CHAPTER 235: FIRE

As Abigail walked into the kitchen, the staff were all gathered there, talking and speculating about the reason she had asked to see them and how it was impossible that she was talking all of a sudden after all these years.

When they saw her enter, they all gasped in surprise when they saw her face. The cook stepped forward first, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Is it really you? How is your face still... the same? And is it true? You can speak now?" She asked, and Abigail smiled and nodded.

Abigail opened her arms and embraced the cook tightly. "Yes, it’s true. I can speak. I’ve been able to do so for a while now but I couldn’t tell anyone because I was scared."

"So, you’ve been deceiving us this whole time?" One of the ladies asked.

"Is that important right now? She can speak. That’s all that matters. Have you been wearing a mask? Why did you take it off now? And why are you speaking now?" The trash man asked.

She turned to face them all. "Because I’m leaving. And I didn’t want to leave without talking to you all."

"Leaving? Where are you going? What if Mr Ryan? Is he aware? Did he ask you to leave again like before?" The cook asked with disapproval.

Abigail smiled. "No. He didn’t ask me to leave. I’m leaving before he gets back. I’m taking Josh with me."

They all exchanged a look. "You’re taking Josh? Will you both be fine? What if he comes after you?" Another lady asked with a concerned frown.

"My real family will protect me. Ryan Harris is not related to me in any way. He might have been married to my mother, but he’s not my father. He’s kept me hostage for far too long. I regained my memory and now I’m going to be with my family now," she said softly. "Thank you. All of you. For being kind to me. For being my friends, even when I had no words to thank you. And I want you all to leave too."

They looked at each other, confused.

"Why?"

"What’s going on?"

"Is there something you’re not telling us?" They asked simultaneously.

"I’m not going to lie to you," Abigail said, looking at each of them in the face one after the other. "You all know what I’ve endured in this house. I’m setting it ablaze. I want to make sure he doesn’t have a home to return to. I’m sorry if this causes you discomfort, but I couldn’t leave without making sure there’s nothing for him to come back to."

She pulled out her phone and sent large transfers to each of their accounts. "I still have your account details. I’ve sent you some money to compensate for the trouble this might cause until you’re able to get another job."

Bob blinked in shock when he received the alert. "You didn’t need to pay us. You’ve helped us save and invest our salaries for years now and I personally have more than enough money to retire. I’m fine."

"Me too," the cook said, smiling at Abigail.

"Well, I’m thankful for the money, but I’m no where near retirement. I have my parents and siblings to take care of. So maybe you two can give me your share," one of the ladies joked, and they all laughed.

"Where is Pete, anyway? I guess he’s the only one that didn’t get something from you. I wonder what he’s going to do now. Will he at least be able to keep his job when Ms Genevieve returns?" The cook asked, looking around.

Abigail hesitated, wondering whether or not to tell them about Jamal, but before she could make up her mind he spoke from behind her.

"I’m leaving too. I wanted to say goodbye," Jamal said, and they looked from Abigail to Jamal and then the cook’s eyes widened as it dawned on her.

"You are Josh’s father, aren’t you?" She asked, and one of the ladies laughed.

"How can Pete be Josh’s father? Weren’t you here when he had his heart broken and was moping for days?"

Abigail laughed while Jamal winced. "I’m sorry about the show I put up. Yes, I’m Josh’s father, and Abigail is my girlfriend," he said, and everyone gasped.

Abigail looked behind him for Josh, since this wasn’t how she planned for Josh to learn about Jamal. "He’s in the car," Jamal assured her.

"Aww, so you came to work here just so you can be with her. This is so sweet. I always knew you were romantic," one of the ladies cried.

"Oh, my God! I feel like I’m watching a soap opera right now, only that I’m one of the side characters," another lady said and Rob snorted.

"You’re not a side character. You’re a minor character. Totally insignificant and irrelevant to the movie," Bob said, and the cook cleared her throat before they could begin to banter and waste time.

"Let’s be serious. Abigail, apart from moving out, what else do you need us to do for you both," she asked, looking at them.

Abigail turned to Jamal, "Could you wait with Josh in the car?" She asked, since she didn’t like the idea of Josh being alone outside.

Jamal looked at her for a second, wondering what she was up to, and then he nodded and turned to leave since he had only come in to check on her when he heard his name being mentioned.

"Take care of yourself, Pete," Bob called out to him.

"You too, Bob. Thanks for everything. By the way, my name is Jamal, not Pete," he corrected with a smile, and gave Bob a nod before leaving.

After he left, Abigail looked at them, "In the that Ryan ever decides to claim I stole or kidnapped his son, I’ll need you all to testify that Josh is my son. That I gave birth to him."

"Is that all?" The cook asked, and she nodded.

"That’s easy enough since it’s true. Most of us were here when you got pregnant and was sent away," Bob assured her.

"I’m going to start a fire now before I leave. I want to be the one to start it, so that none of you will be in trouble. So, please go take out your important stuff. You don’t have to take out everything," Abigail said, then she moved around the kitchen, hugging them all one by one.

After telling her how much they’d miss her and how they hoped she’d keep in touch and invite them for her wedding when we gets married to Pete, they they filed out to go get their stuff.

"Bob, could you help me disable the sprinkler system?" She asked, and Bob nodded and help her turn it off before leaving.

Abigail moved to the cooker and placed a pan of oil on the burner. She organized the kitchen in a way that it would burn quickly, and then she walked upstairs.

She went to the place where all the spare keys hung for easy access by the cleaners and she took Ryan’s bedroom key.

She entered her room and picked up two scented candles. She went down the hallway and went into Ryan’s bedroom.

She had never gone inside his bedroom, and sure enough she saw a large monitor screen in his bedroom.

She didn’t waste any time to check them. She threw the screen down and thrashed it, then went to his bed and lit one of the candles with a lighter.

She placed it gently on his bed as it was lying side ways, and watched the flame flicker to life. She then went to the thick curtains of his window and lit the edges with the lighter.

Satisfied with the little fire she had started there, she walked out of the room and buried downstairs to the hallway that led to his study.

She hated that room so much because whenever Ryan was in there she felt like he had his eyes on her. It was easy to punch in the passcode since she had seen him open the door in the past.

As she had done in his bedroom, she thrashed the monitor screen there as well before going to the desk. She didn’t bother to check any of the documents. She didn’t care about any of that.

She had her plans for the company, but right now she wanted to make sure he lost whatever was important to him in the fire.

She went to his safe and tried the combination a couple of times until she got it. Once it clicked open, she took a visual inventory of all the items inside.

There was lots of money and some documents and a gun. She quickly ran back upstairs to get a large handbag. She put the money and documents into it, then lit the second candle and started the fire in the study.

She walked out of the house with a satisfied smile, hoping the fire would eat everything Ryan ever built.

Once she got to the car, she knocked on the trunk for the driver to open it and she put the bag of money inside before getting into the car where Jamal and Josh were waiting.

Jamal turned in the front seat to look at her since she was in the back with Josh who was in his safety seat. "What did you do?"

Abigail smiled as she buckled her seatbelt. "You’ll find out soon."

As the car drove away, Jamal looked through the side mirror and he saw smoke curl into the sky from the roof in different sides of the mansion.

He turned to Abigail, and the smile on her face made him a little uncomfortable.