Chapter 2

I did not wait for anyone to react. I turned and walked toward the Maybach parked on the curb.

Behind me, Tamsin's crying, Lorraine's cursing, and Dad's shouting all blurred together into noise.

I did not look back. I pulled the car door open and got in.

"Mr. Coulter, where to?"

Alec Reese, my driver and personal assistant, watched me through the rearview mirror. He had clearly been rattled by the scene.

"Grayfield Memorial first. Get in touch with Dr. Morgan Ellsworth in neurology and schedule a full physical for my dad. Make sure it's as thorough as possible. And have every bottle of blood pressure medication he's taken in the last six months sent to a lab for analysis.

"On top of that, pull all the security footage from six years ago when the Rigbys came to our house asking for the marriage, and get me all of Tamsin's financial records from the past six years. I want everything on my desk by three."

Alec paused for a beat, but his professionalism kept him from asking questions. "Got it, Mr. Coulter. I'll get on it right away."

The car pulled out slowly. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

My phone would not stop buzzing. I pulled it out and found over 20 messages from Tamsin, fired off one after another.

The first batch was all insults. The last one read, [Gage, you win. I won't ask for the engagement gift. I won't make you put my name on the deed either. Come back right now and sign the papers and I'll pretend today never happened.

[Otherwise, I'm telling every outlet in the city how the Coulter family threw 20 million at my parents to force me into this marriage. Everyone will know what kind of man you really are.]

I stared at the screen, felt the corners of my mouth tightened, and did not reply.

By the time we reached the hospital, Morgan was already waiting on the front steps.

She was my oldest friend and head of neurology at Grayfield Memorial. "Alec says you bailed on your own wedding at the courthouse? What kind of stunt was that? Tamsin came to me just last month for a prenatal prescription."

"It's nothing. I just don't want to get married anymore."

I did not explain further. "I need you to set up a full physical for my dad. Focus on anything that looks like chronic poisoning. His blood pressure medication is being sent over. Run the contents for me."

Morgan could tell something was wrong. She did not push it, just nodded and left to make the arrangements.

Before long, both my parents showed up. The second Mom saw me, she was already in my face, jabbing a finger at my chest.

"Have you lost your mind? Calling off a perfectly good wedding out of nowhere! Tamsin's mother is already at our house making a scene.

"She's threatening to go to the press, to show up at your office with picket signs. You're coming home right now to apologize, and you're signing those papers today!"

I gave a flat "mm" without any shift in tone. "Let her. If she wants money, she can take the evidence to court. Whatever the judge awards, I'll pay."

Dad was about to blow up when Morgan came back with the preliminary blood work.

"There are trace amounts of a chronic neurotoxin in your father's blood. The dosage is small, but it's been building for about three months. Another six months of this and he would almost certainly have suffered an irreversible stroke."

Both my parents went still.

Mom's voice was shaking. "How is that even possible? He's always been healthy."

My fingers tightened at my sides. "Has anyone new come into the house in the last three months? A different housekeeper, a different cook? Has Tamsin touched Dad's medication at all?"

Mom thought for a long moment. The color drained from her face. "His blood pressure pills... Last month, Tamsin said she'd gotten imported ones through a connection abroad. They're better quality, she said. That's when we switched."

It was just as I thought.

In my previous life, I had always assumed Dad's stroke came from years of late nights and overwork. It was not until I was on my own deathbed that I learned Tamsin had swapped his medication.

I exhaled slowly. "Bring every last one of those imported pills in for testing. And run background checks on everyone who's been in and out of the house recently."