Chapter 1

"Don't marry him, Jocelyn. I'm begging you."

Stella grabbed my arm, her fingers digging into my skin. She was rail-thin, her hospital gown hanging off her like a sheet, but her grip was iron. Her eyes, wide and frantic, were still bloodshot from the overdose that almost killed her three days ago.

"What are you talking about, Stella? Get back in bed. You're not well."

I tried to pull away gently, but she held on, her whole body trembling.

"You don't understand," she rasped, her voice raw. "I saw it. I saw everything. If you marry Matthew Scott, he will destroy you."

I stared at my half-sister. We were never close. After her mother died, a wall went up between us, one she built brick by brick with resentment over her "lesser" status. For her to show up here, at my final wedding dress fitting, was bizarre. For her to say this was insane.

"Stella, Matthew is the District Attorney. He's a good man. He helped our family when that scandal hit. He's my rock."

"He's not!" she cried, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "On your wedding day, Nicole Fuller will show up. She'll be bruised and crying, and she'll say you hired men to attack her. And Matthew... he'll believe her, Jocelyn. He won't even listen to you."

The name Nicole Fuller sent a cold jolt through me. Matthew's childhood friend. The sweet, fragile girl he always felt the need to protect. I didn't like her, but the idea she would do something so vicious was unthinkable.

Stella's voice dropped to a terrified whisper. "He'll say you're mentally unstable. He'll use his power to have you locked away in a private psychiatric hospital, a place where they hurt people. You'll die in there, Jocelyn. He'll let it happen to 'teach you a lesson'."

I felt a chill despite the warm boutique. It was the detailed nature of her warning, the sheer conviction in her eyes. It was too specific to be a simple delusion.

"That's a horrible thing to say. Matthew loves me."

"No, he doesn't!" she insisted, her hysteria rising. "You want proof? Right now, he's with her. He's with Nicole at the scenic lookout on Ridge Road. The place you two call 'your spot'. He's comforting her, telling her it'll all be okay after the wedding."

I froze. That was our place. A quiet, secluded spot where he first told me he loved me.

"He's not. He's in a meeting with the mayor."

"He's lying!" Stella sobbed, her strength finally giving out as she sagged against me. "Go there. Please, Jocelyn. Just go and see for yourself."

The seed of doubt was planted. It was a tiny, poisonous thing, but it was there. I told the seamstress I had a family emergency and practically ran out of the boutique, my heart pounding in my chest.

The drive to Ridge Road was a blur. I kept telling myself this was crazy, that Stella was just sick and hallucinating from the drugs. But I couldn't stop myself.

I pulled up to the lookout. And there it was. Matthew's sleek black sedan.

My blood ran cold. I got out of my car, my legs unsteady. I walked to his car and looked inside. It was empty. A wave of relief washed over me, so powerful it almost buckled my knees.

Then, his car door opened. Matthew got out, a surprised look on his face.

"Jocelyn? Honey, what are you doing here?"

He walked toward me, his arms open, that familiar, charismatic smile on his face. "I was just... I wanted one last look at our spot before we get married. Thinking about our future."

He pulled me into a hug, holding me tight. "I love you so much. I can't wait to make you my wife."

His words were perfect. His embrace was warm. But as I buried my face in his coat, I smelled it. A faint, sweet scent that wasn't my perfume. It was floral and cheap.

It was Nicole's.

I pulled back, looking into his eyes, searching for any sign of a lie. I found nothing but the earnest, loving gaze of the man I was going to marry.

But the doubt remained, a cold knot in the pit of my stomach.