Chapter 6: The Hidden Will
Chapter 6: The Hidden Will
The piercing alarm echoed through every corridor of Ashford Manor.
Servants rushed from their quarters.
Guests who had remained at the estate stumbled into the hallways in confusion.
Smoke drifted from the East Wing, turning the crystal chandeliers into ghostly silhouettes.
Daniel sprinted toward the source of the fire, with Richard Collins close behind.
"Call the fire department!" Daniel shouted.
Mrs. Harris was already directing the household staff.
"Everyone out of the East Wing! Move quickly!"
Emily, who had been folding linens in the laundry room nearby, heard the alarm and ran toward the main staircase.
She looked up to see thick gray smoke pouring from an upper hallway.
"Daniel!" she called.
He looked down from the landing.
"Stay back!"
But Emily noticed something he hadn't.
A maid stood frozen near the smoke-filled corridor, too terrified to move.
Without thinking, Emily ran upstairs.
"No!" Daniel yelled.
She ignored him.
Pulling a damp cloth over her mouth, she rushed through the smoke. The frightened maid, barely nineteen years old, had collapsed against the wall, coughing violently.
Emily wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Come on."
The young maid shook her head weakly.
"I... I can't breathe..."
"You can."
Emily tightened her grip.
"Lean on me."
Together, they stumbled toward the staircase just as firefighters arrived through the front entrance.
Daniel reached them halfway down the stairs and helped carry the exhausted maid outside.
The firefighters quickly brought the flames under control.
Fortunately, the blaze had been confined to a single abandoned storage room.
The damage was limited.
But Daniel knew that wasn't the point.
Someone had started this fire deliberately.
Again.
An hour later, Detective Michael Hayes walked through the charred room wearing protective gloves.
The smell of burned wood and wet ash filled the air.
One firefighter approached him.
"It started here."
He pointed to an old filing cabinet.
"Accelerant was used."
Hayes nodded.
"So it wasn't electrical."
"No."
The firefighter bent down and picked up a melted metal object.
"This survived."
Hayes accepted it carefully.
It was part of an old lock.
The cabinet had been locked before the fire.
Someone hadn't wanted the contents examined.
Unfortunately for them...
Not everything had burned.
Hayes noticed a partially blackened leather folder trapped beneath a collapsed shelf.
He carefully pulled it free.
Most of the cover had been scorched.
Yet one word remained readable.
WILL
His eyes narrowed.
Outside, paramedics treated the young maid Emily had rescued.
Daniel stood nearby, watching Emily wash soot from her hands at a garden fountain.
She looked exhausted.
A smear of ash streaked her cheek.
The bruise from Vanessa's slap had not yet faded.
"You could have been killed," Daniel said quietly.
Emily continued washing her hands.
"I couldn't leave her."
Daniel sighed.
"You always put everyone else first."
Emily smiled faintly.
"My mother used to say..."
She paused.
"What?"
"People remember kindness long after they forget comfort."
Daniel looked at her for a moment.
The woman everyone had accused of theft had just risked her life to save another servant.
Whatever secrets surrounded Emily...
Kindness wasn't one of them.
It was simply who she was.
Across the estate, Vanessa watched everything from her bedroom window.
She saw Daniel speaking gently with Emily.
She saw the detectives searching the burned room.
She saw firefighters carrying evidence boxes toward their vehicles.
Her hands trembled.
"It wasn't enough," she whispered.
Someone knocked sharply on her door.
She opened it.
Richard Collins stood outside.
His expression was colder than she had ever seen.
"We need to talk."
Vanessa stepped aside.
Richard entered and quietly closed the door.
"You started that fire."
Vanessa laughed.
"You have no proof."
"I don't need proof."
He stared directly into her eyes.
"I need the truth."
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"You'll never get it."
Richard's voice remained calm.
"The folder survived."
For the first time, Vanessa lost her composure.
"What folder?"
"The one you tried to destroy."
Her face turned pale.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Richard took one step closer.
"Neither of us can afford more lies."
Vanessa looked away.
"You don't understand."
"Then help me."
She slowly shook her head.
"If the truth comes out..."
Her voice cracked.
"...everyone loses."
Later that evening, Detective Hayes requested a private meeting with Daniel and Margaret.
The damaged leather folder lay on the library table.
Most of its pages had been destroyed by the fire.
One document, however, remained mostly intact.
Hayes carefully unfolded it.
"It appears to be a copy of a will."
Margaret frowned.
"My husband updated his will many times."
Hayes nodded.
"This doesn't match any version currently registered with the court."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What does it say?"
Hayes adjusted the fragile page.
"The beginning is unreadable."
"What about the rest?"
He read slowly.
"...should anything happen to me before this matter is resolved, I leave all evidence regarding the Carter child to be protected by my executor until she reaches the age of twenty-five..."
Daniel's heartbeat quickened.
"The Carter child?"
Hayes nodded.
"The remainder is damaged."
Margaret covered her mouth.
"No..."
Daniel looked at her.
"You know something."
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"I hoped..."
She whispered.
"...this day would never come."
Silence filled the library.
Finally, Margaret stood and walked toward the fireplace.
"I've kept this secret for more than twenty years."
Daniel waited.
"When your father was alive..."
She stared into the flames.
"...he often met privately with Sarah Carter."
Daniel said nothing.
"I believed they were discussing charity work."
She smiled sadly.
"I wanted to believe that."
"But?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"One night I overheard an argument."
Daniel leaned closer.
"My husband kept saying..."
Her voice trembled.
"She deserves the truth."
"And someone else answered..."
"The truth will destroy this family."
Daniel frowned.
"Who was the other person?"
Margaret slowly turned toward him.
"I never saw their face."
Meanwhile, Emily returned to her room.
She found Mrs. Harris waiting inside.
"You left your door unlocked."
Emily smiled.
"I must have forgotten."
Mrs. Harris shook her head.
"No."
"I locked it myself."
Emily froze.
"What?"
Mrs. Harris quietly held up a small object.
"I found this on your floor."
It was an old brass key.
Emily stared at it.
"I've never seen it before."
Mrs. Harris nodded.
"Neither have I."
Attached to the key was a faded paper tag.
On it, written in neat handwriting, were two words.
Attic Chest
Emily frowned.
"The attic?"
Mrs. Harris looked toward the ceiling.
"There hasn't been anyone up there in years."
Near midnight, unable to ignore her curiosity, Emily climbed the narrow staircase leading to the mansion's attic.
Dust covered every step.
The air smelled of cedar and old paper.
Moonlight slipped through tiny windows beneath the roof.
Rows of forgotten furniture stood beneath white sheets.
She searched carefully.
Finally...
She found an old wooden chest.
The brass key fit perfectly.
The lid creaked open.
Inside lay children's toys.
Old clothing.
A small knitted blanket.
And beneath them...
A sealed envelope.
Across the front, written in the same elegant handwriting as Sarah's letters, were the words:
For Emily
Her hands shook.
Slowly, she opened it.
Inside was another letter.
But before she could read the first line—
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Emily turned sharply.
Someone stood in the shadows.
Only their outline was visible against the moonlight.
The stranger spoke in a calm, familiar voice.
"You should never have opened that chest."
Emily stepped backward.
"Who are you?"
The figure took one slow step forward.
"You've been looking for answers."
Another step.
"But some answers come with a price."
Emily's heart pounded.
She couldn't see the person's face.
Only a silver cane glinting in the moonlight.
Then, without another word...
The figure turned...
And disappeared into the darkness of the attic before Emily could follow.
Alone once again, Emily looked down at the unopened letter in her hands.
For the first time in twenty-one years...
May you like
The truth was finally within reach.
End of Chapter 6
