The morning air inside the Millstone County Police Department was thick with the scent of ozone from the heaters and the stale, bitter aroma of
My name is Rachel Monroe, and for thirty-two years, I lived under the illusion that love was a ledger. I believed that if I provided
The village of Oakhaven was a place where tradition was as thick as the morning mist, and nothing fueled the gossip mills more than the
Eight months after the ink had dried on the divorce papers, my phone buzzed against the hard plastic of the hospital tray table. The screen
Chapter 1: The Invisible DaughterThe air in my parents’ living room smelled of expensive lilies and old resentment. It was a smell I had grown
My name is Harper Holloway, and for thirty-one years, I was a footnote in my own family’s history. A cautionary tale whispered over cranberry sauce;
If you want to survive a war, you don’t show up for the opening skirmish. We arrived at the rental house forty minutes late on
Chapter 1: The Porcelain Trap I used to believe that family loyalty was a debt paid in silence—a ledger where I was perpetually in the
The morning began with the kind of domestic serenity that feels, in retrospect, like a beautifully staged play. On Oakridge Drive, the soft patter of
My name is Lucy, and for a long time, I believed I was the architect of a perfect life. At thirty-two, I had a rewarding