Chapter 1 - The Woman on His Arm
My sister had been dead for six days when her husband walked into her funeral with his mistress on his arm.
And somehow, that wasn’t the worst thing he did that day.
My name is Emily Carter.
I was sitting in the second pew of First Baptist Church in Bellhaven, Texas, staring at the closed white casket that held my younger sister, Lily Reed, and the baby boy she had never gotten to hold.
Thirty-two weeks pregnant.
Thirty-one years old.
Dead at the bottom of the staircase in the home she shared with her husband.
Jason said she fell.
I never believed him.
The church smelled like white lilies, candle wax, and rain.
My mother sat beside me with a damp tissue crushed between her fingers.
Dad hadn’t spoken more than ten words since the coroner released Lily’s body.
Then the back doors opened.
Every head turned.
Jason Reed walked in wearing a black suit and the solemn face of a grieving husband.
Beside him was a tall brunette in a fitted black dress.
Her hand was hooked through his arm.
Her head rested briefly against his shoulder.
My mother froze.
“Oh my God.”
I knew the woman immediately.
Rachel Monroe.
Jason’s coworker.
The same name I had seen on Lily’s phone three months earlier when she called me at two in the morning.
Rachel: I miss you already. Last night wasn’t enough.
Lily had stared at that message for almost a full minute before whispering, “He says I’m imagining things.”
Now Rachel was walking into my sister’s funeral like she had won something.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said.
I started to stand.
Dad grabbed my wrist.
“Emily. No.”
“She’s sitting with him.”
“I know.”
“In Lily’s row.”
“I know.”
Jason led Rachel to the front pew.
My sister’s pew.
Rachel sat beside him and crossed her legs.
Then she looked back.
Our eyes met.
And she smiled.
Not much.
Just enough.
My entire body went hot.
I moved again.
Dad tightened his grip.
“Not here.”
I stared at him.
“He brought his girlfriend to his pregnant wife’s funeral.”
Dad’s jaw flexed.
“And Lily deserves one hour that isn’t about him.”
That stopped me.
Barely.
The pastor began.
He spoke about Lily’s kindness.
Her work as an elementary school counselor.
The way she remembered everyone’s birthday.
Her laugh.
Her ridiculous obsession with Christmas movies.
Then he talked about Noah.
The baby boy she had already named.
My mother broke beside me.
I wrapped an arm around her.
Jason stared straight ahead.
He never cried.
Not once.
When the pastor said, “Lily loved deeply,” Rachel reached over and squeezed Jason’s hand.
I saw it.
So did half the church.
Whispers moved through the pews.
Jason ignored them.
The final hymn ended.
People began standing.
That was when a man I didn’t recognize walked toward the front.
Late fifties.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Leather briefcase.
He stepped beside the pastor.
“Before anyone leaves, I need a few minutes.”
Jason turned sharply.
The man looked directly at him.
“My name is Daniel Hayes. I’m Lily Reed’s attorney.”
The room went quiet again.
Jason frowned.
“Attorney?”
Daniel opened his briefcase.
“Your wife retained me four months ago.”
Rachel’s hand slipped away from Jason’s.
My heart started pounding.
Four months ago?
Lily had never told me she had a lawyer.
Jason stood.
“This can wait.”
“No,” Daniel said calmly. “It cannot.”
“This is my wife’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Then show some respect.”
Daniel stared at him.
“I am following your wife’s instructions exactly.”
Jason’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Daniel removed a sealed cream envelope.
Across the front, in Lily’s handwriting, were five words.
TO BE READ AT MY FUNERAL.
My mother gasped.
Daniel broke the seal.
Jason stepped forward.
“What the hell is that?”
Daniel unfolded the letter.
Then he read my dead sister’s first sentence.
“If Jason brought Rachel to my funeral…”
The entire church seemed to stop breathing.
Rachel went pale.
Daniel continued.
“…then everything happened exactly as I was afraid it would.”
Jason’s face drained of color.
May you like
And for the first time since Lily died, I knew one thing for certain.
My sister had known she was in danger.
