Chapter 1

When the Coast Guard called, I was sorting through the hotel check-in records of my husband and his mistress. "Your husband jumped into the sea to save a woman and has been missing for more than twenty-four hours. Do you consent to a recovery operation?" I answered evenly, "No. And please note my statement as a witness. I'm going to the local station right now to report him as deceased."

It wasn't until my lawyer called to confirm the estate had been transferred into my name that I finally laughed out loud.

My name is Emily Grant. When the Coast Guard called, I was sorting through David Reed's cheating evidence, sheet by sheet: hotel bills, intimate chat screenshots, and travel photos of him and his mistress, Vanessa White.

Every single one was like a dull blade sawing through my heart again and again. But now, my hands were steady and my heart was still. The phone rang sharply, and an unknown number flashed across the screen. I hit speaker and kept arranging the photos in chronological order.

"Hello, is this Ms. Grant, Mr. Reed's next of kin?" A calm male voice came through.

"Speaking."

"This is the Coast Guard. We're sorry to inform you of an unfortunate incident. Your husband, David Reed, jumped into the sea at three o'clock yesterday afternoon to save a woman who had fallen overboard. The waves were too rough, and both of them were swept away." The voice paused, as if giving me a moment to absorb it. "The woman was Vanessa White. Fishermen found her body this morning. But Mr. Reed is still missing. He has been gone for more than twenty-four hours, and the odds of survival are extremely low. By procedure, we need the opinion of his immediate family. Do you agree to us sending out a recovery team? The cost would be borne by the family."

I stopped what I was doing and looked down at one of the photos. In it, David had his arms around Vanessa by Lake Serenity, smiling so brightly it looked like a postcard, with Blue Ridge and Lake Serenity behind them. He used to tell me the company kept him too busy to take me to see the sea. Turns out it wasn't that he had no time. He just didn't want to spend it on me. I picked up the phone. My voice was flat as still water.

"No."

There was a full three seconds of silence on the other end. "...Ms. Grant, are you sure?"

"I'm sure," I cut him off. "And please note that for the record. I'm going to the local station right now to start the paperwork to have him declared dead."

This time, the silence lasted even longer. I could practically picture the stunned look on the officer's face. "Ms. Grant, we understand this is a lot, but..."

"You don't need to understand how I feel," I said coldly. "You just need to handle this by the book. He went missing while trying to save someone. You have that on record. As his next of kin, I'm declining recovery and filing to have him declared dead. There's no procedural problem with that, right?"

"Procedurally, there isn't," he said stiffly.

"Good. Thank you."

I hung up, bundled all the evidence together, encrypted it, and backed it up to the cloud. Then I shut the computer, got to my feet, and walked out of the home David and I had shared for five years. The sun was shining, and so was my mood. I'd never felt so light.

The next day, right after I finished all the paperwork, I found my doorway blocked. A middle-aged woman stood there with seven or eight relatives, all looking ready for a fight. It was Mary White, Vanessa's mother. The moment she saw me, she lunged over like a madwoman, jabbing a finger at my face as she started cursing.

"You vicious woman! Do you even have a conscience? My daughter died because of your husband, and you still won't let them recover him? You want to leave him out there in the sea?"

Neighbors poked their heads out and started pointing and whispering. Looking at her face twisted with rage, I suddenly laughed. "Oh?" I swept my gaze around, making sure everyone could hear me clearly. "So what you're saying is, your daughter Vanessa was the other woman. Right?"

Mary's cursing stopped cold, and her face froze. "And my husband David died trying to save his mistress. That's true too, isn't it?" My voice wasn't loud, but it landed like a hammer on every person there. "And now you, the mistress's mother, are standing at the lawful wife's front door asking me to pay to clean up after my cheating husband and his shameless side piece? Ma'am, how does that make any sense?"

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Mary's face turned dark red. Her lips trembled, but not a word came out. The relatives behind her traded looks, all their earlier confidence gone. I let out a cold laugh and looked at Mary. "What happened? Why'd you stop? Go on. You think I'm vicious? Fine. Today I'll show you what vicious really looks like."

Mary backed away under my stare. The man beside her, probably Vanessa's father, finally stepped forward.

"Y-you've gone too far! People are dead!"

"Good riddance," I said lightly.

Everyone was stunned by what I said. Mary shrieked again like a cat with its tail stepped on. "You bitch! I'll kill you!" She lunged at me like she'd lost her mind. Her slap came whistling straight at my face.