Chapter 1: The Woman Who Had Everything
"Thirty-eight years old, and you still couldn't keep a man.""
My younger sister said it beside our mother's coffin, wearing a diamond necklace and a smile that made three rows of mourners turn around.
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then I glanced at the white roses in my hands.
"Not today, Vanessa.""
She laughed softly.
"Why not? It's not like Mom can hear us anymore.""
The chapel outside Atlanta smelled of lilies, polished wood, and the faint sweetness of the perfume our mother had worn for forty years. Her photograph stood beside the casket, showing her smiling in the garden she had spent half her life tending.
I had chosen that photograph because Mom hated looking serious.
Vanessa had chosen to make the funeral about herself.
She stood in a fitted black designer dress, her blond hair arranged in perfect waves. A diamond necklace glittered against her collarbone.
Daniel, her husband, stood beside her.
My former fiancé.
Two years earlier, I had discovered that Daniel had been sleeping with Vanessa for nearly four months. Three months before our wedding, I had found messages on his phone while he showered.
The following morning, I returned the engagement ring.
Six months later, Vanessa married him.
At the same venue I had booked.
She even used the florist I had chosen.
I never asked for an explanation. I simply removed both their numbers from my phone and rebuilt my life.
But Vanessa had never been satisfied with simply taking what belonged to me.
She wanted me to watch her enjoy it.
"Look at us," she said now, slipping her arm through Daniel's.
"We're still standing. Isn't that what matters?""
Daniel shifted uncomfortably.
"Vanessa, please.""
"What?"" She tilted her head.
"I'm complimenting our marriage.""
Then she turned toward me.
"Some of us are lucky enough to find love. Others spend their entire lives waiting for it.""
I folded the funeral program between my fingers.
"Can we please show Mom some respect?""
Vanessa looked toward the casket.
"Mom always worried about you, Emily. She used to tell me she hoped you'd find someone before it was too late.""
My throat tightened.
Our mother had worried about me, yes. But not because I was single.
She worried because I had spent years choosing peace over people who treated me badly.
Vanessa knew that.
She simply preferred a different version of the story.
My aunt Margaret approached us, holding a tissue.
"Vanessa, your mother hasn't even been buried for an hour. Have some decency.""
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"I'm just having a conversation with my sister.""
"No," Margaret replied.
"You're humiliating her.""
Vanessa smiled.
"Someone needs to tell Emily the truth.""
She pulled out her phone and began scrolling through photographs.
"Look at our new house. Five bedrooms, a swimming pool, a wine cellar, and a private cinema. Daniel got promoted last month, too.""
She turned the screen toward me.
The photographs showed a sprawling mansion in Buckhead, complete with marble floors and enormous windows.
"Regional vice president," she added proudly.
"His company is growing like crazy.""
Daniel cleared his throat.
"Vanessa, this isn't the time.""
"Oh, darling, don't be modest.""
She turned back to me.
"Maybe I can introduce you to one of his single employees. Although, at thirty-eight, I suppose your options are getting limited.""
A man sitting behind us coughed awkwardly.
I wanted to tell her that my life was none of her business.
I wanted to remind her that I had never once called her after discovering the affair, never contacted her employer, never attended her wedding, and never tried to destroy her marriage.
Instead, I looked at Mom's photograph.
I remembered her last birthday.
She had been sitting in her hospital bed, wearing a pale blue cardigan, when she noticed the thin gold chain beneath my blouse.
"Is that still there?"" she had asked.
I nodded.
"Always.""
She smiled.
"Good. Don't hide your happiness just because someone else doesn't understand it.""
Vanessa interrupted my thoughts.
"Emily? Are you listening?""
I looked at her.
"Unfortunately.""
She laughed.
"Still bitter, aren't you?""
Daniel finally spoke.
"Vanessa, stop.""
For a moment, I saw something unfamiliar in his expression.
Fear?
No. That couldn't be right.
Vanessa adjusted her necklace.
"Anyway, Emily, if you ever meet someone, remember to introduce him to us. I'd hate for you to make another mistake.""
I touched the wedding ring hanging beneath my blouse.
Six weeks earlier, I had married a man Vanessa had never met.
We had held a small ceremony in a private garden because Mom was too sick to travel. Only a handful of people had attended.
Mom had held my husband's hand from her hospital bed.
She had looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Take care of my girl," she had whispered.
He had kissed her forehead.
"With everything I have.""
I hadn't announced the marriage publicly. My husband respected my wish for privacy while I helped Mom through her final weeks.
Vanessa had assumed I was still alone.
I hadn't corrected her.
Now, as she continued showing photographs of her mansion, the chapel doors opened.
A tall man in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit entered.
He carried a bouquet of white gardenias and roses.
My mother's favorite combination.
The funeral director immediately stepped forward to greet him.
Daniel turned.
His expression changed so dramatically that the funeral program slipped from his fingers.
"Mr. Carter?""
Vanessa spun around.
Her smile disappeared.
The man walking toward us was Alexander Carter.
The founder and chief executive officer of Carter Global Holdings.
The same company Daniel had spent the past year desperately trying to impress.
And the man Vanessa had once met at a private corporate gala.
She stared at him as if she had seen a ghost.
Alexander stopped beside me.
He placed the flowers near my mother's photograph, then gently took my hand.
"I'm sorry I'm late, sweetheart.""
He kissed my forehead.
I smiled.
"It's okay. You made it.""
His eyes softened.
Then he noticed the people standing beside me.
Daniel looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.
Vanessa's lips parted.
"That's... Alexander Carter.""
My husband turned toward her.
"Good afternoon.""
She glanced at our joined hands.
Then at the wedding ring on my finger.
"Wait.""
Her voice cracked.
"Why are you holding Emily's hand?""
Alexander looked at her, then at me.
"Because she's my wife.""
For the first time in my life, I watched my sister become completely speechless.
But the silence didn't last.
Alexander turned toward Daniel.
"You're Daniel Mitchell, aren't you?""
Daniel swallowed.
"Yes, sir.""
"Good. Then I believe we have something to discuss.""
He reached inside his jacket and removed a sealed envelope.
Vanessa stared at it.
"What is that?""
Alexander didn't look at her.
"Something my legal department discovered about the property you and your husband have been celebrating.""
Then he placed the envelope in my hands.
I recognized the signature on the document visible through the transparent folder.
My mother's.
May you like
And beneath it was a date that made my blood run cold.
It was dated three months before her death.
