Chapter 4 - The Fire“Mia, stay behind me!”
Julian rushed toward the door.
Smoke filled the chapel.
He pulled at the handle.
Locked.
Someone had started a fire outside.
Mia coughed.
“Julian!”
“I've got you.”
He wrapped his jacket around her.
The flames grew.
The old wooden walls began cracking.
Julian kicked the door again.
Nothing.
Then he remembered the side window.
He smashed the glass with a metal candlestick.
“Go!”
Mia climbed through.
Julian followed seconds later.
They landed in the grass as flames consumed the chapel.
Mia turned.
The metal box was still inside.
“So are the documents!”
Julian grabbed her.
“No.”
“But my mother's letter!”
“Your life matters more.”
Firefighters arrived minutes later.
The mansion became chaos.
Elena appeared wearing a white robe.
She looked shocked.
“What happened?”
Julian stared at her.
“Someone tried to kill us.”
Elena's face went pale.
“You think I did this?”
“I don't know what to think.”
Mia watched her carefully.
For the first time, Elena looked afraid.
That night, Julian hired private security.
Mia refused to sleep alone.
She sat in the library beside him.
“Do you think my mother is alive?”
Julian looked at the fire outside.
“I don't know.”
“But you believe it.”
“Yes.”
At midnight, the security chief arrived.
“We found something.”
He placed a small device on the desk.
A hidden camera.
It had been installed inside the chapel.
Julian watched the footage.
A man entered fifteen minutes before the fire started.
Victor.
Julian's uncle.
His face hardened.
“I knew it.”
But there was another surprise.
The footage showed Elena meeting Victor earlier that day.
Julian turned toward his wife.
She had entered the room behind them.
Her face collapsed.
“I can explain.”
Julian stood.
“Start.”
Elena began crying.
“I didn't know he would hurt anyone.”
“You knew he was involved.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened me.”
“With what?”
Elena hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Your father left documents.”
Julian's eyes narrowed.
“What documents?”
“Proof that Victor stole from the company.”
“Where are they?”
“I don't know.”
Elena looked at Mia.
“I thought she was just a servant.”
Mia stared at her.
“You slapped me.”
Elena began crying harder.
“I was jealous.”
“You accused me of stealing.”
“I was wrong.”
“You called me a liar.”
Elena covered her face.
Julian didn't forgive her.
Not yet.
The next morning, the security team discovered something strange.
The fire had destroyed most of the chapel.
But the stone beneath the altar remained intact.
And underneath it was a second compartment.
Inside was a key.
Along with an address.
Julian recognized the place.
An old railway station.
A place Claire had loved as a child.
They drove there immediately.
At the station, they found an abandoned locker.
The key opened it.
Inside was a suitcase.
Mia touched it.
There was a name written on the side.
Claire.
Julian opened it.
Inside were clothes.
Photographs.
A medical file.
And one final photograph.
Claire was older.
Much older.
Standing beside another little girl.
Mia stared.
“That's me.”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the date.
The photograph had been taken only three years ago.
Mia looked closer.
The little girl wasn't her.
But she looked almost identical.
Then Julian found the note attached to the photograph.
May you like
Mia was not my only child.
He stopped breathing.
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