Chapter 1

My husband's father, Michael Shenwell, was in a bad car wreck, and he was hanging by a thread.

With almost nothing left in him, and to keep the family from tearing itself apart after he was gone, he laid out his will in front of the city's press and his lawyers.

He announced that whichever of his two sons reached his bedside first would inherit the entire thirty-billion-dollar empire.

Jason Shenwell was overseas, and my husband, the older son, Henry Shenwell, was a ten-minute drive from the hospital.

It should have been the easiest thirty billion dollars anyone ever walked into.

I called until my phone was hot, and Henry turned his off.

His first love had said she was having a bad day and wanted him to watch a private fireworks show with her at the top of the Ferris wheel.

In my last life, I lost my mind over it. I brought bodyguards into the amusement park, hauled him out, and drove him to Michael's bedside.

He had barely gotten to his knees before Michael stopped breathing, and just like that, he was the richest man in the state.

But his first love had been left alone up in the cold, and she came down with a fever. She sobbed and screamed that he didn't care about her and said she was done with him.

It broke him. Once he had full control of everything, he tied me to a block of stone and dropped me into International Waters.

"If you hadn't stuck your money-grubbing nose into it, Lydia never would have gotten scared and gotten sick. The money was always going to be mine. Who asked you?"

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment the lawyer was begging me to make the call.

His newest Instagram post was still on my screen. [Sky could fall and I'd still be right here watching the fireworks with my princess.] I double-tapped it.

Then I opened my thread with Jason and typed: [Jason, how would you like to make a deal?]

*****

"Mrs. Shenwell, what are you standing there for? Call Mr. Shenwell, right now."

The lawyer, Charles Grant, was so worked up he could barely stand still.

"The chairman has already signed his will. Whichever son walks into this room first, before he goes, takes all of Shenwell Holdings.

"It's a ten-minute drive. If Henry leaves now, thirty billion dollars is his."

I put the hatred back behind my eyes.

With a room full of lawyers and doctors watching, I dialed Henry's number.

It rang for a long time.

It rang so long that Charles started sweating, and then Henry finally picked up.

Fireworks went off in my ear the second the line opened, and then came Henry's voice, flat with irritation.

"Joanna, are you ever going to quit? How many times do I have to say it? Lydia is having a hard day and I am watching the fireworks with her."

I swallowed the urge to laugh and kept my voice level.

"Michael was in a bad car accident. He's at the hospital, and they're working on him."

Before I could get to the will, a wet, teary cough came through the phone.

"Henry, are you leaving me again?"

Lydia Lynn had taken the phone.

"Ms. Sawyer, I really am not feeling well today, and that is the only reason I asked Henry to stay.

"You don't have to invent something like this. Do I have to get on my knees and beg you before you let him stay a little longer?"

Henry's voice went soft.

"Don't be scared, Lydia. I'm not going anywhere."

Then he turned back to the phone, and the cold came right back.

"You hear that? She's already fragile, and you're calling to work her up. Are you happy when she breaks?"

Charles had a vein standing out on his forehead. He took the phone out of my hand.

"Mr. Shenwell, this is Charles Grant, your father's attorney. Your wife is not making this up.

"Your father was in a car accident, and he is at Central City Medical Center. You need to be here within thirty minutes, because he has signed a will."

"Oh, so you're the lawyer."

A lazy, sneering voice cut in from the other end.

It was Leo Lynn, Henry's personal assistant, and Lydia's brother.

Leo sneered, "Joanna Sawyer, you really spent money on this one, didn't you? You even hired actors. Too bad you missed a step.

"Mr. Shenwell, I have a buddy on shift in the ER at Central City Medical Center. It's a dead quiet night over there. Joanna is jealous, and she staged the whole thing to get you to come home."

Henry bought all of it and went off.

"Joanna, you'll use my father's life as a prop. You make me sick."

He hung up without another word.

Charles stood there holding the dead phone, and he could not believe it.

"How could Henry be so blind?"