Chapter 2

Serena practically fled the house in her heels, so she never heard Mrs. Wallace's final words. My spirit trailed after her like it was tethered to an invisible string, unable to do anything but follow.

The taxi tore through the streets and finally pulled up beneath Declan's riverfront apartment building. The moment Serena walked through the door, Declan was right there waiting, an eager smile plastered across his face.

"Sere, how'd it go? Did Fletcher agree?"

Serena paused mid-step as she was changing her shoes, avoiding his eyes. "He wasn't home."

The smile slid off Declan's face, quickly replaced by a wounded expression. "Is Fletcher still holding a grudge? About me asking him to take the fall? I know that was a lot to put on him."

He dropped his head, and his voice went quiet, his eyes slowly reddening at the rims. "Maybe we should just forget the whole thing. It was my fault in the first place. I can't drag him into this again.

"It's just that if I really do end up behind bars, I don't know what you'd do on your own..."

Serena couldn't stand seeing him like that. She pulled him into her arms with a frown and held him close.

"Stop that. He has no right to be upset. I gave him a huge payout to keep quiet last time, and the victim's family was taken care of.

"All he had to do was sit in a cell for a couple of years. It's not like anyone asked him to die. So, what's the problem?"

She gripped his shoulders, and her voice went dead serious. "Don't worry. I'll find him. And this time, he's going to handle it for you whether he likes it or not."

I hovered near the living room ceiling, and I caught the flash of triumph that crossed Declan's lips for just a split second. My entire soul went cold.

I never saw a single cent of that money. And those "family members" she claimed had been taken care of ended up being the ones who killed me.

Declan buried his face in the crook of Serena's neck. From the angle she couldn't see, his mouth curved into a smug little smile. I reached out to wrap my hands around his throat, but my fingers passed straight through him.

"Don't worry," Serena murmured, stroking his back. "I'll track him down. He's going to see this through to the end."

She wasted no time. The very next morning, Serena drove back to the courtyard of my old house.

Sunlight filtered through the cracked window frames into the abandoned rooms. Serena stood in the yard, her frown deepening with every passing second.

"These flowers..."

She crouched down and brushed her fingers over the withered rose bushes. She knew how much I loved tending to plants, and that I'd never let them wilt like this unless something was truly wrong.

I followed behind her as she pulled out her phone and snapped photos of the cobweb-covered windowsills. Her thumb hovered over the screen for a long time before she finally dialed her assistant, Kieran Pratt.

"Look into Fletcher Whitmore's whereabouts. I want every detail you can find."

After she hung up, she kept walking deeper into the house. My heart started pounding.

Just around the corner, there was still a dried pool of blood stained into the concrete slab from three years ago. Two more steps and she'd see it.

Then a shrill ringtone cut through the silence. It was Declan's custom tone.

His voice came through the phone in a panic. "Sere! I just heard that the victim's side has gotten hold of new evidence. If we don't deal with this fast, we're done for!"

"What?" The color drained from Serena's face.

"I'm coming back right now!"

She turned and ran, not sparing another thought for anything else in the house.

I let out a bitter laugh. Some things never changed. No matter what, Declan always came first.