THE BILLIONAIRE FIREFIGHTER

The Interrogation

The police station smelled like stale coffee and desperation.

Ava sat on a hard plastic chair in a windowless room, her torn dress clinging to her skin. She was still covered in soot. Her hair was a mess. Her shoulder throbbed where she'd hit the gravel.

She didn't care.

All she could see was the woman in the window.

All she could hear was that whisper.

"Ava."

Her mother's voice.

But her mother was dead.

Ava pressed her palms flat against the cold metal table. Her hands were shaking. She couldn't stop them.

Across from her, Detective Wu sat with a file folder in front of him. He was a thin man with tired eyes and a face that gave nothing away. He'd been watching her for the last ten minutes. Saying nothing. Just watching.

Ava hated him.

"Miss Chen," he finally said. His voice was calm. Measured. "Can you tell me again what you saw?"

Ava's jaw tightened.

"I already told you. Twice."

"Tell me again."

She exhaled slowly. Her patience was gone. But she needed him. He was the only one who could find out who set the fire.

"A woman," she said flatly. "In the second-floor window. She was trapped. Then she disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"The fire consumed the room. She was gone."

Detective Wu leaned back. His eyes never left her face.

"And you said she looked familiar?"

Ava's throat tightened.

"Yes."

"Familiar how?"

She didn't answer.

He waited.

"I don't know," she whispered. "It was dark. There was smoke. I could have been hallucinating."

"You said she looked like your mother."

Ava flinched.

"I said she looked familiar. That's all."

Detective Wu opened the file. He pulled out a photo. He slid it across the table.

Ava looked down.

Her breath caught.

It was a photo of her mother. Younger. Smiling. Holding a baby. Ava recognized the dress. The garden behind them. It was taken at the mansion. The summer before her mother died.

"Why do you have this?" Ava's voice cracked.

"Your grandmother gave it to us. Before she passed."

"Why?"

Detective Wu was quiet for a moment.

Then he said: "Your grandmother filed a report. Two months before she died. She said someone was watching the house. Someone who looked like your mother."

The room tilted.

Ava gripped the edge of the table.

"Excuse me?"

"She was afraid, Miss Chen. She told us she'd seen a woman on the property. A woman who looked exactly like her daughter. Your mother."

"That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"My mother is dead. I watched her die. I buried her."

Detective Wu's expression didn't change.

"I'm not saying it was your mother," he said calmly. "I'm saying your grandmother believed it was. And two weeks after she filed that report, she changed her will."

Ava's blood turned to ice.

"What?"

"The codicil. The marriage clause. Your grandmother added it after she saw that woman."

Ava shook her head. Her mind was spinning. Her grandmother added the marriage clause because she was scared. Because someone was watching the house.

Someone who looked like her mother.

"Why?" Ava whispered. "Why would she do that?"

Detective Wu closed the file.

"I don't know, Miss Chen. But there's something else you need to know."

His voice changed. Softer. Almost gentle.

Ava looked up. Her heart was pounding.

"When we searched the mansion ruins, we found something. In the basement. A room that had been sealed off for years."

Ava frowned. "What room?"

"A bedroom. A child's bedroom."

Ava's stomach dropped.

"I don't understand."

"There were photos on the wall. A girl. Different ages. We ran her face through our system."

He paused.

"We found a match."

Ava's hands were shaking. Her whole body was shaking.

"Who was she?"

Detective Wu leaned forward.

"The girl in those photos," he said slowly, "is you, Miss Chen."

Ava blinked.

"What? That's impossible. I never lived in the basement."

"The photos are you. But there's something else."

He pulled out another photo. Placed it on the table.

Ava looked down.

It was a picture of a woman. A woman holding a baby. A baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The woman was young. Beautiful. Her eyes were warm.

But her face—

Her face was Ava's mother.

And the baby—

Ava's hand flew to her mouth.

That baby was not her.

The baby in the photo had a birthmark. A small dark mark on her right cheek. Ava had no birthmark.

She'd never had a birthmark.

"Who is that?" Ava's voice was barely a whisper.

"We don't know," Detective Wu said. "But the birthmark... it's distinct. We've been running it through databases. But nothing yet."

Ava stared at the photo.

Her mother. Holding a baby.

A baby who wasn't her.

"Miss Chen," the detective said quietly. "Did your mother ever mention a sister? A twin? Anyone who looked like her?"

Ava shook her head slowly.

"No. She never... she never said anything."

She looked up at the detective. Her eyes were wide. Her face was pale.

"What are you telling me?"

Detective Wu met her gaze.

"I'm telling you," he said carefully, "that your mother may have had secrets. Big ones. And someone is willing to burn down houses to keep those secrets buried."

The room was silent.

Ava's mind raced. Her mother. A baby. A birthmark. A room in the basement she'd never known existed.

And the woman in the window.

The woman who looked exactly like her mother.

A woman who could be—

No.

It was impossible.

But then Ava thought about her grandmother's words. The night before she died.

"Promise me you'll let someone in. Promise me you won't end up like me. Alone with only money to keep you warm."

Her grandmother had known.

She'd known about the woman. About the baby. About everything.

And she'd taken it all to her grave.

Ava stood up abruptly. Her chair scraped against the floor.

"I need to go."

"Miss Chen—"

"I need to see the ruins. The basement. There has to be more."

Detective Wu rose slowly.

"Miss Chen, I don't think that's—"

"My grandmother knew something. She knew who that woman was. And she didn't tell me."

Ava's voice was shaking. Her hands were shaking.

"I need answers."

Detective Wu was quiet for a long moment.

Then he said:

"There's one more thing."

Ava froze.

He reached into the file. Pulled out a small envelope. Handed it to her.

She opened it with trembling fingers.

Inside was a photo.

Older. Faded.

A photo of her mother. And a man.

A man Ava recognized.

Her father.

But he wasn't standing next to her mother like a loving husband.

He was holding her.

Choking her.

And in the background—

A child.

A little girl.

With a birthmark on her right cheek.

Ava dropped the photo.

Her legs gave out.

She fell back into the chair, gasping, her vision swimming.

"Miss Chen?" Detective Wu's voice was distant. "Miss Chen, are you okay?"

Ava couldn't speak.

Her father had tried to kill her mother.

And another child had been there.

A child who looked exactly like her.

But wasn't her.

A sister.

A sister she'd never known.

And the woman in the window—

The woman who looked like her mother—

Could it be?

Ava looked up at the detective, her face white, her eyes filled with tears she refused to shed.

"Who," she whispered, "was that little girl?"

Detective Wu was silent.

Then he said:

"That's what we're trying to find out."

He paused.

"But whoever she is, Miss Chen—she's connected to the fire. She's connected to your grandmother's will. And she's connected to the woman in the window."

Ava's heart stopped.

"Are you saying—"

"I'm saying," the detective said quietly, "that someone has been living in your mansion's basement for years. Someone who looks like your mother. Someone who knows everything about you."

Ava stared at him.

The room was spinning.

And then, in the silence, she heard it again.

Faint.

Distant.

A whisper.

"Ava."

She whipped around.

The door was closed.

No one was there.

But the voice was real.

She'd heard it.

Again.

And this time—

This time, she knew.

The woman in the window.

The woman who looked like her mother.

She was still out there.

And she was watching.

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