Page 64 of Watch Me Burn

“Where’s Nathan?” he asked in a cold tone.

Heather’s gaze lingered on Ethan, a child’s innocent curiosity reflecting on her face. My heart twinged, a fleeting pang of guilt. Would her life continue like it used to after all of this was over? But that guilt was quickly overshadowed by the arrival of my brother.

From a distance, Nathan’s demeanor was light, even happy. But as he closed the gap, sensing the undercurrents of tension, his grin faltered.

“Sweets, can you take Heather inside?” he quietly asked his wife.

Nathan’s wife didn’t need further prompting. She scooped Heather up, retreating swiftly indoors.

As Nathan approached, a moment of awkwardness stretched out. He paused, processing.

“Uh . . . hey,” he finally said, attempting casualness. “Everything okay?”

But neither Ethan nor I broke our icy expressions.

A heavy silence enveloped us before Nathan finally broke, exhaling deeply. “Let’s take this to the pool house,” he suggested, nodding towards the mansion next to his. “You know, the neighbors,” he added, almost apologetically.

We silently obliged. As the door to the pool house clicked shut, Nathan turned, his face as red as a tomato.

“I’m ready,” he admitted, voice breaking. “I’ll turn myself in. No fights, no drama.”

“So it’s all true, then,” Ethan snapped, barely holding it together. “Fucking unbelievable! You let me rot for a crime you committed!”

I shook my head. “Why, Nathan? Why? You were our biggest cheerleader throughout the investigation . . . nothing makes sense!”

Nathan looked destroyed, hands buried in his face. “It was eating me alive. I couldn’t sleep, saw therapists . . . That day messed us all up.”

Ethan shot back, voice dripping with sarcasm, “Oh, poor privileged white male asshole, having a few bad dreams and therapy, huh?”

Nathan, tears streaming, tried to make Ethan understand. “I really am sorry, Ethan. We were like brothers. I wanted to come clean so many times, but I was . . . scared.”

I cut in, annoyed. “Then why help us now?”

He took a shaky breath. “I wanted to give you guys some sort of direction. Point you to the truth, show what a monster Dad was. I thought if you believed one of his victims killed him, Ethan could finally move on and get his life back.”

Ethan was eerily silent, just staring, his emotions hidden. I worried he might explode any second—which could include more than a punch.

“Move on? My grandma is fucking dead, and I lost fifteen years of my life!” Ethan finally echoed, disbelief and outrage clear in his voice.

Nathan stumbled over his words, clearly desperate. “I fucked up, Ethan. Fifteen years of your life, because of me. I can’t change that. But—”

I was done hearing excuses. “Just tell us what happened.”

The setting didn’t help my mood. Discussing this dark shit while surrounded by a dentist’s upscale pool house decor, children’s artwork, and chess trophies felt surreal. Like a bad joke. But then, this whole family saga was one big messed-up nightmare. Maybe this was the twisted finale it had been building to.

With tears in his eyes, Nathan choked out the story of that fateful day. “Lisa . . . she told me everything. I didn’t want to believe her at first. Our dad? A monster? But then she took me to that damn cabin . . .”

Nathan visibly flinched, his eyes darkening, probably reliving his own traumas from that place. He shook his head, grimacing as if trying to spit out a bad taste.

“I confronted Dad in the backyard after that. I was shaking with rage,” Nathan said, his hands quivering in demonstration. “I’d never felt that much hate. At first, Dad just brushed it off, said Lisa was seeking attention. But when I mentioned the tapes, he lost it. Started yelling, threatening me. Then he called me Scarlett again, trying to emasculate me. Like he was daring me to do something for once. So I did. I pushed him down the patio stairs.”

“So you meant to kill him?” My voice wavered, tears threatening to fall.

He nodded. “I did. And part of me . . . doesn’t regret it.”

“And then you and Mom pinned it on Ethan. Let him suffer for something he didn’t do. You lied to all of us, even to me, your own sister. And now you have the audacity to expect forgiveness?”

Nathan’s face was a mask of pure fear and desperation. “Anna . . . what are you going do? You won’t go to the cops, right?”

---