Chapter 1

The moment my plane plunged into the freezing ocean, my husband didn't mourn.

He didn't search for me.

Instead, he couldn't wait to move his mistress and their daughter into my estate.

Seventy-two hours ago, I finally woke up from a nightmare that lasted three years.

But there is no time for ghosts to rest.

Right now, I am standing in the freezing rain, gripping my cracked phone, watching the live feed from the hidden security cameras I installed years ago.

What I see on that glowing screen makes my blood run completely cold.

My seven-year-old daughter, Liora, is on her knees.

She is wearing a washed-out grey shirt, the exact same one I bought her three years ago. Her tiny hands are red and covered in chilblains, furiously scrubbing the hardwood hallway floor.

Standing over her is Nadia, Dorian's former servant, and now his mistress. Next to Nadia is her daughter, Camille.

Camille is eight. A year older than my marriage to Dorian.

That horrifying math hits me harder than a physical blow. He was betraying me before I even walked down the aisle.

Camille is dressed in a custom Dior gown, though her face is unnaturally pale. A hospital ID bracelet peeks out from beneath her lace cuff.

With a cruel smirk, Camille drops a massive glob of sticky birthday cake directly onto the pristine carpet.

"Clean it up," Camille sneers, kicking Liora's thin, frail shoulder. "Nanny's children aren't allowed at my party."

Nadia doesn't stop her. She simply sips her champagne.

"Stop crying," Nadia snaps. "Your father pities you. Earn your keep."

Liora gasps. Her small chest heaves as she frantically reaches for the blue asthma inhaler in her pocket.

Nadia violently snatches it away.

"No medicine until it's spotless."

I don't think. I react.

I ram my shoulder against the heavy iron side gate, punch in my master code, and burst into the hallway, bringing the freezing storm in with me.

Nadia raises her hand to strike my suffocating child.

I catch her wrist in mid-air.

With a violent twist, I shove her backward. Nadia's head smacks against the mahogany console table, and she drops to the floor, clutching her bleeding nose.

I ignore her screams. I grab the blue inhaler, drop to my knees, and press it to Liora's pale, trembling lips.

"Breathe, baby," I whisper, tears mixing with the rain on my face. "Mommy's here."

Liora takes a ragged, shaking breath. She looks up at me.

Then, she violently flinches.

She doesn't hug me. Instead, she curls into a tight ball, instinctively shielding her head with her arms. She shrinks against the wall, desperately trying to hide her dirty clothes.

"Mommy...? Don't look at me," she sobs, trembling violently. "Daddy said I am the bad nanny's child... I'll dirty your dress."

My chest tears open. He didn't just replace me. He erased her identity in her own home.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Dorian storms down the mahogany stairs, freezing the absolute second he sees my face.

"R-Raina?" He grips the railing, the color draining entirely from his face. "You're dead."

I stand up, making sure to keep my body between him and my terrified daughter.

"The ocean didn't want me, Dorian."

In the distance, the loud wail of ambulance sirens cuts through the rain. I had called them the second I saw Liora gasping for air.

Dorian's initial shock hardens into a cold, calculated glare. He steps down, blocking the doorway.

"Listen to me very carefully, Raina," he says, his voice dropping into a sinister whisper. "Legally, you do not exist."

"Liora needs a hospital," I say coldly, refusing to back down.

"The paramedics will take her," Dorian sneers, his voice dripping with venom. "But I have sole custody. If you try to step out that door with her, I will tell the police an unidentified woman broke in and tried to kidnap my child."

He smirks. "They will tear her right out of your arms."

I freeze.

I look at Liora, who is shaking uncontrollably at the sound of his raised voice. A physical fight with the police right now would traumatize her forever. I have to be smart.

"Paramedics! Down here!" Dorian yells, instantly switching his tone to a desperate, caring father for the arriving medics.

They rush in and gently lift Liora onto a stretcher.

"Don't ever come back here," Dorian sneers, following them out into the rain.

Standing alone in the dark hallway of the house I bought, I pull out my phone and dial my attorney.

"Bennett," I say, my voice steady and lethal. "It's Raina. I'm back. And I need a legal team at City Hospital, right now."