Chapter 3

As I was strapping Lily into her car seat, Mark' s car pulled into the driveway.

He got out, a briefcase in hand, his usual charming smile in place. But his eyes, they went straight to me, then flickered with something I now recognized: calculation.

"Morning, honey. Lily-bug." He leaned in to kiss Lily' s head, then straightened. "Where are you two off to so early?"

"Doctor' s appointment for Lily," I said, keeping my voice light, avoiding his gaze as I double-checked Lily' s buckle.

"Oh? Which doctor? I didn' t know she had one scheduled." His tone was casual, but there was an edge to it.

"Just a follow-up," I said vaguely, closing the car door. "Nothing serious."

I walked around to the driver's side. He followed me.

"So," he began, leaning against the car, effectively blocking my way. "Did you check your email this morning? Anything interesting?"

My blood turned to ice. He knew. Or suspected.

How? In the first life, I' d told him immediately. This time, I hadn' t breathed a word.

"My email?" I feigned confusion. "No, just the usual junk. Why?"

His smile didn' t reach his eyes. "No reason. Just thought you might have heard from, say, a lawyer? About that distant aunt of yours? The one who was, you know, quite wealthy."

He was fishing, but the details were too specific. He must have snooped through my papers before, seen something about Aunt Mildred, even if he didn't know the amount or the exact timing.

"Aunt Mildred?" I forced a small, sad smile. "Yes, I heard she passed. It' s a shame. But I hardly knew her."

I needed to misdirect him, fast.

"Actually, I was going to talk to you about finances later," I continued, trying to sound worried. "The credit card bill is higher than I expected this month."

I pulled out my phone and opened my regular banking app, the one with our joint checking account, currently holding a few hundred dollars. I showed him the screen. "See? We need to be careful."

Mark glanced at it, his brow furrowed. The charm was gone, replaced by a flicker of impatience. "Right, the bills. But nothing else? No unexpected windfalls?"

His eyes were sharp, probing. He was like a dog with a bone.

"Windfalls?" I laughed, a hollow sound even to my own ears. "Mark, what are you talking about? Are you okay?"

He stared at me for a long moment, his gaze intense. I held my breath, trying to appear innocently bewildered.

"Yeah," he said finally, pushing himself off the car. "Yeah, I' m fine. Just... a weird dream."

But I saw the suspicion lingering in his eyes. He didn' t believe me. Not entirely.

"Well, we really need to go," I said, opening my car door. "Don't want to be late."

He nodded slowly, his eyes still on me. "Right. The doctor."

I got in, started the engine, and pulled away from the curb, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles were white.

He knew something. Or he was dangerously close to figuring it out.

The game had already begun, and I was playing for the highest stakes imaginable.

Lily babbled happily in the backseat, oblivious.

I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, my heart aching with a fierce, protective love.

He would not get his hands on that money. He would not harm her. Not this time.