Chapter 2

At 3 a.m., it began to rain in Greyhaven.

I sat on a bench by the hospital's back door, clutching Nora's little jacket.

The scent of strawberry candy lingered in the pocket. Before she got sick, she'd hidden the candy in there, saying she'd share one with her dad someday.

My phone buzzed. It wasn't Lucas but a bill from the hospital.

I stared at the message and let out a bitter laugh. My throat burned, as if it were scraped by broken glass.

Four years ago, when I married Lucas, everyone in Greyhaven said I was lucky.

The Moretti Family controlled half the docks in Blackhaven.

Lucas was young, handsome, and calm, and was the heir his father valued most. But what they didn't know was that before I married him, the Moretti Family's finances were already a mess.

I was the one who sorted out the port's shipping records, patched up the problems with the bank, and brokered a ceasefire for him with the Valen Family.

The year Nora was born, I used the trust fund my mother left me to bail out the Moretti Family from an imminent debt crisis.

That day, Lucas held our newborn daughter and told me, "Elena, the Moretti Family will never let you down."

I believed him until he froze both mine and Nora's accounts for Sophie's sake.

Rain hammered against the metal awning at the hospital's back door with a relentless rhythm.

I opened my contacts and scrolled to a name I'd left untouched for five years, Cedric Valen, Lucas's sworn enemy.

Five years ago, before I married Lucas, Cedric had asked me once, "Are you sure you want to tie yourself to Lucas?"

Back then, I said, "I love him."

Cedric stayed quiet for a long time before he handed me his calling card. "If you ever fall out of love, give me a call."

I stared at Cedric's number and made a call.

The phone rang three times. On such a rainy night, a deep voice finally came from the other end. "Elena?"

"Is that offer you made back then still on the table?" I heard myself speak, surprisingly calm.

There was a pause on the other end. After a few seconds, Cedric finally spoke, "It still stands."

I looked down at the little jacket in my arms. "I have one condition."

"Go on."

I closed my eyes. "I want Lucas stripped of everything in Blackhaven."

Nora's funeral was held two days later.

Greyhaven Cemetery sat by the sea, where the wind swept over the black rocks, carrying a damp, salty tang.

The rain had stopped, but the clouds still lingered. They floated so low as if they could touch the tombstones.

The small white coffin of Nova was nestled in a bed of blue irises. I'd dressed Nora in her favorite blue dress. She always said it looked like the sea in a fairy tale.

The cemetery was crowded with mourners. There were long-time associates of the Moretti Family, bank representatives at the port, dock contractors, and directors with family voting power.

All of them were dressed in black, speaking in low voices, but their glances kept landing on me. They were waiting for Lucas.

All of them knew he hadn't shown up outside the emergency room while his daughter was fighting for her life. They also knew he'd been staying at Sophie's beachfront villa these past two days.

Ten minutes before the funeral began, a black car pulled up at the cemetery gate.

When Lucas stepped out, the sea breeze whipped his black coat. He looked terrible, his eyes bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in days.

But he didn't come alone. Sophie followed at his side. She wore a black dress, a sheer veil covering her face, and held a bouquet of white roses. Her eyes were perfectly red-rimmed as if she were truly sad.

She stepped up and handed the roses to me, her voice trembling. "Elena, I'm so sorry."

I stared at those flowers. Nora hated white roses. She always said they looked like hospital sheets, which were ugly.

I didn't take them with Sophie's hand hung awkwardly in the air.

Lucas's brow furrowed. "Elena, it's Nora's funeral today."

"So what?" I shot back.

His brow tightened more. "Don't embarrass everyone here."

I knew that line by heart.

For the past four years, every time Sophie barged into our lives, every time she "accidentally" broke Nora's toys, every time she cried about how lonely she was, Lucas would always say the same thing. "Elena, don't embarrass everyone."

But actually, I was always the one left humiliated while Sophie was the one who should have been to blame.