Chapter 5 - Fire on the CliffsFlames climbed the eastern wing.
Police chased a black SUV down the coastal road.
Ethan ran into the burning house.
Olivia followed.
Inside, smoke covered the ceiling.
A child’s shoe lay near the fireplace.
Then they heard coughing.
Celeste was tied inside a locked room.
Olivia stared at her mother.
Celeste whispered:
“You came.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“Vanessa took her.”
“Where?”
“The nursery.”
They ran upstairs.
Sophie stood near the balcony.
Vanessa held her.
“Stop.”
Ethan froze.
Olivia stepped forward.
“Mommy!”
Sophie reached toward her.
Vanessa tightened her grip.
“I raised you.”
“You hurt me.”
Vanessa's expression cracked.
“You ruined everything when you started remembering her.”
Sophie bit her hand.
Vanessa screamed.
Olivia grabbed Sophie.
Ethan tackled Vanessa.
Police stormed the room.
As Vanessa was dragged away, she whispered:
“You still don't know what Adrian did.”
Celeste was carried outside.
She told Ethan the truth.
Adrian had arranged the vehicle that struck Olivia's car.
Richard Bennett, Ethan's father, had financed Saint Catherine's.
Olivia had discovered that Richard stole money from the company's employee pension fund.
The crash had been a cover-up.
Not just to hide Olivia.
To silence her.
Then Celeste revealed the deeper motive.
Olivia's inheritance.
Forty-eight million dollars.
Sophie was also an heir.
Vanessa had not married Ethan simply to replace Olivia.
She wanted legal control over Sophie.
Ethan called his father.
Richard answered calmly.
“You should come to Geneva.”
“No.”
“You're emotional.”
Ethan looked at Olivia.
At Sophie.
At the woman he had buried.
“You always mistook emotion for weakness.”
He ended the call.
Then Adrian called.
“Bring the box to the old Bennett house.”
Richard came onto the line.
“You have one hour.”
The call ended.
Celeste whispered:
“The drive is missing.”
Sophie reached into her pajama pocket.
She pulled out a tiny silver key.
Celeste stared.
“That opens Olivia's box.”
Olivia frowned.
“What box?”
May you like
Celeste looked toward the cliffs.
“The one buried beneath your empty grave.”
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