Chapter 3

The Gulfstream was opulent, silent.

It landed smoothly in California.

A black SUV, windows tinted, waited on the tarmac.

The drive to Woodside was short.

The Ashford estate was less a house, more a fortress of glass and steel.

It sprawled, cold and modern, against the hills.

Marcus Ashford met her at the door.

He was older than Liam, Ava guessed.

In a high-tech mobility chair. His face was tight with something she couldn't name.

Bitterness, maybe.

"Dr. Moreno. Thank you for coming." His voice was flat.

He recounted the "accident."

A private lake on the estate. Liam, alone on a boat. A sudden storm, they said.

Harrison Ashford Sr., the father, watched from a distance.

His eyes were like chips of ice.

He said nothing, just observed Ava with an unnerving, calculating stare.

The air in the house was thick with unspoken things.

Grief, yes, but something else too. Something cold.

Ava felt like she was walking into a trap.

But ten million dollars was on the line.

And Abuela' s legacy.