Chapter 9 - The House With No Family Portraits
Daniel wanted to storm into Graham's office. Emily wanted to throw his phone out the window. Instead they sat on the apartment floor with takeout cartons between them and argued like people who had finally run out of polite lies.
"You knew your mother hated me," Emily said.
"I knew she was hard on you."
"She called my work at the children's clinic a hobby. She asked whether I got pregnant to secure an inheritance. She stood in our nursery and said the baby would learn manners from her, not me."
"Why didn't you tell me all of it?"
"I did. You just kept translating it into something nicer."
He had no answer. For once he didn't reach for her forgiveness to make himself feel better.
The next morning he gave a detailed statement to Ruiz about the approvals he'd signed, including the ones he'd barely read. June warned him that admitting careless oversight could hurt his civil position. Daniel signed the statement anyway.
"I can't ask the tenants to tell the truth if I won't," he said.
Lena sent him the city's preliminary review that afternoon. Morrow Court's electrical work had been repeatedly postponed despite payments marked COMPLETE. The inspector planned an urgent visit; residents were told to report any smoke, sparks, or loss of alarms immediately.
Emily sat at the kitchen table, labeling tiny onesies donated by Rosa's daughter. They were the first gifts she'd received without anyone reminding her what they cost.
"Are you scared?" Daniel asked.
"Every hour. But I don't want to go backward."
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At 11:18 that night, Lena called from outside Morrow Court. Fire engines were turning into the parking lot, their sirens rising over her voice.
"Daniel," she said, "there's smoke coming from the building. Talia and Milo are still inside."
