Chapter 8 - THE PIANO IN THE DARK
Emma ran toward the stage, but Marcus caught her arm when a red laser dot crossed the floor. Rebecca stepped from behind the piano holding a flare gun and Lily by the shoulder.
"Nobody was supposed to get hurt," Rebecca said. Her voice shook. "I just needed Marcus to keep his promises."
Lily's face was wet with tears, but she stood straight.
Emma forced herself to remain calm. "Let her come to me."
Rebecca laughed bitterly. "You always sound so reasonable. That's why everyone believes you."
She described years of watching Marcus build a family and a company while she remained useful only when he needed a problem solved. When he approached her about Ethan, she saw a chance to become indispensable. She fabricated the DNA result, then convinced Marcus that Emma's resistance proved she was selfish.
"You wanted my life," Emma said.
"I wanted the life he said we should have had."
Marcus stepped forward. "I used you. I let you believe things I had no right to promise. But Lily has nothing to do with that."
Rebecca's face collapsed for a moment.
Lily looked at the piano and whispered, "It isn't even the one I wanted."
The absurd honesty broke the tension. Rebecca glanced down.
Emma moved.
She pulled Lily free as Marcus struck Rebecca's wrist. The flare fired into the curtains. Flames climbed toward the rafters.
Police stormed the hall while smoke rolled across the stage. Marcus carried Lily through a side door, then turned back when he realized Rebecca had fallen beneath a burning beam.
Emma shouted for him to stop.
Marcus went back anyway.
He dragged Rebecca to safety seconds before the roof above the piano collapsed.
Outside, Lily clung to Emma while paramedics treated a burn on Marcus's arm. Rebecca was handcuffed to a stretcher.
As officers led her away, she looked at Emma and said, "Ask him why he already had divorce papers before the piano was delivered."
May you like
Emma turned toward Marcus.
His face told her Rebecca was not lying.
