: Hailey Wilson

The mansion felt like a graveyard. After David dropped me off, the silence of the hallways seemed to press against my ears. Evans wasn’t home. He was out dealing with "emergencies," leaving me alone in a house that felt less like a home and more like a puzzle with missing pieces.

I stood in the center of the dark study, my heart hammering against my ribs. My mind was a whirlwind. David’s words at dinner had acted like acid, eating away at the thin layer of trust I had left for Evans. “A man doesn't spend that much time with a woman like Valarie just to help...