to a secure apartment.
Mia sat at a table.
The cassette lay in front of her.
Ethan inserted it into an old player.
Static.
Then Richard's voice.
“If you found this recording, then the house is probably gone.”
Mia's eyes widened.
Richard had predicted it.
“They will burn the mansion when they realize the truth is still inside.”
Ethan looked at Marcus.
The recording continued.
“Do not trust anyone who claims they want to protect you.”
A pause.
“Not even family.”
Mia's breathing slowed.
Richard continued.
“The person responsible for my death is not Victoria.”
Static.
Then:
“It is the woman who raised her.”
Mia whispered:
“Grandmother.”
The recording continued.
“But she did not act alone.”
Ethan leaned closer.
Richard's voice became quieter.
“There was someone inside my house.”
Mia froze.
“Someone who had access to every room.”
Ethan looked at Marcus.
“Someone I trusted.”
The recording stopped.
Mia stared.
“Who?”
The tape clicked.
Then restarted.
Richard's voice returned.
“Her name is—”
The audio became distorted.
A loud crackle.
Then silence.
Ethan slammed his hand against the table.
“No!”
Mia stared at the player.
“Someone damaged the tape.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed at the cassette.
“The recording wasn't damaged.”
“What?”
“It was edited.”
Ethan looked at him.
“By whom?”
Marcus answered:
“Someone who had the original.”
That night, Mia couldn't sleep.
She stood by the window.
The city lights were distant and cold.
Ethan entered quietly.
“You should rest.”
“I can't.”
“I know.”
She turned.
“Do you ever wonder if this would have happened if I had never become the nanny?”
Ethan shook his head.
“They would have found you eventually.”
“Why?”
“Because your identity is connected to everything they want.”
Mia looked down.
“I'm scared.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You don't have to be alone.”
She looked at him.
“That's what they wanted.”
“What?”
“To make me believe I had nobody.”
Ethan nodded.
“They failed.”
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a child's voice.
“Mia?”
She froze.
“Lily?”
The voice whispered:
“Mommy, don't come home.”
Mia's heart stopped.
“Where are you?”
“Grandma says the house isn't safe.”
“What house?”
A pause.
Then Lily whispered:
“The old house.”
Mia looked at Ethan.
“What old house?”
Lily suddenly screamed.
The call ended.
Ethan grabbed his phone.
“Trace it.”
Marcus rushed into the room.
“What happened?”
Mia looked at him.
“The children.”
Marcus's face changed.
“What did they say?”
Mia whispered:
“They're in the old house.”
Marcus went pale.
“No.”
“What?”
“That house burned twenty years ago.”
Ethan stared.
“What house?”
Marcus answered:
“Richard's childhood home.”
Mia's stomach tightened.
“Why would they be there?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Because that's where the original trust was created.”
They drove through the night.
The old estate stood beyond the city.
Abandoned.
Broken.
Overgrown.
But there was something strange.
One upstairs window was lit.
Ethan stopped the car.
Mia stared.
“They're inside.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The children aren't alone.”
Ethan opened the door.
A figure appeared behind the window.
An older woman.
Silver hair.
Watching them.
Mia whispered:
“My grandmother.”
Then another figure stepped beside her.
Victoria.
And between them stood Lily and Noah.
Ethan's blood ran cold.
Victoria smiled.
Then she held up the original recording.
The one they thought had burned.
She mouthed:
“Come and get it.”
The lights went out.
A second later, the entire house erupted in flames.
Mia screamed.
“THE CHILDREN!”
Ethan ran toward the burning house.
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait!”
“LET ME GO!”
“It's another trap!”
Ethan turned on him.
“My children are in there!”
Marcus looked at the flames.
“No.”
“What?”
Marcus pointed.
“There are no footprints leading inside.”
Ethan stared.
Then he understood.
A recording played through the house's external speakers.
Lily's voice.
Noah's voice.
Victoria's voice.
All of it.
A fake.
The children had never been there.
The house was empty.
But someone had wanted them to believe otherwise.
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
“They're playing with us.”
Marcus nodded.
“And they're getting closer.”
Ethan looked at the burning house.
Then at the recording.
Then at Mia.
The truth was becoming clearer.
The enemy didn't simply want to destroy evidence.
They wanted to control what everyone believed.
They had burned the mansion.
Created fake evidence.
Manipulated recordings.
Used Victoria.
Used Marcus.
Used the children.
And now they had shown Ethan exactly how powerless he could be.
But they had made one mistake.
They had revealed something else.
On the second-floor window, just before the flames swallowed it, Mia had seen a symbol.
Three lines inside a circle.
The same symbol on the red box.
The same symbol on the trust documents.
The same symbol on her mother's necklace.
Mia touched the necklace beneath her shirt.
Then whispered:
“I know where the original is.”
Ethan turned.
“Where?”
She looked toward the flames.
“Inside me.”
He frowned.
“What?”
Mia pulled the necklace free.
Opened the tiny pendant.
Inside was a microfilm strip.
Ethan stared.
“Your mother gave you that?”
Mia nodded.
“I've had it since I was a child.”
Marcus looked at it.
His face went pale.
“That isn't a necklace.”
“What is it?”
Marcus whispered:
“The key to the original trust.”
And somewhere far away, a phone rang.
A woman answered.
Then smiled.
“They found the key.”
May you like
She looked toward a photograph of Mia.
“Now bring me the heir.”
