Chapter 5

At seven, Mrs. Hale unlocks my door and leads me straight to the dining room.

I carry the photograph I found in Adrian's folder. Elias stands beside a woman wearing my ring, and someone has written a warning on the back: She was the first. You are the second.

The double doors open.

Adrian sits at one end of a table set for two. At the other end, a wheelchair turns toward me.

Elias Blackwood raises his glass.

The billionaire I watched them bury this morning is alive.

A plate waits in front of him, untouched except for the neat…