Chapter 8 - The Cleansing Fire
By the following week, the house in Oakridge felt entirely different.
The police tape had been removed, the forensic dusting powder wiped clean from the mahogany trim, and the security system upgraded with an entirely new generation of biometric sensors that only recognized my thumbprint and my mother’s voice.
Mom was back home, resting comfortably in her freshly painted, sunlit bedroom on the main floor. The leather belt and every trace of Allison’s presence had been burned in a steel barrel behind the garage three days prior.
It was a crisp Saturday afternoon when Jade knocked gently on my study door. She was wearing her usual casual clothes, holding a cardboard moving box in her arms.
I looked up from my laptop, frowning slightly. “Jade? What’s this?”
She walked in, setting the box down on the corner of the desk. “My things, Mr. Carlson. I’m officially giving my two weeks’ notice.”
My heart skipped a beat. For a terrifying second, I thought she wanted to escape everything tied to the nightmare of that house. “Jade... are you sure? If it’s about the salary, we can double it. If you want to take time off to visit your family—.”
“No, Mr. Carlson. It’s not that,” Jade interrupted softly, a warm, gentle smile breaking across her face. “My brother’s tuition is fully paid off thanks to the back-pay settlement Marcus secured from Allison’s frozen personal accounts. And... I’ve been accepted into the nursing certification program at Loyola University starting next month.”
I let out a long breath, leaning back in my leather chair, a genuine smile finally touching my lips. “Loyola? That’s incredible news, Jade. You’re going to make an extraordinary nurse.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes shining. “And before I start classes, I wanted to tell you something. Your mother is doing so much better. Her physical therapy sessions are working, and she hasn’t had a panic attack in over ten weeks.”
“Because of you,” I said, standing up and walking around the desk to shake her hand. “You stayed when everyone else would have run. You protected my family when I failed to protect them from afar. You’ll always have a home here, Jade. No matter what.”
May you like
She grasped my hand firmly, her grip steady and strong. “I know, Mr. Carlson. And I’ll always visit Mrs. Carlson on weekends. But it’s time for me to build my own future.”
“Go build it,” I told her.
