Chapter 42 Leaving The Ashes Behind

Chapter 42 Leaving The Ashes Behind
The morning sun was bright, but it did not feel warm. The house was filled with police officers and Edward’s security team. 

Edward refused to leave my side. He had a bandage on his arm from a graze he got at the warehouse, but he did not seem to notice the pain. He kept his arm around me as we sat in the kitchen, drinking tea.

"We have the USB drive, Serena," Edward said quietly. 

"What about the boat?" I asked. I could not stop looking at the ocean. "You said she was on a boat."  

Mark walked into the kitchen, holding a tablet. "The Coast Guard found the boat, Ma’am. It was drifting about five miles out. It was empty."  

"Empty? How can it be empty?"  

"She’s smart," Mark said. "She probably had a second boat waiting. But it does not matter. With the information on that drive, she has no money left. We froze her accounts ten minutes ago."  

I looked at Arthur, who was sleeping.

An hour later, Commander Miller arrived. He was an older man with gray hair. He sat down with us in the study. Edward pushed the USB drive across the desk. 

"Everything is in there, Commander," Edward said. "The names of the judges she paid. The police officers on her payroll. The warehouse locations."  

Commander Miller looked at the drive. "This is enough to put her away for life, Edward. But I have to be honest with you. Lily Vance is like a ghost. If she has gone underground, it could take months to find her."  

"We don’t have months," I said, standing up. "Let’s go to Berkelene."  

Edward looked at me, surprised. "Serena, it’s not safe."  

"No," I insisted. Berkelene is Lily’s safe haven. The Vance mansion. If she has no money, she will go somewhere she feels safe and hidden.”

"She might be right," Mark said. "It’s the one place we haven’t searched yet because we thought she was too smart to go back there."  

"Then we go," Edward said.  

The drive to Berkelene was different this time. We were in a convoy of three armored SUVs. Arthur was with us, protected by Sarah and two of Mark’s best men in the car behind us.  

We pulled up to the Vance mansion. The huge iron gates were closed. The gold statues and marble pillars looked cold and lonely.  

"Stay in the car until I say it’s clear," Edward told me.  

He and Mark got out. They had their guns ready. They moved toward the front door. I watched through the tinted glass, my heart pounding.

Silence followed.  

Then, Mark signaled to the car. I got out, my legs feeling heavy. I walked up the marble steps. The house smelled like dust and expensive perfume.  

"She’s in the library," Edward whispered.  

I walked toward the back of the house. The library was a massive room with walls covered in books and a large mahogany desk.  

Lily was sitting in the high-backed leather chair behind the desk. She was wearing a black silk dress. She was holding a glass of wine, but her hand was shaking. She looked older. The confidence was gone.  

She looked up as I entered. "You just don’t stay down, do you, Serena?"  

"It’s over, Lily," I said. "The police are outside. Your bank accounts are frozen. The people you paid are being arrested right now."  

Lily laughed. 

"You tried to kill a baby," I said. "Your own grandson."  

"He was a weakness," she spat. "Edward became weak the moment he met you. I had to fix it."  

"You didn’t fix anything," Edward said, walking into the library. "You destroyed everything. I’m giving the police the statement now. You will never see the sun again."  

Lily looked at the wine glass. She looked like she wanted to throw it, but she just set it down. "I won’t go to a cell, Edward. A Vance doesn’t live in a cage."  

She reached into the desk drawer.  
"Drop it!" Mark shouted as he walked in, raising his gun.  

But Lily did not pull out a gun. She pulled out a small, old-fashioned lighter and a stack of papers. She turned on the lighter.  

"If I can’t have this house, and this name, then nobody can," she said.  

She dropped the lighter onto the heavy velvet curtains behind the desk. The fabric caught fire instantly. The flames climbed the walls, reaching for the dry wooden bookshelves.  

"Lily, stop!" Edward shouted.  

But the fire was moving fast. The old books and dry wood were like gasoline. Smoke began to fill the room.  
"Get out!" Mark grabbed Edward’s arm."  

Edward tried to move toward his mother, but the heat was too much. A row of books fell, creating a wall of fire between us and the desk.  

"Serena, go!" Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.  

I looked back one last time. Lily was sitting in her chair, watching the flames. She was not screaming. She was not running. She just sat there as the world she built burned around her.  

We ran out of the house. The fire was already reaching the windows of the second floor. Lily’s staff were running out, pointing and shouting. Sirens screamed in the distance.  

We stood on the sidewalk as the Vance mansion turned into a fire ball. The gold statues melted. The marble pillars turned black.  

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Edward. He was watching the house burn with a look of sadness and relief.  

"Is she...?" I couldn’t finish the sentence.  
"Nobody could survive that," Edward said.  

Sarah walked up to us, holding Arthur. The baby was awake now, looking at the bright orange light of the fire.  
"He’s okay," Sarah said softly.  

I took Arthur from her. I turned my back on the fire and the mansion. It was just a house. 

"Where do we go now, back to the penthouse or back to the beach house?" I asked.  

Edward looked at me. He looked at Arthur, then back at the fire. "We go anywhere you want. We start over, Serena. For real this time."  

I leaned my head against his shoulder. The air was filled with the smell of smoke, but for the first time in my life, I felt like I could breathe. The game was over. The storm had passed.  

We walked to the car, leaving the past to burn behind us.