Chapter 3

Back in my room, the ache in my belly hit hard.

Ever since I lost the baby, seven years in, my periods have never come on schedule.

And when they do come, the cramps are unbearable.

I reached for the painkillers on instinct, but somehow Mortimer had come in without my noticing.

He'd picked up the sleeping pills I kept by the bed, his brow furrowed deep.

"You can't sleep?"

My heart lodged in my throat. I forced my voice steady. "Sometimes."

The corner of Mortimer's mouth curled into a sneer.

"I would've thought a murderer like you never lost a night's sleep over what she'd done."

"Don't take these anymore. You don't deserve them."

He threw my pills out the window. I lunged to stop him, but I was a beat too late.

Watching the white tablets scatter into the grass below, I wanted so badly to tell him my sister's death wasn't my doing.

She was the one who couldn't let go of that broke boyfriend of hers, the one who ran off with him and died in the accident.

But the words reached my lips, and I swallowed them back down.

What would be the point?

Mortimer loved her that much. He would never believe me.

He'd only hate me more for smearing the dead girl he'd enshrined in his heart.

Forget it.

Downstairs, I picked the pills up one by one.

Some had gotten damp, but they should still work.

I tucked them into the pocket against my body, then got up to go help set up the seventh-year memorial for my sister in the front hall.

And instead I found an uninvited guest.

My mother had brought my cousin, Amber Harding, dressed in the white dress my sister had loved most while she was alive, reaching out to greet Mortimer of her own accord.

"Mr. Barnes."

I caught the daze in Mortimer's eyes.

The next second, a man who was always cold spoke to my mother first.

"And this is…"

"Mr. Barnes, my name is Amber Tilda—Harding for my surname, Tilda after my cousin Tilda. I'm cousin Tilda's cousin."

Amber Tilda…

She'd actually changed her name to get close to Mortimer.

The pity was that this place wasn't the treasure vault she imagined. It was the den of a demon who'd lost his mind.

On instinct, I stepped forward to drive them out.

"Mom, what is this supposed to be?"

"Mortimer already said last time that he doesn't want any outsiders meddling with my sister's memorial—"

Amber's eyes suddenly went red.

"Kate, I know you don't like me. You've kept me from coming to her memorials these past few years."

"But she and I were closest of all while she was alive. I only want to come see her. Is that so wrong?"

I looked at the tears at the corners of her eyes and could hardly believe my ears.

Everyone knew my sister got along with her worst of anyone.

Back in their school days, the two of them had scratched at each other for over a decade, all because the boy Amber had a crush on confessed to my sister instead.

The day my sister died, Amber was so happy she set off fireworks at home for three days straight, until my parents were too furious to eat.

And now, to hook Mortimer, she could bring herself to say something this shameless.

I was about to expose the lie when Mortimer spoke.

"Let her stay."

Amber shot me a smug look, and while she was busy talking to Mortimer, my mother pulled me aside.

She told me to give it everything I had, to cooperate with Amber, to make sure Amber landed Mortimer in the shortest time possible.

When I stayed silent, she produced the acceptance letter—the one from seven years ago, the one I'd searched for and never found after I fled home, unable to bear Mortimer's torment.

"Didn't you always want to be with Doctors Without Borders?"

"I promise you. The moment Amber secures her place in the Barnes family and is carrying Mortimer's child, your father and I will send you abroad."

I looked at that yellowed acceptance letter, and all I felt was something bitter.

My mother didn't know I could never be a surgeon.

Mortimer broke the bones in my hand in my first year in the Barnes house.

He said if I couldn't even learn the piano piece my sister had loved best, the hand was no use to me.

Right in front of her, I tore up that expired offer.

I told her, "The Barnes family isn't as good as you all imagine, and Mortimer isn't as easy to fool."

"If you want Amber to die here, then by all means, let her stay."