Chapter 4

The police had retrieved my mother's necklace from Addison's throat with clinical efficiency, but they couldn't retrieve my peace of mind from the wreckage she left behind.

Returning to work the following Monday felt like walking into a minefield. The elevator ride to the fifteenth floor stretched endlessly, each ding of passing floors marking another step toward whatever fresh hell Addison had prepared for me.

I should have expected the whispers.

They started the moment I stepped off the elevator. Conversations died mid-sentence as I passed, only to resume in hushed, urgent tones behind my back. Sarah from accounting averted…