She walked past him.

At the front door, Adrian wanted to ask when she would return.

He didn’t.

Because she had not promised she would.

Olivia was sitting on Evelyn’s old side of Adrian’s bed when he went upstairs.

Emma slept in the bassinet beside her.

Olivia stared at the floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the pills?”

She shrugged.

“Vanessa said they were for anxiety.”

“Did a doctor prescribe them?”

“She said Dr. Keller did.”

Adrian’s heart sank.

Dr. Keller was their family physician.

“Did you see him?”

“No.”

“What exactly did Vanessa tell you?”

Olivia twisted her sleeve around her fingers.

“She said you were worried I wasn’t coping after Mom died. She said you didn’t want to embarrass me by talking about it.”

“I never said that.”

“I know that now.”

“How long?”

“Maybe two months.”

Adrian closed his eyes.

“How often?”

“Every few days. But I started pretending to take them.”

“Why?”

“Because they made everything fuzzy.”

She looked toward Emma.

“I almost dropped Emma once.”

Adrian’s stomach turned.

“That’s why I stopped.”

“Where are the pills now?”

“I hid some.”

“Show me.”

Olivia led him to her bedroom and opened the wooden jewelry box Evelyn had given her on her thirteenth birthday.

Beneath bracelets and photographs was a folded tissue.

Inside were four tablets.

Adrian photographed them and sealed them inside a plastic bag.

Then Olivia said something that changed the night.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Vanessa went through Mom’s things.”

“When?”

“A lot.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She said you asked her to organize them.”

“I didn’t.”

Olivia opened her closet.

At the back was a cardboard box labeled EVELYN – PRIVATE.

Adrian recognized it instantly.

He had sealed that box himself after Evelyn died.

The tape had been cut.

Inside were journals.

Medical records.

Old letters.

A flash drive.

And Evelyn’s laptop.

Adrian stared at the computer.

“I thought this was in storage.”

“Vanessa brought it back.”

“When?”

“Before you got engaged.”

Adrian opened it.

The battery was dead.

He found the charger beneath the papers.

Twenty minutes later, the screen glowed.

Password.

His hands shook.

Evelyn had always used the same password.

Olivia’s birthday.

The desktop appeared.

Dozens of folders.

Photographs.

Documents.

Then Olivia pointed.

“What’s that?”

A folder sat in the middle of the screen.

Its name was strange.

IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME.

Adrian stopped breathing.

He clicked.

Inside were seven files.

Six documents.

One video.

The video was dated three days before Evelyn’s death.

Adrian pressed play.

Evelyn appeared on-screen.

Pregnant.

Tired.

Alive.

Adrian covered his mouth.

“Mom,” Olivia whispered.

Evelyn looked directly into the camera.

“If Adrian is watching this, something has gone wrong.”

Adrian’s knees weakened.

Olivia gripped his arm.

Evelyn continued.

“I don’t know whether I’m being paranoid. I hope I am. But someone has been accessing the Mercer Family Trust.”

Adrian stared at the screen.

The trust held nearly eighty million dollars in property and investments inherited from his father.

Evelyn had managed parts of it with him.

“I found withdrawals disguised as administrative transfers,” Evelyn said. “Small at first. Then larger.”

A spreadsheet appeared.

Payments.

Shell companies.

Transfers.

Almost three million dollars.

Evelyn continued.

“I traced one company to a woman named Vanessa Cross.”

Adrian went numb.