Chapter 2

Brittany was everything Sarah was not.

Young, loud, and obsessed with the glittering surface of things.

A former pageant queen, she saw the Winchester name as her ultimate crown.

She was determined to be the new "First Lady" of the dynasty, and she didn't like anything that felt "old."

David was smitten, or so it seemed. He indulged her, and Brittany mistook indulgence for influence.

Her posse, a flock of equally shallow socialites, chirped in her ear.

They whispered about some "crazy old ranch hand' s widow" living on the property.

"She' s always lurking," one said, sipping champagne at a pre-Ball brunch.

"Spreading gossip, probably," another added, "Doesn't know her place."

Brittany had only seen Sarah once, at a distance.

Sarah' s simple clothes, her quiet demeanor, her reclusiveness – Brittany dismissed it all.

This "widow" was clearly insignificant, a relic.

But the whispers made Brittany uneasy.

She didn't like loose ends, or anyone who might not immediately adore her.

This old woman, whoever she was, felt like a symbol of the past Brittany wanted to bulldoze.

A potential nuisance.

Brittany decided, with the full support of her giggling friends, that this "nuisance" needed to be dealt with.

Today. Before the Ball. Before her grand announcement.

She wanted no shadows on her perfect evening.