Chapter 2

On the day Lily is cremated, Ethan is throwing Sophie a birthday party.

Grant Group employees fill Instagram with photos from the top-floor conference room. White roses cover the space from wall to wall.

In one photo, Ethan patiently slides the diamond ring Sophie has been eyeing onto her finger.

The caption says, "Mr. Grant says the CFO who protected his company for three years deserves the best."

I turn off my phone and send Lily into the cremation room.

The staff member asks if we should wait for her father.

I say, "No."

When the furnace door slowly closes, I do not cry.

I cried myself empty last night.

Two hours later, I walk out holding Lily's ashes.

Ethan's mother is standing at the entrance.

Clearly, Ethan has forwarded my funeral home message to her like it is some kind of joke.

She sees me and frowns.

"What are you doing now?"

"Diane, this is Lily."

"Ethan can't even stand to come home because of you. You burned through more than thirty million dollars and still aren't satisfied. Who are you trying to scare with that urn?"

"Ethan didn't tell you I asked him to come yesterday?"

"He's celebrating Sophie's birthday. You picked today to make trouble because you're jealous, aren't you?"

I tighten my arms around the urn and try to walk past her.

She grabs at me.

Her hand knocks the lid crooked, and a small smear of gray-white ash falls onto my sleeve.

I jerk back and shout, "Don't touch her."

Diane's face darkens.

"If you hadn't gotten pregnant, the Grant family never would've let you through the door. Now you can't even raise your own daughter properly, and you still have the nerve to snap at me?"

Daniel steps in front of her and hands over the death certificate.

Diane looks at it for one second, then immediately takes out her phone and snaps a photo.

"Forging documents is a crime. I'm sending this to Ethan so he can see how insane you've become."

She does not look a second time.

She does not ask when Lily died.

I get into the car with the urn in my arms.

Before the door shuts, Diane is already on the phone.

"Ethan, Emma is carrying a fake urn around to scare me. You need to deal with her. Don't let her ruin Sophie's birthday."

Back at my rental, Daniel spreads the investigation files across the table.

"Emma Laine was a former janitor at Grant Group. She died of illness three years ago. Half a month later, a new account opened under her name. The phone number on file belongs to Sophie's assistant."

He points to the transaction chart.

"Ethan ordered finance to transfer one million dollars a month. On holidays, or whenever you asked him for money, he added more. Over three years, the total reached thirty-six million."

I flip through the spending trail.

A sports car.

A riverfront apartment.

Jewelry.

A villa for Sophie's parents.

Every reimbursement note has my name on it.

Daniel says the evidence still is not enough. We need the original payment instructions and backend change logs. Otherwise, Sophie can claim she only processed the payments.

The doorbell rings.

Grant Group's legal team stands outside with two assistants.

"Ms. Lane," the lawyer says, "Mr. Grant requests the return of all jewelry, vehicles, and real estate gifted during the marriage."

I look at the list.

The diamond ring. The sports car. The apartment. The villa.

Every single item has appeared on Sophie's Instagram.

"These aren't with me."

The lawyer's face stays blank.

"The system shows you as the recipient."

"Then go ask the person who actually received them."

He hands me a formal notice.

"Mr. Grant says if everything is not returned by midnight, he will file suit."

I sign the date.

"Tell him I'll be waiting."

After they leave, Daniel turns to the last page of the list.

Last night at 10:47 p.m., a one-million-dollar emergency medical payment was confirmed received by "Emma Laine."

At that exact time, Lily was convulsing in the ER.

I take a picture of the page and send it to Sophie.

"A dead woman received one million dollars last night. Do you think the police will believe that?"

The chat stays silent.

Five minutes later, Ethan calls.

"Are you threatening Sophie?"

"She ran to you already?"

"She's been cleaning up your mess for three years. You don't thank her. Instead, you use forged documents to scare her. Emma, how did you become this vicious?"

I run my fingers along the edge of Lily's urn.

"Why didn't you come to the funeral home today?"

"To help you act out a scene where our child is dead?" His voice turns colder. "Where did you hide Lily? Bring her back tomorrow morning, and I won't press charges."

"No need to wait until tomorrow."

I send him a photo of the death certificate.

The moment the photo goes through, a red exclamation mark appears.

Ethan has blocked me.

Then I hear a key sliding into the lock.

My landlord rushes in, pale and nervous.

"Ms. Lane, I'm sorry. Grant Group just bought this apartment. The new owner wants you out tonight."