After the Fake Heiress Jumped into the Sea

"Surprise! I'm home!"

Chloe Carter came through the front door with a skip, dragging a hot-pink suitcase behind her, dressed in a brand-new Chanel suit.

Her hair fell over her shoulders in glossy waves. Her makeup was flawless, and every inch of her glowed with youth and energy—a jarring sight in a house that had been smothered in gloom for days.

The instant I heard her voice, my spirit froze above the living room.

Her suicide had been a lie.

I'd never imagined a ghost could such bone-deep cold, yet the hollow space in my chest seemed to be gripped and torn apart all over again.

She was alive and perfectly well. Then what had all that punishment been for? What had my death been for?

"Chloe!"

My mother reacted first. She rushed across the room and crushed Chloe in her arms, bursting into tears.

"You're alive? You're really alive?

"You scared me half to death! Where have you been? Do you have any idea how frantic we were?"

My father and my older brother, Ethan, crowded around them. Their faces held the same mixture of shock and wild relief.

Chloe wrinkled her nose at them and linked her arm through Mom's.

"I just wanted to travel around Europe. I knew you wouldn't let me go alone, so I…" She gave them a coy smile. "I played a little prank."

"A prank?" Dad's face darkened, but fear and indulgence outweighed the anger in his voice. "You don't joke about something like that."

"Exactly. Never do it again." Ethan tried to look stern as he reached over and ruffled her hair.

Secure in the center of the family's affection, Chloe let her gaze drift around the living room as though the thought had only just occurred to her.

"Grace won't be mad at me, will she? That note was only supposed to tell her I never wanted to steal Mom and Dad from her."

No one answered her.

The room froze on that one question. Every pair of eyes drifted toward the backyard at once, as if they'd all agreed on it beforehand.

They remembered me at last.

They remembered how, after Chloe's supposed death, they'd poured every drop of their grief and rage onto the person they'd decided was responsible.

Me.

The air turned thick and awkward.

Chloe blinked with practiced innocence. "What's wrong? Come to think of it, where is Grace?"

"I'll go check on her."

For one fleeting moment, pity and guilt crossed Ethan's face.