Maya's POV
"LUCY!"
I screamed until my throat was raw, watching Jake disappear into the burning school.
Marcus held me back, his strong arms keeping me from running after them. "Mrs. Rodriguez, you can't go in there! Let Jake do his job!"
"That's my baby!" I sobbed, fighting against him. "Let me go!"
But Marcus wouldn't let go. And I could only watch in horror as smoke poured from the windows of Lucy's classroom.
Derek stood across the parking lot, still smiling. Like watching my world burn was the best Christmas present he'd ever gotten.
I wanted to kill him.
"You did this!" I screamed at him. "You monster! She's your daughter!"
Derek's smile faded. He walked toward me slowly, hands in his pockets like he had all the time in the world.
"Our daughter," he corrected. "And I didn't do anything. There's been a terrible accident. So tragic. A fire on the day before Christmas Eve."
"You're lying! You started that fire!"
"Can you prove it?" Derek stopped a few feet away. His eyes were cold and empty. "Because I was at the Pine Inn all morning. The desk clerk will confirm it. I have an alibi, Maya. Just like I did the night your friend Emma drowned."
My blood went cold. "What did you say?"
"Emma Chen. Your annoying best friend who couldn't mind her own business." Derek's voice was calm, matter-of-fact. "She broke into my apartment seven years ago, trying to find 'evidence' against me. Did you know that?"
I couldn't breathe.
"Of course, I caught her," Derek continued. "We had a little chat. She told me all about her plan to help you escape. About how Jake Sullivan was helping her. About the evidence she'd collected."
"You killed her," I whispered.
"I didn't touch her." Derek smiled. "I just told her the truth—that if she didn't back off, I'd hurt you worse. I'd make sure you never escaped. I'd take away everything she was trying to protect." He leaned closer. "She ran away crying. And somehow, she ended up in that lake. Terrible accident."
Rage burned through me. "You chased her there! You—"
"I was at a bar. Multiple witnesses. The police cleared me, remember?" Derek's smile grew wider. "Just like they'll clear me of this fire. I'm a victim here too, Maya. My daughter's trapped in there. I'm so worried."
But his eyes weren't worried. They were satisfied.
"Why?" My voice broke. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because you're mine. You've always been mine. And if I can't have you—" Derek looked at the burning school. "Then no one can. Not you. Not Lucy. And definitely not that hero firefighter you're so desperate to trust."
"Jake will save her. He'll—"
"Jake Sullivan is going to die in that fire trying to save Lucy. And you're going to watch." Derek's voice was soft, almost gentle. "Then you'll understand. You can't escape me. You can never escape me. Everyone who tries to help you ends up dead."
No. No, this couldn't be happening.
Marcus's grip on my arms loosened as he stared at Derek in horror. "Did you just confess to—"
Derek pulled out a gun.
Time seemed to stop.
"Let her go," Derek said quietly. "Or I'll shoot you right here."
Marcus released me immediately, his hands raised.
Derek grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, pressing the gun against my side. "You and I are going to take a little drive, Maya. Just like old times."
"No!" I struggled, but Derek's grip was iron.
"Yes. And if you scream or fight, I'll shoot Marcus. Then I'll shoot every person in this parking lot until you behave." Derek's voice was calm. Reasonable. Like he was discussing dinner plans. "You know I'll do it. You know what I'm capable of."
I did know. God help me, I knew exactly what Derek was capable of.
"Please," I begged. "Let me wait for Lucy. Let me know she's safe—"
"Lucy's not safe. Lucy's never going to be safe. Because Lucy is leverage." Derek started pulling me toward his car. "And you're going to come with me quietly, or that little girl loses both her parents today."
Through the smoke and chaos, I saw something that made my heart stop.
Jake emerged from the school, carrying Lucy in his arms.
She was alive. Coughing, covered in soot, but alive.
Relief flooded through me so powerfully I almost collapsed.
But then Derek saw them too.
He raised his gun, pointing it at Jake's back.
"NO!" I screamed and threw myself at Derek.
The gun went off.
The bullet missed Jake by inches, slamming into a fire truck behind him.
Everything exploded into chaos.
Firefighters shouted. Parents screamed. Marcus tackled Derek from behind.
The gun skidded across the pavement.
I scrambled for it, my hands shaking, my heart pounding.
I grabbed the gun and pointed it at Derek.
He was pinned under Marcus, but he was laughing. Actually laughing.
"Do it," Derek said, looking at me with those cold, empty eyes. "Shoot me, Maya. Prove you're not as weak as I always said you were."
My finger tightened on the trigger.
I wanted to. God, I wanted to end this. End him. End all the fear and pain and years of running.
"Maya, don't!" Jake's voice cut through the chaos. He'd handed Lucy to a paramedic and was running toward me. "Put the gun down!"
"He tried to kill you!" I shouted. "He tried to kill Lucy! He killed Emma!"
"I know! But if you shoot him, you'll go to jail. And Lucy needs you." Jake held out his hand. "Please, Maya. Let the police handle this."
Sirens wailed in the distance. Real police sirens this time.
Derek was still laughing. "She won't shoot me. She's too weak. She's always been too weak."
My hands shook. Tears blurred my vision.
He was right. I couldn't do it. Even after everything he'd done, I couldn't pull the trigger.
I lowered the gun.
"That's my girl," Derek said mockingly. "Still the same scared little—"
Someone grabbed the gun from my hands.
I spun around and saw her.
The woman who looked like Emma. Lily Chen. Emma's sister.
But she wasn't looking at me.
She was pointing the gun at Derek.
"You killed my sister," Lily said quietly. "And now you're going to pay."
"Wait!" Jake shouted. "Lily, don't—"
But Lily wasn't listening.
Her finger moved toward the trigger.
And then a voice I never thought I'd hear again said, "Stop."
We all turned.
Standing at the edge of the parking lot, very much alive, was Emma Chen.
Not a ghost. Not a lookalike. Not someone pretending.
Emma. Real. Breathing. Alive.
She looked older, thinner, with scars on her face and arms. But it was her.
"Hello, Maya," Emma said softly. "I'm sorry I've been dead for seven years. But I'm back now. And we need to talk."
The gun fell from Lily's shaking hands.
Derek stopped laughing.
Jake stared in shock.
And I fainted.