Chapter 14 - The Burning Garden
Vivienne and Camille burst through the rusted iron grate hidden beneath the roots of an ancient willow tree, gasping in the crisp, untainted night air. They fell onto the damp grass, coughing up soot and ash. Behind them, the Sterling manor was consumed by a towering inferno, orange flames licking the midnight sky and consuming a century of wealth, secrets, and calculated cruelty. The glass sunroom had completely collapsed into a glowing crater of twisted iron and embers.
Sirens wailed in the distance, their red and blue lights cutting through the thick pine trees along the valley road. The authorities were coming, but Vivienne knew they would find nothing in the rubble except ash, melted gold, and unrecognizable remains. She helped Camille sit against the rough bark of the tree, checking her sister's pulse; the young woman’s skin was warm, the deadly pallor gone, replaced by the natural flush of survival.
Camille looked up at the burning mansion with tears streaming through the soot on her cheeks, asking what was left for them now that everything was gone. Vivienne reached into the inner lining of her burgundy shirt, which was torn and stained with soot. Her fingers touched a slim, cold object she had slipped from Arthur’s pocket during the chaos in the vault: a titanium hardware key containing the encrypted credentials to every offshore asset Arthur had hidden over forty years. Before she could answer, a lone set of headlights cut through the darkness from the private service road, stopping just fifty yards away.
