Chapter 144: ASHES
KEISHA’S POV
Lyra didn’t ask me another question after pulling me into her arms. She simply held me, one hand rubbing slow circles across my back while I stood there without returning the embrace immediately.
Everything that had happened since morning felt too unreal for my mind to process.
"You’ve gone pale," Lyra murmured after a while, leaning back just enough to look at my face. "Come inside. You need to sit down."
I nodded absentmindedly, allowing her to guide me towards the steps.
We hadn’t even reached the front door when frantic shouting erupted somewhere deeper inside the estate.
"Water!"
"Hurry!"
"The fire’s spreading!"
Another voice rose above the others. "Bring more buckets!"
Lyra and I stopped at the same time and our eyes met just as another guard came sprinting around the path, breathing so hard he almost stumbled over his own feet. "It’s on fire!"
Neither of us waited to hear another word before we broke into a run.
The closer we got, the thicker the smoke became. It drifted through the air in heavy grey clouds, carrying the unmistakable smell of something burning. More guards rushed past us carrying buckets and my heart had already begun pounding before I even saw what was burning.
Then we rounded the last bend and I stopped so abruptly that Lyra nearly crashed into me. "No..." The word escaped me in nothing more than a whisper.
The nursery.
The little nursery Lyra had built with so much love.... It was gone.
Flames devoured what remained of the wooden walls, flames licking through the roof while black smoke curled into the afternoon sky. The tiny cream curtains Lyra had carefully chosen had already disappeared beneath the fire.
Guards continued throwing bucket after bucket of water, but the fire had spread too far.
There was nothing left to save.
Beside me, Lyra covered her mouth with both hands. "No..." Her eyes filled almost instantly as she stared at the destruction in disbelief. "I only...". She swallowed hard. "I only finished it completely yesterday."
The words broke something inside me.
Yesterday.
A while ago, we had stood inside that room together, smiling through tears as she proudly showed me every tiny blanket she’d folded herself. She’d spoken about wanting the twins to have somewhere safe.
Now there was nothing left. Only smoke.
The guards kept shouting instructions, convinced they were battling an accident but I knew better.
My gaze slowly drifted across the burning nursery. "This wasn’t an accident.". The words left my lips before I realised I’d spoken aloud.
Lyra looked towards me.. "What?"
"They’re doing this." My voice barely sounded like mine anymore. "They know we’re getting closer. They couldn’t scare Callum." I pressed a trembling hand against my stomach.. "So they’re trying to scare me."
My babies.
They knew what that room represented to me and my babies and someone wanted me to understand that nowhere inside this estate was safe anymore, not even before my children had been born.
My breathing became uneven and my vision swam.
"Keisha...". Lyra reached for me, but her voice already sounded distant.
Everything around me began fading into a blur and voices merged into a cacophony of incomprehensible words.
The last thing I saw before the world tilted sideways was Callum forcing his way through the crowd. His expression changed the instant he saw me swaying where I stood. He crossed the distance between us in seconds, catching me before I could hit the ground, his lips moving in a shout.
Then darkness.
************
Oh fuck.
All I saw was dark. Then I started hearing the voices. Distant but seemed to echo in my ears and I groaned.
"...she’s waking up."
"...give her some space."
"...carefully."
My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. When they finally lifted, the first thing I noticed was the unfamiliar ceiling above me.
The second was the worried faces surrounding the bed.
Callum stood closest, his arms folded tightly across his chest, though the relief that flickered across his face the moment our eyes met was impossible to miss. Dane stood near the window, one shoulder still heavily bandaged from the previous night’s attack. Lyra hovered anxiously beside the bed, while Nadia remained a little farther back, her hands clasped tightly together.
An older man wearing a physician’s coat leaned over me with a reassuring smile. "Welcome back."
My throat felt painfully dry. "What..."
"You fainted." He checked my pulse once more before nodding to himself. "You’ve been under a tremendous amount of stress."
My hand instinctively found my stomach.. "The babies?"
"They’re alright." The answer came immediately.
Relief washed through me so quickly that I almost cried and the physician noticed.
"They’re unharmed," he repeated gently. "But that doesn’t mean everything is fine."
His expression grew more serious as he looked around the room. "The amount of emotional strain she’s been under isn’t healthy."
Nobody spoke.
"If this continues," he said quietly, "it will eventually affect the pregnancy."
Callum lowered his gaze briefly before giving a small nod. "We understand."
"I suggest she rests. No unnecessary excitement. No stress if it can be avoided."
After giving a few more instructions, the physician packed away his instruments and quietly left the room.
For several moments, nobody moved and eventually, Callum broke the silence. "You should move back to the mansion. I want to make sure you’re fine."
Lyra immediately shook her head. "I don’t want my sister anywhere near either of you until you finish the investigation. I don’t need her constantly stressing looking at you two."
Callum shifted uneasily, his gaze drifting back to mine. "I just want to keep an eye on her."
Dane sighed. "Lyra—"
"No. You can visit. But she stays in the annex."
I opened my mouth. "You can come visit. I don’t think I want to be in the mansion. I feel better at home."
Callum nodded. "Then I’ll get someone to check in on you when I’m busy."
A small smile curved my lips. "You should go handle the investigation."
Dane nodded. "I’ll come with you, Callum."
Callum didn’t argue further. He simply looked towards the guard waiting outside before giving a few quiet instructions, then both men left the room together.
The silence didn’t last long as Lyra’s phone began vibrating inside her pocket.
She frowned as she glanced at the screen.. "I have to take this." She squeezed my hand gently. "I’ll be back."
Within moments she, too, had disappeared into the hallway and the room fell silent.
Only Nadia remained and neither of us spoke for a long time.
Then — "You’re incredibly stubborn." Nadia grunted, stepping towards the bed, her lids heavy with exhaustion.
The surprise on my face must have been visible because she took a breath. "Do you need space, Keisha?"
I immediately shook my head. "No. I’m just— I’m fine."
Her gaze dropped to my stomach and with a trembling hand, she reached for it, gently placing her hand on it. "You—" She sniffed with a laugh that made me jerk. "Could have told me you were into my dad."
I laughed despite myself. "Look how that turned out." my voice was low. Like I didn’t want to scare her away.
Nadia looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears. "You had me scared today. I can’t lose you."
My heart ached.
"Are we cool?"
My fingers found hers, intertwining our fingers on my stomach. "Always."
Before either of us found the words to say again, footsteps echoed outside once again and the bedroom door opened as Lyra stepped back inside.
The colour had drained from her face.
She was still holding her phone, but her fingers had tightened around it so firmly that her knuckles had turned white.
She had heard something. And it was bad.