Chapter 1

The call came on a Tuesday morning, the California sun already high.

A Coast Guard officer, his voice flat, official.

Ethan' s yacht, the Seraphina, found capsized.

A storm had blown in fast off the coast.

Chloe, his mistress, was rescued, hysterical but alive.

Ethan was gone. "Lost to the sea," the officer said.

Ava listened, her face a perfect mask of concern.

She asked the necessary questions, her voice low, steady.

"Will there be extensive search efforts?"

"We can continue, ma'am, but conditions are difficult. The debris field is wide."

Ava paused, a tasteful hesitation.

"No," she said, her tone soft, yet firm. "Ethan loved the ocean. He understood its power. We shouldn't waste public resources on a prolonged, likely futile, search. Let the sea keep its own."

A respectful silence on the other end.

Then, "Understood, Mrs. Hamilton. We will proceed with declaring him lost."

Hamilton was Ethan's family name, a name synonymous with old money and new tech. Ava had kept her own, Thorne, professionally, but was Mrs. Hamilton in all legal and social matters concerning Ethan.

She hung up.

The silence in her minimalist, ocean-view living room was absolute.

Ava walked to the built-in wine fridge, its glass door gleaming.

She selected a bottle of vintage champagne, something Ethan had been saving.

The pop of the cork was a small, sharp sound in the quiet.

She poured a glass, the bubbles rising, catching the light.

Ethan was dead.

Before the divorce papers he' d threatened her with could be finalized.

Before he could marry Chloe and legitimize the child Chloe claimed was his.

His death, at this precise moment, was... convenient.

It significantly increased her share of the marital assets. Vast assets.

Ava took a slow sip of the champagne. It was cold, crisp.

Perfect.

Her plan, years in the making, had just received an unexpected, violent push forward.

She had married Ethan Hamilton not for love, nor for his money, though the latter was now a useful tool.

She married him to get close to his family, to uncover the truth.

The truth about her mother, Sarah, who had vanished years ago.

A disappearance Ava had always suspected the Hamiltons, particularly Ethan and his father, Richard, were involved in.

Now, one piece of that puzzle was removed from the board.

The death certificate was issued with surprising speed. "Lost to the sea" was a powerful, final statement.

Ava began the process of untangling Ethan' s complex estate, her mind clear, her focus absolute.

She was, outwardly, the grieving widow.

Inwardly, she was the architect, and construction had just begun.