FIFTEEN
797 Words
🕊️ Chapter 15 – Between Fire and Secrets
The rain outside had stopped, yet the wind howled fiercely between the walls of the Madrigal mansion.
Xavier and Althea stood in silence, both staring at the projector screen that now showed nothing but black.
“You wanted to hear everything?” Xavier finally broke the silence, his voice cold but trembling. “Then you deserve the whole story.”
He slowly walked to his desk and opened a drawer. From it, he took out an old envelope—sealed with red wax, the words Sandoval Case – Confidential written on the edge.
“That’s the reason I left the police force,” he said quietly. “The moment I discovered who Lea really was.”
Althea took the envelope with trembling hands. Inside were several photographs of a young girl—fourteen, with an angelic smile.
“L–Lyra…” she whispered in disbelief. “My sister.”
Xavier nodded. “Lea staged her death. She made everyone believe she was gone—even me. But she’s alive, Althea. And the roots of this go far deeper than either of us imagined.”
---
Outside the study room, Marco Monteverde stood in silence, eavesdropping.
He held his phone, staring at the message that had just come in:
> “Make sure the truth stays buried. Or you’ll be next.” – C.N.M.
He swallowed hard.
He knew exactly whose initials those were—Clarisse Navarro Montemayor.
The woman he once loved. The same woman who now forced him to betray his closest friend, Xavier.
Yet as he watched the two arguing inside the room, a part of him wanted to end it all—to stop the lies, even if it cost him his life.
---
“Xavier,” Althea said, still clutching the photo of Lyra, “why did you call me back here when you knew it would destroy everything?”
He met her gaze—steady, unflinching.
“Because you deserve to know what I’ve been hiding… and what Lea died protecting.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, voice shaking.
Xavier moved toward a hidden panel behind the bookshelf. When he pressed a small button, the wall slid open to reveal a steel vault.
Inside were CDs, files, and an old USB drive.
“Everything the world thought was gone,” he said grimly, “is right here.”
But before he could insert the USB into his laptop, the lights flickered violently—then a deafening explosion rocked the back of the mansion.
“XAVIER!” Althea screamed.
They both ran outside and froze at the sight before them—
the east wing of the mansion was engulfed in flames.
---
Through the fire and smoke, a silhouette appeared—a woman in a red dress.
She held a phone in her hand, smiling faintly as the flames reflected in her eyes.
“Some truths,” she murmured, “need to burn before they’re reborn.”
Marco approached cautiously, trembling. “Lea…?”
But when his flashlight moved across the hallway, she was gone.
All that remained was the faint scent of jasmine—the very perfume Lea Sandoval used to wear.
---
Xavier and Althea rushed back inside. The fire was spreading fast.
“Xavier, we have to go!” Althea shouted, pulling his arm.
But he refused. “The files, Althea! If we lose them, we lose everything!”
He ran back into the study, grabbed the vault, and placed the contents into a leather bag.
Just as he turned to leave, the ceiling collapsed with a thunderous crash.
“XAVIER!”
Althea darted into the flames, coughing through the smoke, and pulled him from the debris.
“Please, Xavier! I won’t let you die here!”
Another explosion erupted behind them. They fell hard onto the floor, ash and embers raining down.
In the suffocating heat, Xavier reached for her hand and whispered,
“If this fire burns anything tonight… let it be the lies that kept us prisoners.”
A tear rolled down Althea’s soot-streaked cheek.
And just as the flames surrounded them, a sudden downpour began—
a heavy rain pouring through the broken windows, washing away the smoke and ash.
Like heaven itself was trying to cleanse the sins of the past.
---
By morning, the San Rafael Times carried the headline:
> “Madrigal Mansion Engulfed in Flames: Couple Missing, Investigation Underway.”
Meanwhile, in a distant warehouse, a woman in a red dress stared at an old cellphone.
On the screen, a live video feed flickered—Xavier and Althea, unconscious but alive.
She smiled faintly. “You’re not done yet, Xavier,” she whispered. “The game has just begun.”
- Writer
