Chapter 4

A week later, Chloe was home in our Seattle penthouse. Liam was there, playing the doting father.

The news was on the large TV in the living room.

A reporter stood on a windswept beach. "The Coast Guard has recovered unidentified human remains on a remote, uninhabited island in the San Juan archipelago..."

Chloe froze, her coffee cup halfway to her lips.

Her eyes darted to the screen.

I saw a flicker of something in her face. Fear? Guilt?

It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Liam walked in, saw the report.

"Tragic," he said, shaking his head. "Some poor soul. Probably a boater."

He glanced at Chloe. "Don' t worry yourself about it, love. It' s got nothing to do with us."

He put his arm around her. She leaned into him, but her eyes stayed on the screen for a moment longer.

Marcus, Chloe' s assistant, was there too, organizing some papers. He' d been the one to kick my medication into the sea. He' d watched me die, metaphorically.

He didn' t even flinch at the news report. His face was a mask of professional indifference.

He knew. He had to know those remains could be mine.

But he stayed silent. Loyal to Chloe, or maybe just to her money.

"They said the island was uninhabited," Chloe murmured, more to herself than anyone.

"Exactly," Liam said smoothly. "No one would just abandon someone there. Ethan probably just ran off, like we figured. He' s likely sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere, laughing at us."

Chloe nodded slowly, wanting to believe it.

The news anchor moved on to another story.

The moment passed.

But I saw that flicker in Chloe' s eyes.

A tiny crack in the facade.

I remembered Marcus' s face as he tossed my pills. No emotion. Just doing a job.

He knew I wouldn' t last long without them. He knew what they were doing.

And he stood there now, shuffling papers, a silent accomplice to my murder.