Chapter 3

The property surveillance footage came through twenty minutes later.

I sat in front of my computer and watched it clip by clip.

In the footage, a girl in a black miniskirt stood at the entrance to the complex, said something to the security system, and the guard let her in.

Mr. Ford had added a timeline note on the side: three days ago, 2:17 p.m.

After entering the complex, she headed straight to my house like she knew the place, pulled an access card from her bag, and let herself in.

The whole thing was smooth as hell, like she was walking into her own home.

I watched it three times and confirmed that I did not know this woman.

Olivia Sterling.

I searched my memory from top to bottom and found nothing connected to that name.

I sent screenshots from the footage to Sophie, and she replied instantly.

"Who the hell is this woman? She looks like every copy-paste influencer ever."

"No idea."

"Wait, Emily, look at the bag in her hand."

I zoomed in on the screenshot. She was carrying a pink gift bag, and I recognized the logo. It was from that dessert shop I go to all the time.

But that shop was in the south side of town, a forty-minute drive from Clearwater Bay.

Who would go out of their way to bring fancy desserts while moving into a stranger's house?

"She came prepared," Sophie said. "She knew your house was empty, knew where the access card was, and even knew you hadn't been staying there lately. Emily, do you think someone has been watching your place?"

I leaned back in my chair while my brain went into overdrive.

My grandpa gave me this villa. I usually lived there alone, while my parents ran the family clothing factory in a nearby city and only came by once in a while.

The factory had been rushing through a batch of export orders lately, so I'd gone over to help. I really hadn't been back to the villa in over half a month.

Not many people knew my schedule.

The property staff, the cleaning lady, and a few close friends who came by often.

"I'm going back there."

"Now? It's almost eleven. Just go tomorr-"

"Now."

I changed clothes and grabbed my car keys, only to remember that my Maserati was still in that woman's hands.

So I had no choice but to take the old Mercedes my grandpa had left in the garage.

The car was a little dirty, but I didn't have time to care. I floored it all the way to Clearwater Bay.

When I got to the entrance, Mr. Jones, the security guard, looked stunned to see me.

"Miss Mason? You're back this late?"

"Mr. Jones, tell me something. The woman you let in three days ago, who did she say she was?"

He scratched his head. "She said she was your cousin, and she even had an authorization letter from you."

"An authorization letter?"

"Yeah. It said you asked her to help watch the house while you were away, and it had your thumbprint on it. We checked it, and the access card was real too, so we let her through."

I took a deep breath.

"Do you still have that letter?"

"It's on file. I'll pull it up for you."

Mr. Jones dug a sheet of paper out of a folder in the guard room and handed it to me.

It was a printed authorization letter. The writing was neat, and the content basically said, "I, Emily Mason, am away and authorize my cousin Olivia Sterling to look after my property on my behalf." It had my name signed at the bottom, plus a red thumbprint.

The signature imitation was good. If one didn't look closely, it could've passed as the real thing.

But I knew in one glance it was fake.

The final stroke of my signature always hooks upward out of habit. This one didn't.

"Where did she get the access card?"

"Well... we assumed you gave it to her."

I held the authorization letter in my hand, and my fingertips felt cold.

I had two access cards. One was with me, and the backup one was in the drawer by the foyer in the villa.

How did she know where the spare card was?

Unless she'd been inside before.

Or someone had told her.