Chapter 4 - The Secret Behind the Fire
The investigation into Sarah Mercer's death reopened three days later.
Nathan never told Ellie his suspicions.
She had already carried enough adult terror.
Instead, he told her the truth in the smallest possible form.
"Some people are checking whether the fire happened the way everyone thought."
Ellie stared at him.
"You think Uncle Victor did it?"
Nathan didn't lie.
"I don't know."
She looked down at Jamie.
"I do."
Nathan's heart stopped.
"What?"
Ellie walked to the window.
"The night before the fire, Mom was scared."
"What happened?"
"Uncle Victor came."
Nathan sat forward.
"What did they talk about?"
"Money."
"Did you hear them?"
"Some."
Ellie remembered Sarah saying, "It belongs to the children."
Victor replied, "You owe me."
Then something broke.
Sarah ordered him out.
Victor left.
The next morning, Ellie smelled something strange near the heater.
She told Sarah.
Sarah said she would call the landlord.
That night the fire started.
Fire investigators returned to the building.
The heater was examined.
The wiring had been damaged deliberately.
Nathan received the call while sitting beside Ellie at a playground.
He looked at her laughing as she pushed Noah's stroller.
She had begun laughing more often.
He hated knowing the truth might take that away.
Police found Victor two days later.
During questioning, he denied everything.
Then investigators found financial records.
Debts.
Gambling losses.
Loans.
Messages to Sarah demanding money.
Finally, surveillance footage from a convenience store placed Victor near Sarah's building the night of the fire.
It wasn't enough alone.
But combined with the wiring evidence, it was enough for an arrest.
Ellie watched Nathan's face when Teresa delivered the news.
"Tell me."
Nathan hesitated.
"Tell me."
He sat beside her.
"Your uncle was arrested."
"For the fire?"
Nathan nodded.
Ellie didn't cry.
She stared at her hands.
Then she asked the question he had feared most.
"Did Mom die because of money?"
Nathan felt completely helpless.
"No amount of money explains what happened."
"But did he hurt her because he wanted ours?"
"That's what investigators believe."
Ellie walked away.
Nathan let her.
Five minutes later, he found her behind a tree.
"I should've saved her."
Nathan crouched.
"No."
"I saved Jamie."
"Yes."
"And Noah."
"Yes."
"I should've gone back."
"You were eight."
"I could've—"
"No."
Nathan's voice was firmer than usual.
Ellie looked at him.
"Your mother got you out because she wanted you alive."
"But she—"
"Ellie, listen to me. Carrying your brothers out was already more than any child should ever have been asked to do."
Her face crumpled.
Nathan opened his arms.
She entered them voluntarily.
That mattered.
Weeks passed.
Victor remained in custody.
The children's trust was protected.
But another problem emerged.
Grace's foster placement had been approved only temporarily.
The agency needed a permanent arrangement.
Relatives were evaluated.
None could take all three.
One could take Ellie.
Another could take the twins.
The same nightmare returned.
Teresa explained the options to Nathan.
He stared at her.
"You're separating them?"
"We're trying not to."
"Trying?"
"There aren't many homes equipped for an eight-year-old and newborn twins."
Nathan stood.
"Mine is."
Teresa froze.
"What?"
Nathan hadn't planned the sentence.
But the moment he said it, something settled inside him.
"My home."
"Nathan—"
"Six bedrooms. Full-time staff. Security. I work mostly from home when necessary."
"This isn't a business arrangement."
"I know."
"Becoming a foster parent isn't writing a check."
"I know."
"You'll be responsible for nightmares, doctor visits, school meetings, diapers, illnesses—"
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Nathan stopped.
Teresa softened.
"Nobody knows until they do it."
Nathan looked through the window.
Ellie sat on the floor feeding Noah.
Jamie slept beside her.
Three weeks earlier, Nathan's home had been perfectly organized.
Quiet.
Expensive.
Empty.
He looked back at Teresa.
"What do I need to do?"
The approval process wasn't instant.
Nathan submitted to background checks.
Home inspections.
Interviews.
Training.
People who knew him laughed when they heard.
His business partner stared across the conference table.
"Three children?"
"Yes."
"Two are infants?"
"Yes."
"And you're single."
"Still yes."
"You don't know anything about babies."
Nathan smiled.
"I'm learning."
He did.
He learned bottles.
Diapers.
Car seats.
Pediatric appointments.
He learned that babies could somehow produce more laundry than entire corporations.
He learned that Ellie hid food beneath her pillow.
The first time he discovered crackers there, he almost asked why.
Then he understood.
Food had disappeared before.
Security wasn't something he could explain to her.
It was something he had to prove repeatedly.
So he put a basket in her room.
"Emergency snacks," he called them.
"You won't be mad?"
"Why would I?"
"For taking food."
"Ellie, food in this house belongs to everyone who lives here."
She stared at him.
"Even me?"
Nathan's throat tightened.
"Especially you."
Months later, Nathan was approved as a foster placement.
The morning Ellie moved in, she carried one backpack.
Nathan showed her the bedroom.
She stood at the doorway.
"This whole room?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
Nathan knew what she was really asking.
How long until you send me away?
He knelt.
"For as long as you're supposed to be here."
"How long is that?"
Nathan smiled.
"I hope we get to figure that out together."
She entered.
Then turned.
"Nathan?"
"Yeah?"
"I still owe you."
"For what?"
"The milk."
Nathan laughed.
"You are unbelievably stubborn."
"You said I could pay you when I grew up."
"I don't remember agreeing to that."
"I do."
She shut the bedroom door.
Nathan stood in the hallway smiling.
Behind him, Noah began crying.
Then Jamie.
Nathan sighed.
"Coming."
May you like
The penthouse was never quiet again.
And for the first time in years, Nathan didn't miss the silence.
