Chapter:coldAshes
662 Words
Arthur Tom stood in the middle of his private study, the city lights behind him flickering like dying stars. The glass of scotch on his desk had gone untouched. He stared at it for a long moment—then looked away. The burn didn’t work anymore. Not after her.
Kelly Moore.
Back in Windmere.
Just like that.
He’d told himself she didn’t matter. Repeated it until the words lost meaning. But when he saw her… everything he'd buried clawed its way back to the surface.
Three years. No message. No warning. And now she walked Windmere’s streets like she hadn’t disappeared. Like she hadn’t hollowed him out.
John and Caleb had tried to keep him grounded. “She’s not worth it,” Caleb had muttered. “Let it go.”
But Arthur wasn’t built to let things go. Especially not betrayal.
She had known what he was. What it meant when he let someone in. He’d trusted her—not just with secrets, not just with softness, but with power. And she left him with questions he never asked anyone else to answer.
Now, she’d returned. Quiet. Slippery. Full of smiles that didn’t reach her eyes.
He didn’t believe in coincidence.
She was hiding something.
Arthur slammed the glass onto the desk. Crystal cracked. He didn’t flinch.
She hadn’t just walked out. She had robbed him—of peace, of time, of control.
And now?
She would answer.
He picked up his phone with deliberate calm.
“Call Richard,” he said.
“Yes, sir?” his assistant responded.
“I want the house in the hills cleared out. Prepped. Locked down.”
There was a pause. “Do you want surveillance or—?”
“She’s to be brought there by morning. Quietly. No scene.”
“Understood. Should she be—”
“No,” Arthur said. His voice dropped to a colder octave. “She’ll come willingly. Just tell her I want to talk.”
Another pause. “Yes, sir.”
He ended the call and leaned back in his chair. Fingers steepled. Eyes unreadable.
The old Arthur would’ve demanded explanations. The man he was now?
He'd take them.
She wanted to return on her own terms. But Arthur Tom was done playing by anyone else’s rules.
You ran once, Kelly.
Let’s see if you still think you can run now.
Meanwhile
The moon hung low over Windmere as Kelly sat at the old dock with Olivia and Britney. The water lapped against the wooden beams, quiet and rhythmic. A thermos of tea sat between them, untouched.
“You’re spiraling again,” Britney said softly, breaking the silence. “You do that when you think too much.”
Kelly didn’t look up. Her fingers toyed with the edge of her jacket. “It’s nothing.”
“Arthur saw you,” Olivia said. “Didn’t he?”
Kelly’s silence was answer enough.
“I could feel it the second you walked into the diner,” Britney added. “Like the air shifted.”
“I didn’t plan for this,” Kelly whispered. “I thought I could stay quiet. Just get what I needed and leave.”
“Does he know?” Olivia asked.
“No. But he will. And when he does…”
“What are you scared of?” Britney asked.
Kelly looked at them both, and for a moment, her mask slipped. “Not him. Not really. I’m scared of what he’ll do with the truth. How far he’ll go to reclaim what I took.”
“You mean… the boy?” Olivia’s voice dropped to a murmur.
Kelly nodded once. “And if he finds out before I’m ready—before I can explain…”
She didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t need to.
The girls fell quiet. The only sound was the ocean breathing against the shore and the wind curling tighter around them.
Somewhere far from that dock, Arthur Tom was already moving.
- Writer
