Chapter 6 - The Price of SilenceAnna watched Evelyn’s video three times.
“Stay here.”
“No,” Anna snapped.
“Anna—”
Another crash came from upstairs.
Then the smell reached them.
Smoke.
Maria’s expression changed instantly.
“Fire.”
Daniel ran up the basement stairs.
Flames were climbing the curtains beside the front window.
Someone had thrown an incendiary bottle through the glass.
“Back door!” he shouted.
Maria grabbed the cassette.
Anna grabbed the photographs.
Smoke spread across the ceiling.
Daniel kicked open the kitchen exit.
Cold rain rushed inside.
They made it into the yard moments before flames reached the staircase.
Anna coughed violently.
Daniel wrapped an arm around her.
She pushed him away.
“I can walk.”
“I know.”
Sirens approached.
Neighbors came outside.
Maria stood barefoot in the rain watching fire consume the home she had shared with Rafael for twenty-nine years.
Anna took her hand.
“I’m so sorry.”
Maria squeezed back.
“No.”
Tears ran down her face.
“We are done being sorry for what they do.”
A firefighter approached.
“Anybody injured?”
Then Anna doubled over.
Pain tore through her abdomen.
Daniel caught her.
“Anna?”
Another pain came.
Sharp.
Deep.
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“The baby.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel sat outside an emergency room soaked in rain and smoke.
Maria paced beside him.
Neither spoke.
Finally, a doctor emerged.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Daniel stood.
“Anna Carter?”
“She’s stable.”
He exhaled.
“And the baby?”
“Also stable. She experienced contractions likely triggered by stress and smoke exposure, but they’ve stopped.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
“Can I see her?”
The doctor hesitated.
“She asked for Maria.”
Maria gave him a sympathetic look.
“I’ll tell her you’re here.”
Daniel nodded.
He deserved that.
Inside, Anna lay beneath a white blanket with monitors around her.
Maria took her hand.
“My house is gone.”
Anna began crying.
“I did that.”
“Stop.”
“If I hadn’t—”
“Anna.”
Maria leaned closer.
“You did not throw fire through my window.”
“But they wanted me.”
“Then they should have knocked.”
Despite everything, Anna laughed weakly.
Maria sat.
“Daniel’s outside.”
“I know.”
“He hasn’t left.”
“That doesn’t undo anything.”
“No.”
Maria paused.
“But maybe you should hear what he knows.”
Anna stared toward the dark window.
“I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“That’s exactly why people like Evelyn isolate you.”
Maria’s expression softened.
“You don’t have to forgive Daniel. You don’t even have to like him tonight. But truth is useful even when the person carrying it hurt you.”
An hour later, Anna agreed.
Daniel entered slowly.
No suit jacket.
No powerful-family confidence.
He looked frightened.
“Can I sit?”
Anna nodded.
He pulled the chair close but didn’t touch her.
“I failed you.”
Anna looked away.
“I believed what I was shown because part of me was angry you rejected my family’s world.”
“I rejected your mother’s control.”
“I understand that now.”
“You should have understood then.”
“Yes.”
No defense.
That surprised her.
Daniel continued.
“I spent seven months telling myself you made your choice.”
Anna swallowed.
“And I spent seven months wondering why I wasn’t worth one goodbye.”
His eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t get to say that once and make this disappear.”
“I know.”
“You missed every appointment.”
“I know.”
“You weren’t there when I heard her heartbeat.”
His face broke slightly.
“You weren’t there when I found out she was a girl.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“I know.”
“You weren’t there when I got evicted.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
Anna laughed without humor.
“Your mother’s lawyer bought my building.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Three weeks after you left. New ownership terminated month-to-month leases.”
Daniel stood.
“She made you homeless?”
“I didn’t connect it until now.”
His jaw hardened.
“I’m going to destroy her.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Anna.
She wiped tears from her cheek.
“You don’t get to turn this into revenge.”
“She burned Maria’s house.”
“We don’t know that.”
“We know.”
“No. We suspect.”
Anna sat straighter.
“If Evelyn has spent twenty-three years hiding the truth, anger is what she expects.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“And after that?”
Anna placed a hand over her stomach.
“I want my daughter to grow up without being afraid of powerful people.”
At that moment, two police detectives entered.
Detective Mason Cole introduced himself.
His partner carried a plastic evidence bag.
“We found this near the Reyes residence.”
Inside was a half-melted phone.
“Anonymous prepaid device,” Cole said. “But there’s one outgoing number that survived.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“Whose?”
Cole glanced at his notes.
“It belongs to a security contractor.”
Anna already knew.
“Peter Sloan.”
The detective looked surprised.
“Yes.”
Daniel took out his phone.
“I can give you his employer.”
Before he could dial, the hospital television changed to breaking news.
A reporter stood outside Mercer Tower.
Daniel Mercer, presumed to be in Europe, has been accused of misappropriating more than eighteen million dollars from Mercer Holdings.
Daniel stared.
The report continued.
Company chairwoman Evelyn Mercer issued a statement tonight saying her son has been removed from all corporate authority pending a criminal investigation.
Maria whispered, “She moved first.”
Daniel’s phone stopped working.
His company access.
Banking access.
Email.
Everything had been shut down.
Then Anna’s phone buzzed.
Unknown sender.
A video.
Evelyn Mercer sat behind her desk.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Anna, you have something that belongs to me.”
Anna’s blood went cold.
Evelyn continued.
“The tape.”
May you like
Then she smiled.
“If you want Daniel to stay out of prison, bring it to me tomorrow.”
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