Part 2
"I was careless at work," I said flatly, keeping my voice utterly devoid of emotion. I broke eye contact with Colonel Sterling and pulled the frayed edge of my sleeve down to my wrist. "Patrick is right. It was just a stupid accident." I grabbed my purse from the glass table, ignoring the contract Patrick had been trying...
PART 2
Derek crossed the boutique toward me.
“What did you get?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
He reached for my phone.
I stepped away.
“Don’t.”
For a second, we stared at each other.
Then Alyssa called his name, and he turned back to the photographs as if nothing had happened.
I called my attorney from the parking lot.
Megan Price had handled my parents’ estate.
“Tell me exactly...
Part 2
The air in the private dining room grew so dense you could practically choke on it. My father stood at the head of the table, his champagne glass still raised high, waiting for Eleanor Vance to validate his cruel, sycophantic joke. Instead, Eleanor’s hand emerged from her blazer. She didn’t pull out a tissue. She didn’t pull out...
PART 2
Olivia stared at Andrew.
“You knew?”
“I knew Claire was a Navy commander. I didn’t know your family didn’t.”
“How?”
“Our proposal package went through the fleet-support program office. Her name appeared in the organization chain.”
Dad pointed at me. “So you control their contract?”
“No.”
Grace answered first.
“Commander Bennett disclosed the family connection as soon as Mercer Defense appeared in the acquisition process. She...
Part 1
The impact knocked the breath out of my lungs as my knees shattered against the polished Italian marble, the sickening crack echoing beneath the crystal chandeliers.
"Get this psychotic lunatic out of my sight!" my husband, Darnell, roared, loud enough for five hundred black-tie gala guests to freeze in stunned silence.
My name is Lenora Washington. For five years, I...
Part 2
My father stared at the thick manila envelope in his hands as if it were a live grenade. The living room was suffocatingly quiet, the only sound the faint, muffled sniffling of my daughter from the bathroom down the hall.
"Crystal, what is this?" Walter asked, his voice trembling slightly. He looked back and forth between me and my...
PART 2
Melissa stared at the open front door.
“You’re throwing Mom and Dad out too?”
“I’m ending the gathering.”
“You’re punishing everybody.”
“No. I’m changing what I’m willing to fund.”
Dad folded the paper.
“Hannah, we never asked you to keep a ledger.”
“You didn’t have to. My bank did it for me.”
Mom’s eyes filled.
“Please don’t do this today.”
“That’s exactly the problem. There is always a...
Part 2
The fluorescent lights of the restaurant manager's office buzzed angrily overhead as I pressed the heavy receiver to my ear.
"Robert, talk to me," I commanded, ignoring the manager who nervously pretended to organize menus in the corner.
"Marcus, I had to bypass your cell, you weren't answering," Robert’s voice crackled, tense and rapid. "You need to pull Lena out...
PART 2
I looked at my daughter.
“What do you mean, gone?”
Emma wiped her face.
“The savings account. The one I’ve been using for the wedding.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
I turned to him.
“How much?”
“Twenty-eight thousand.”
Emma stared at him.
“You said the deposits were for vendors.”
“They were.”
“Were?”
Ryan rubbed both hands over his face.
“My company needed a bridge.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“You used...
Part 2
I dropped to my knees on the freezing concrete, my hands shaking as I pulled the filthy, torn blanket back. My mother, Eleanor, looked like a ghost. Her skin was translucent, her lips tinted blue from the biting cold of the unheated utility room. When she opened her eyes, they were clouded with exhaustion and fear.
"Annie?" she croaked,...
