Chapter 7 - The Fire in the Basement
Smoke reached the kitchen before we heard Michael shouting.
I ran toward the basement stairs.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Claire, stop.”
Orange light flickered below.
The office was burning.
Michael stood near the bottom of the stairs with a fire extinguisher.
For one irrational second, he looked heroic.
Then I saw the metal trash can inside the office.
Documents were burning inside it.
Michael had entered the house to destroy evidence.
Daniel called 911.
Michael sprayed the flames while shouting that it was an accident.
I stared at him through the smoke.
“You started this.”
His expression hardened.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“You’re burning documents in our basement.”
“I’m saving this family.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You’re saving yourself.”
Sirens approached.
Michael suddenly lowered his voice.
“Claire.”
He looked exhausted.
“For fifteen years, I gave you everything.”
I almost laughed.
“You gave me lies.”
“I gave you a life.”
“I paid for half of it.”
His jaw tightened.
“This company employs four hundred people.”
“So that justified forging my signature?”
“You don’t understand the pressure.”
“Did the pressure tell you to steal our children too?”
Michael’s eyes flashed.
“I was never stealing them.”
“You booked flights.”
“For their safety.”
“From me?”
He said nothing.
Firefighters entered moments later.
The fire was contained quickly.
Most documents survived.
Michael was questioned about how he entered the property.
Because his name remained on the deed, police did not arrest him for entry.
But the attempted destruction of potential evidence became another issue.
Daniel quietly contacted a detective he knew.
By two in the morning, our anniversary had become a fraud investigation.
Michael stood outside near the driveway.
Vanessa arrived soon afterward.
She looked furious.
When she saw me, she marched forward.
“You ruined everything.”
An officer stopped her.
I stared at her.
“Everything was already ruined.”
“You think you won?”
“No.”
I looked toward my children’s bedroom windows.
“I think they almost lost their mother.”
Vanessa’s expression shifted.
“For what it’s worth, Michael didn’t want this.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“He wanted a divorce.”
She pointed toward the house.
“He wanted to sell everything and start over.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
“Because he couldn’t.”
Her voice cracked.
“The money was gone.”
I froze.
“What money?”
Vanessa glanced toward Michael.
He shouted.
“Vanessa, shut up.”
That reaction told me the truth before she said it.
Vanessa smiled bitterly.
“Your inheritance.”
Michael’s face drained.
“The money you gave him fifteen years ago.”
She looked directly at me.
“It didn’t save the company.”
I could barely breathe.
“What did it do?”
May you like
Vanessa answered quietly.
“It paid off Michael’s first fraud.”
