Chapter 5 - The Fire at the Beach House
The custody hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Victoria’s legal team claimed Daniel had manipulated Lily’s statements. They painted Victoria as a grieving stepmother betrayed by a wealthy husband.
But Daniel had evidence now.
The burned hands.
The riding crop.
The threat letters.
The storage-unit files.
The recording involving Michael Hale.
Still, he knew Victoria would not surrender quietly.
On Saturday evening, Daniel took Lily to a small beach house owned by his late mother. It was farther from Malibu, hidden behind dunes and old palm trees.
Ethan came too.
Lily liked him immediately.
He showed her how to repair a broken music box, and for the first time in weeks, Daniel heard his daughter laugh without forcing it.
That night, Daniel stood on the porch with Ethan.
“I should have seen it,” Daniel said.
“You came home,” Ethan replied. “That matters.”
“It doesn’t erase what she did.”
“No,” Ethan said. “But it gives Lily something I never had.”
Daniel looked through the window at his daughter.
“A father who believes her.”
At two in the morning, the smoke alarm went off.
Daniel woke to flames crawling beneath the bedroom door.
“Lily!” he shouted.
He ran through the hall.
The living room curtains were on fire.
Ethan rushed from the guest room carrying a fire extinguisher.
Daniel reached Lily’s room and found her standing by the bed, crying.
“Daddy!”
He wrapped her in a blanket and lifted her into his arms.
They escaped through the back window seconds before part of the roof collapsed.
Outside, Daniel held Lily in the sand while firefighters arrived.
The fire investigator found traces of accelerant near the porch.
It was arson.
Then Ethan discovered something near the beach path.
A discarded lighter.
Engraved with a silver V.
Victoria’s favorite initial.
Officer Brooks looked at Daniel.
“This is enough to request an arrest warrant.”
But Victoria had disappeared.
Her penthouse was empty.
Her bank accounts had been drained.
Her attorney claimed he had not heard from her.
Then Daniel received a final voicemail.
Victoria’s voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You think you won, Daniel. But Lily is still mine in ways you will never understand.”
The message ended with a sound.
A child’s music box.
The same melody Lily had been playing before the fire.
Daniel looked toward the burned beach house.
Victoria was not running away.
May you like
She was setting the stage for one final move.
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