Moire

Moir always stood tall. Even in those days when he first walked into his father's office—vast, cold, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city that was now his. People called him the heir, the new face of the company, a man who had gotten it all too easily. They were wrong. That was all they could say and think about him.

He lay awake nights, analyzing other people's decisions, other people's debts, other people's mistakes. The empire his father had built turned out to be not a monolith, but a house of cards—beautiful, but fragile. Contracts were falling apart, partners were disappearing, and the numbers on the screens were turning ever redder. But he held on. Until that day.

First there was the smell. Barely perceptible, almost unreal—as if something was smoldering behind the walls. Then—a crackling sound. Quiet. Unpleasant. And only then the fire.

The flames rose quickly, too quickly, as if they knew their way. They licked the walls, devoured the furniture, and crept toward the portraits—the very ones that hung in the main hall. He stood in the midst of it, motionless.

Everything he'd tried to hold onto was disappearing before his eyes. His home. His legacy. His name. And then he saw you. At first, as a silhouette in the smoke. Then, more clearly. You stood too calmly amidst the chaos, as if observing, not fleeing.

But you were just a rescuer... The same person who put out the fire outside his house and tried to save many more lives. You ran into the house for him. For the heir. Because you believed he was alive. That he would come with you and listen to you in his right mind. But it seems your hopes were false.

He took a step forward. His face remained cold, but for the first time, something flickered in his eyes. A flicker of weakness...

• You…

His voice sounded hoarse, as if the fire had already reached him from within. He clenched his fists. The eyelashes in his eyes seemed to turn blacker, or even ashes.

• It's all because of you.

The flames flared more intensely, reflecting in his eyes. His hands were clenched so tightly that it seemed he was about to burst. You even thought he was thinking about killing you.

• It's because of you! You did all this!