Chapter 13 - LAUREN’S CHOICE
Lauren stood near the stairwell with the baby pressed against her chest.
Matthew blocked the exit.
He held the waterproof case in one hand and a lighter in the other.
The building cameras transmitted audio.
“You said we were leaving,” Lauren cried.
“We are.”
“The roof is burning.”
“The helicopter will come.”
“There is no helicopter.”
Matthew looked toward the camera.
He knew police were watching.
He wanted them to see his control.
Lauren backed away.
“Give me the baby,” he ordered.
“No.”
“He is my son.”
“He is not another share certificate.”
Matthew’s face changed.
He stepped toward her.
I knew that expression.
The stillness before violence.
Lauren knew it too.
For the first time, she understood what I had seen beside the fireplace.
She ran.
Matthew grabbed her coat.
She twisted free and reached the stairwell.
Smoke poured upward.
Federal agents entered from the lower floor.
Firefighters approached from the roof.
Matthew followed Lauren, carrying the case.
He caught her near a broken window.
She placed the baby inside a concrete utility recess and turned to protect him.
Matthew raised his hand.
There was no cane.
He did not need one.
Lauren flinched before he touched her.
The reaction appeared on every camera.
Matthew saw it.
So did the investigators.
So did I.
The man who claimed I invented his violence watched his mistress fear the same movement.
Lauren shoved him.
The waterproof case slid across the floor.
Matthew lunged for it instead of his son.
That choice told the entire story.
A firefighter reached the baby through the exterior window.
Agents pulled Lauren toward the stairwell.
Matthew grabbed the case and ran deeper into the smoke.
He was found unconscious beside the server room.
The case remained locked beneath his body.
He survived.
His son survived.
Lauren suffered smoke inhalation and burns on one arm.
At the hospital, she asked to see me.
I agreed after Detective Ortiz arranged security.
Lauren looked smaller without the expensive clothes and confidence.
“I heard every strike,” she said.
“Yes.”
“I told myself you deserved to be frightened.”
I said nothing.
“I thought if he chose me, it meant I had won.”
“He did not choose either of us.”
“He chose control.”
Tears moved down her face.
“I am sorry.”
“Your apology belongs in court.”
“And in the life you build for your son.”
She nodded.
Then she gave me a password.
It opened the waterproof case.
Inside were the original founder documents, Matthew’s private ledger, offshore account records, and one sealed letter.
The letter was addressed to Lauren.
May you like
It instructed her to blame me for Matthew’s death if he did not survive the fire.
Even while holding her inside a burning building, he had prepared to sacrifice her.
