He had married me so he could inherit the fortune Lucian gave me.

That was why he rushed us into registering the marriage.

Once we were legally husband and wife, he could claim the assets after my death.

The truth had come too late.

I had been looking forward to a wedding.

Instead, I died the night we signed the marriage papers.

I looked at Lucian’s beautiful, exhausted face.

Pain spread through my spirit until I could scarcely stand.

He closed his eyes, holding the phone.

After a silence, he spoke slowly.

“The gift was hers. She decides what happens to it. If she wanted Julian to have it, let him.”

“No.”

I shook my head desperately.

“I don’t want him to have a cent.”

Lucian lowered the phone.

He touched my smiling face in another photograph.

In that picture, I was looking at Julian.

“You love him so much you won’t let go even now?”

There was bitterness in the question.

“I don’t love him anymore. I stopped the day I died.”

I told him again.

And again.

He would never hear.

I had hurt him so deeply while alive.

Suddenly, his face changed.

Blood burst from his mouth.

His tall body swayed.

“Lucian!”

I reached for him.

Passed through.

Again.

I could only watch.

Bracing a hand against the floor, he slowly stood.

Then he saw the blood on my photograph.

Alarm crossed his face.

Like a child who had done something wrong.

“I’m sorry. I got you dirty. You hate blood.”

I stood behind him while he carefully wiped it away.

As though the cold image were a fragile treasure.

I laughed softly.

And tasted tears.

Someone had treasured me all along.

I looked around the room.

So many pictures showed my back.

So many times he had stood behind me, quietly watching.

I had never turned around.

I had missed him for years.

“I’m sorry.”

I moved in front of him.

Rose onto my toes.

Reached with nearly transparent fingers to wipe the blood from his mouth.

“I never really looked at you.”

If I had paid attention.

If Julian hadn’t blinded me.

I would have known.

The enemy I hated most had protected me in silence.

Loved me for years.

And watched me blindly love someone else.

How had it felt, hearing me declare my devotion to Julian again and again?

“I’m sorry I left you alone for so long.”

I held my hands beside his face and cried.

He had tried to tell me.

“Do you love him that much?”

“What’s so good about Julian?”

“Are you blind, Stella?”

“Does it have to be him?”

“I must be insane to stay in Fairhaven and watch you congratulate yourself on suffering for him.”

Every careless question.

Every sneer.

A cautious attempt to find a way in.

If I had looked properly, the hurt in his eyes would have been easy to see.

I never had.

I hated him.

Resented him.

Sometimes feared him.

“Don’t marry Julian. Please.”

The last thing I heard that drunken night.

I thought it was a dream.

In his arms, I had smiled and shaken my head.

“I’ll tell you a secret. Since I was ten, I’ve imagined marrying him someday. That’s my dream. I’ve never told anyone.”

This hadn’t been a competition between Lucian and Julian.

I had never let Lucian onto the field.

Somewhere I never thought to look, his love had taken root and grown wild.

The woman he had loved all along was me.

I bent over the empty place in my chest.

It hurt.

He returned to his bedroom, left the lights off, and sank onto the sofa in the corner.

He smoked one cigarette after another.

The room was empty and still.

Smoke spread, then vanished into deeper silence.

I stayed crouched beside him for a long time.

Only when daylight came and Miles appeared did I feel safe enough to leave.

I returned to the Whitmore house.

The living room was unusually crowded.

Family.

Police.

Hayes sat on the sofa. He looked as though he hadn’t slept. Dark circles lay beneath his eyes.

A long box stood on a cabinet.

I looked inside.

A woman’s arm.

Mine.

I knew immediately.

Somehow, it had been preserved. It looked freshly severed.

Richard’s face was dark with anger.

“They never intended to return her. Seven million in cash, they said. Overnight, it becomes twenty-eight million by bank transfer. She’s in Veyra. She’s probably dead already. They’re just taking us for money.”

I almost felt sorry for him.

He was the only person in his family who still didn’t know his son had killed me.

Julian looked exhausted, one hand buried in his hair.

“Dad, stop. If it brings her home, I’ll pay anything. Detective Hayes is here. He’ll find a way.”

A splint covered the finger Lucian had broken.

Hayes glanced at him and said nothing.

An officer entered quickly.

“Detective.”

His look asked for a private word.

Hayes went to the entrance.

Not far. Through the window, Julian remained visible.

I could follow.

“Our technical team reviewed the auction footage frame by frame. We identified the White Horse Hotel in Veyra. It’s controlled by the largest local militia.”

The officer lowered his voice.

“Our sources say none of the boats at its docks have left in the last two days. I don’t think they intend to return her.”

He hesitated.

“She may already be dead.”

Hayes took a hard drag on his cigarette.

Through the window, he watched Julian.

His brows drew together.

At last.

Lucian’s words on the roof had reached him.

“Investigate Julian. The rest of the family, too. And look very carefully at Pearl’s sudden psychiatric problems.”

Finally, the police were looking in the right direction.

I should have been happy.

It didn’t feel the way I expected.

I looked down at my fading spirit.

Hatred and pain had held me so long.

Now I knew Lucian loved me, and the guilt was almost unbearable.

Perhaps the moment I held him back from killing Julian, I had begun letting go.

This life needed to end.

Soon I would disappear.

I only hoped I could see Julian pay before I did.

Inside, he answered a call.

His expression changed.

He hurried out.

“There’s an urgent matter at the office. I need to deal with it.”

Hayes nodded and called an officer over.

“Take Mr. Whitmore to headquarters. Bring him back afterward. He’s under our protection.”

Protection on the surface.

Surveillance underneath.

Julian understood.

Something flickered in his eyes too quickly to catch.

“Thank you, Detective.”

He looked grateful as he got into the police car.

I went with him.

What else could he possibly have planned?