Page 74 of Rich Little Liars

‘But—’

‘They saw a grieving widow. A tragic accident. A story that made sense on paper. They didn’t dig because digging would have been uncomfortable. Would have meant asking hard questions of a woman who’d just lost her husband.’ He’s so close now I can see the individual lines around his eyes, the grey in his stubble. ‘But I’m not afraid of uncomfortable questions, Kelly. I’ve been asking them for months. And everything – every single thing I’ve found – points back to you.’

‘That’s not fair.’

‘Fair?’ He laughs again, that same bitter sound. ‘My brother is dead. Burned alive while you’re out living your best life. And you want to talk about fair?’

I take a step back, my foot catching on something solid beneath the debris. A brick, maybe. Or a piece of furniture that survived the flames. The ruins are full of these remnants – fragments of the life Daniel and I built together, now just obstacles in the dark.

‘I tried to save him,’ I mumble. ‘I tried. The fire was spreading too fast. I couldn’t reach him. I couldn’t⁠—’

‘Couldn’t or wouldn’t?’

‘Couldn’t!’ I’m shouting now, my voice echoing off the broken walls. ‘You think I wanted him to die? You think I planned any of this?’

‘I think you stood and watched.’ His voice is terrifyingly calm. ‘My theory is that you had the chance to help him and you chose not to take it. I think my brother died because you decided, in that moment, that his death was more convenient than his life.’

‘No… there was someone else,’ I manage. ‘A woman. Roxanne. She was in the house that night. She appeared out of nowhere weeks before – showed up at my door with a prepared story. She befriended me. Infiltrated our lives. Our marriage. She and Daniel, they were⁠—’

‘I know about Roxanne.’ He cuts me off. ‘Mysterious woman who appeared out of nowhere, befriended you, seduced your husband. Convenient villain for your story.’ He tilts his head, studying me. ‘Except no one’s seen her since the fire. No one can find any record of her existence before she showed up at your door. It’s almost like she was a ghost. Or a lie.’

‘She was real. She was there that night. She⁠—’

‘Go on, what did she do?’ His voice rises suddenly, sharp as a blade. ‘Start the fire? Trap Daniel in the kitchen? Hold you back while he burned?’

‘No, but⁠—’

‘What exactly did this mysterious woman do that explains why my brother is dead and you’re still breathing?’

The tears come without warning, hot tracks down my face that I can’t stop. The flashlight beam wavers as Harvey moves, throwing wild shadows across the ruins, making the charred walls seem to shift and breathe around us.

‘You don’t understand,’ I whisper. ‘You weren’t there. You don’t know what it was like. The fire spread so fast – faster than it should have. One minute we were arguing, the next the whole kitchen was in flames. Daniel was trying to reach the extinguisher but it was stuck, and the fire was between us, and I couldn’t⁠—’

‘Quiet.’ The word is barely a breath but it silences me completely. ‘Stop telling me the story you’ve told everyone else. The investigators. The insurance company. Yourself.’ He steps closer. I can feel the heat of his anger radiating off him like its own kind of fire. ‘I don’t want the rehearsed version. I don’t want the narrative you’ve polished until all the sharp edges are gone.’

His hands close around my arms, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.

‘I want the truth, Kelly. The real truth. The one you’ve never told anyone.’

I stare at him – at Daniel’s brother, at this man who has spent months hunting me, who has destroyed my fragile new life piece by piece, who has brought me back to this place of ash and death to extract a confession.

‘Tell me.’ His voice is laced with an angry hiss, somehow more frightening than his shouting. ‘Tell me what you did. The truth.’

The ruins press in around us. The smell of old smoke fills my lungs. And somewhere deep inside me, something cracks open – the wall I’ve built between myself and the truth, finally giving way.

He deserves to know.

Shouldn’t I tell him?

Maybe I deserve to tell him.

I clear my throat.

Hesitate…

27

NOW