ログインI look her dead in the eye, the pain in my cheek turning into pure, defensive defiance. "I don't care about your money! I am only here to find out the truth about what happened to your mother!" SMACK! Caroline slaps me across the face with enough force to burst my lip, the metallic taste of blood
Jake just shrugs, taking a sip of his drink, his eyes still tracking my waistline. I move down the line, my breath catching in my throat as I approach the final two seats. Georgia and Lydia. Georgia is leaning back, laughing softly at something Lydia just murmured, looking untouchable. I step up
It clicks in my brain right then—that is exactly why the mastermind chose her. She’s the perfect person to bribe because she doesn't talk. I open my mouth, trying to phrase a casual, conversational opening about Grandmother Newton’s murder, but the words dry up in my throat. I can't just blurt ou
I creep down the grand, plushly carpeted upper hallway, a damp microfiber cloth squeezed in my right hand as I pretend to wipe down the gold-leaf molding on the wall of the Newton house. My eyes, however, are locked on Caroline Newton’s back. She’s walking a few paces ahead of me, looking like a wa
The mocking sarcasm is gone, replaced by a hyper-focused, intensely protective glare. She narrows her eyes, studying my face through her oversized sunglasses. "What about Owen?" "In case you haven't opened a single app or looked at what's been aggressively circulating on the internet since this mo
I stare at the glowing screen of the TV in my room, a groan rattling the very depths of my soul. I swear to God, I cannot have a single, solitary second of peace in this godforsaken world. Right there on the screen, dominating every single social media platform, entertainment blog, and legal foru
The water is the only thing that doesn’t feel like it’s judging me right now. After Nicholas left, I couldn’t stand the silence of the house, so I headed straight for the pool. I need the physical burn of the laps to drown out the mental noise of everything he said. I dive in, the cold shock of the
The sun is warm on my skin, and for a fleeting second, I am actually, genuinely happy. I’m standing in the middle of a flowery field—the kind you see in perfume commercials where everything is soft focus and smells like jasmine. The wind is blowing against my face, and I feel peaceful. Free. Like
"So you saw her that day?" The detective’s voice is a low, gravelly drone that usually makes me want to yawn, but today? Today, it’s music to my ears. I’m sitting in the Newton’s private study, the air smelling of aged mahogany and the faint, lingering scent of Grandmother’s favorite lavender sache
I’ve been pacing the length of the living room for what feels like an eternity, checking the time on my watch every thirty seconds as if I can intimidate the hands into moving backward. It’s well past dark, and Sydney is nowhere to be found. I’ve tried her phone. Six times. Ten times. I’ve lost cou







