Chapter 1

Mark was in the shower, his humming a dull sound through the bathroom door.

I picked up his phone from the nightstand, just to set his alarm for his early shift.

A new message flashed on the screen.

Jessica.

"Can't wait for the road trip, baby. Soon she'll be gone, and we'll be rich."

My breath caught.

Road trip?

He' d mentioned a scenic drive, a little getaway for us next weekend.

My fingers trembled as I unlocked his phone, his passcode was our anniversary.

The irony wasn't lost on me.

I scrolled through months of messages between Mark and Jessica Evans.

Jessica, my adoptive sister.

The one who made my childhood a living hell.

They weren't just having an affair, they were planning to kill me.

"The brakes will fail on that riverside road," one of Mark' s messages read, "Tragic accident. Everyone will believe it."

Another from Jessica, "The insurance money will set us and the baby up for life."

Baby?

A photo attached showed Jessica, glowing, holding a newborn.

Mark' s reply, "Our little one deserves the best."

My stomach twisted into a knot, cold and hard.

This loving marriage, the comfortable life I thought I' d built, it was all a lie.

He appeared at the bathroom door, a towel around his waist, smiling.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

His smile, once a source of warmth, now looked like a predator's grin.

I forced a weak smile back, my mind racing, the phone hidden under the covers.

"Morning," I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

He leaned down to kiss me, and I had to fight the urge to recoil.

His lips were cold.

Or maybe it was me, frozen from the inside out.

He dressed, still humming, oblivious.

He talked about the road trip, how beautiful the views would be, how much fun we' d have.

Each word was a hammer blow.

I nodded, played along, my heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.

He was going to kill me.

And Jessica, my own sister, was in on it.

The man I loved, the life I cherished, all of it was a carefully constructed trap.

He left for work, a cheerful "Love you!" thrown over his shoulder.

The door clicked shut.

I stared at the spot where he' d stood, the silence in the room deafening.

Then, the anger came, hot and fierce, burning away the shock.

They wouldn't get away with this.