Chapter 11: Ashes of the Past
931 Words
The room fell into stunned silence.
Lia stared at the guard as though she hadn't heard him correctly.
"My... foster home?" she whispered.
The guard lowered his head.
"Yes, Miss Knox."
"No..."
She shook her head repeatedly.
"No, you're wrong."
"I wish I was."
The words struck harder than she expected.
She stumbled backward until the edge of the piano stopped her from falling.
Maria rushed to her side.
"Lia..."
"My parents..."
Her voice cracked.
"They're still there."
The guard hesitated.
"They survived."
Relief washed over her for only a second.
"But the house..." he continued. "Everything inside was destroyed."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Was anyone injured?"
"The fire spread too quickly. By the time firefighters arrived, the records room had already collapsed."
Lia looked at Adrian.
"The records..."
He nodded grimly.
"Someone knew exactly what they were looking for."
---
An hour later...
Adrian's black SUV sped through the city under the cover of darkness.
Lia sat in the back seat beside Maria.
Neither woman spoke.
Outside, rain battered the windows.
Inside, the silence was suffocating.
Viktor sat in the passenger seat, speaking quietly into an earpiece.
"We're five minutes out."
Adrian kept his eyes on the road.
"Has the area been secured?"
"Yes."
"No reporters."
"No police?"
"They've already left."
Lia frowned.
"They just... left?"
Viktor glanced back.
"Money makes people overlook a lot of things."
She looked away.
She wasn't surprised anymore.
Not after everything she'd seen.
---
The smell of smoke lingered in the air long before the burnt house came into view.
Lia's heart sank.
What had once been a warm, modest home was now nothing more than blackened timber and crumbling walls.
Yellow caution tape surrounded the property.
Firefighters packed away their equipment while investigators examined the ruins.
Lia opened the car door before it had fully stopped.
"Lia!" Adrian called.
She ignored him.
Running toward the remains of the house.
"This can't be happening..."
Tears blurred her vision.
The porch where she used to sit after school...
Gone.
The kitchen window where her foster mother always waved goodbye...
Gone.
Everything...
Gone.
A middle-aged woman suddenly rushed toward her.
"Lia!"
She turned.
"Mom!"
Her foster mother, Helen, wrapped her tightly in her arms.
Both women burst into tears.
"Oh, thank God you're safe," Helen whispered.
"I heard..."
Lia struggled to speak.
"...I thought..."
"I'm alright."
Helen pulled back, gently cupping Lia's face.
"But someone did this on purpose."
Lia's breathing hitched.
"What?"
"They weren't trying to rob us."
"They went straight for the study."
"The study?"
Helen nodded.
"They asked for your adoption records."
Lia froze.
"My... adoption?"
Helen's eyes widened.
She quickly glanced toward Adrian.
"You didn't tell her?"
Adrian remained silent.
Helen's face paled.
"Oh..."
Lia looked between them.
"What is everyone hiding from me?"
No one answered.
Her frustration exploded.
"Stop treating me like I'm going to break!"
She turned to Helen.
"What adoption?"
Helen's eyes filled with tears.
"Lia..."
"You deserve the truth."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Helen."
She looked at him.
"If you tell her now..."
"They'll win."
Helen swallowed hard.
"And if we keep lying..."
"We lose her anyway."
---
Lia's entire body tensed.
"What truth?"
Helen took a shaky breath.
"You were four years old when we adopted you."
Lia blinked.
"I know that."
"No."
Helen shook her head.
"You don't."
"We didn't adopt you through an agency."
Lia frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Helen looked down.
"You were brought to us."
"By who?"
Silence.
"Helen."
"Who?"
Finally...
She whispered the answer.
"Your father."
Lia stared at her.
"My father died."
Helen slowly looked toward Adrian.
"No."
She whispered.
"He saved you."
The world seemed to stop spinning.
Lia's breathing became uneven.
"What..."
She looked at Adrian.
"...does she mean?"
Before he could answer...
A loud gunshot echoed through the night.
Everyone ducked instinctively.
Another shot shattered the windshield of Adrian's SUV.
"Sniper!" Viktor shouted.
"Take cover!"
Chaos erupted.
Guards drew their weapons as people scattered in every direction.
Adrian grabbed Lia's hand.
"Stay down!"
She dropped behind the damaged vehicle beside him.
More bullets struck the ground around them.
The attackers weren't aiming at the guards.
They were aiming...
At Lia.
Adrian pulled her closer, shielding her with his own body.
"Viktor!"
"I see him!"
A guard pointed toward the roof of a nearby abandoned warehouse.
"There!"
The sniper fired again.
The bullet grazed Adrian's shoulder.
Blood immediately stained his white shirt.
"Adrian!"
Lia's eyes widened in horror.
"I'm fine," he growled through gritted teeth.
"You've been shot!"
"It's nothing."
But she could see the pain in his eyes.
Without thinking, Lia pressed her hand against his bleeding shoulder.
He looked at her in surprise.
"You should be worried about yourself."
"I am!"
Her voice trembled.
"But I'm not letting you die."
For a brief moment...
Despite the gunfire...
Despite the chaos...
Their eyes locked.
Neither of them looked away.
Viktor's voice shattered the moment.
"The sniper's escaping!"
Adrian reluctantly stood.
"Go!"
Several guards chased after the fleeing attacker.
Minutes later...
The gunfire stopped.
Silence settled over the ruined neighborhood once again.
Viktor returned, his face grim.
"We lost him."
Adrian cursed under his breath.
Viktor handed him something wrapped in a cloth.
"He dropped this."
Adrian unfolded it.
Inside was another silver coin.
But this one was different.
Etched into the back was a single sentence.
"The heir has been found."
Lia stared at the words.
A chill crept down her spine.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
She looked up at Adrian.
"What heir?"
Adrian closed his hand around the coin.
His expression told her everything.
The answer...
Was her.
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