Chapter 1

The air in the upstairs hallway was thick and smelled of expensive perfume. I stood still, my hand hovering over the door to my bedroom. I could hear voices from inside my son Andrew' s room, just down the hall.

My daughters-in-law, Sylvia and Maria. Their voices were low, conspiratorial.

"The system says the final payout is contingent on Jocelyn' s 'natural' decline," Sylvia said, her voice sharp. "Stress-induced heart failure within five years. That' s the target."

Maria sighed. "It' s sick. But if we play along, we get our freedom. And the money. We just need to get through this gala."

My breath caught in my throat. System? Payout? I leaned closer, pressing my ear against the cool wood of my own door.

"Did you see how Matthew looks at her? Sabrina," Sylvia continued, a bitter laugh in her voice. "He' s already picturing her as the new lady of the house. He and the boys want to make her their official ward. The daughter of his dead college sweetheart, Debra. It' s a perfect story."

"And Jocelyn' s role?" Maria asked.

"To be the doting, supportive mother figure who welcomes the poor orphan, nurtures her, and then conveniently dies off so Sabrina can inherit the political trust fund. And we' re supposed to just watch."

A cold dread washed over me, so intense it made my stomach clench. Matthew. My husband, the Governor of Texas. And our sons, Ethan and Andrew. They were planning to replace me. Not just in my husband' s life, but in my own home, with the daughter of a woman he never got over.

I was 52 years old. I had given up my own career as a political strategist to build his. I raised his sons. I ran this house, this political dynasty, from the shadows. And my reward was to be a placeholder, destined for a stress-induced death.

The fury that rose in me was a physical force. It pushed me away from the door and down the hall. I didn' t knock. I shoved the door to Andrew' s room open.

Sylvia and Maria jumped, their faces pale with shock. They were sitting on the edge of the bed, their phones clutched in their hands.

"Stress-induced heart failure," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "That' s a new one. Tell me more about this 'system' ."

They stared at me, speechless. The silence stretched, thick with their fear and my rage. I wasn't going to let them off the hook. I wasn't going to die.

I was going to burn it all down.