Chapter 3

The next evening, Julia returned right on time to the house she'd come to call home.

In Emerald Bay, Riverdale, the Stone family owned a riverfront villa. It was a three-story standalone house with a garden and a swimming pool.

The interior was designed in Brandon's preferred minimalist style, dominated by off-white and gray tones with crisp, clean lines, cold and sterile like an exhibition hall.

Julia had lived here for three years and never felt any warmth in this house. She'd tried putting fresh flowers in the living room, cooking a pot of hot soup in the kitchen, hanging…