sharp and sickening, a s

kin, the thin hospital bla

faction. Beside her, our son, Leo, held the empty red canister. He was thirty ye

"if you hadn't been so desperate to climb the so

who supposedly jumped off a cliff on

for her family, the Millers. I had built their company into an empire, all out of g

cruel, ugly tw

e said, her voice dropping to a conspirator

ady weak, seiz

hard to arrange. Aren' t you furious? You spent your

d. "Goodb

ked a l

anced in the a

d me, my silent scream lost in the roar of the flames. I died

opened

as gone. Instead, I sme

ly tailored tuxedo. My body felt strong, healthy, young. I look

uite. Our w

ed insistently. I recognized the

onfirmed it. I was back.

ht it a

face pale as she read the messa

hoked with panic. "He' s at Sentinel Poin

with the love of a new bride, but wi

him, Ethan. I ha

burst open. Mr. Miller, my father-in-

owhere, Olivia,

ad! Ale

he media is here. If you walk out that door tonight, you will no longer be a Mil

ns. She looked from her father' s unyielding expression to

res. She blamed me. She blamed me for being the man she was

ded at her father.

rt nod, his duty don

terson had fallen to his death. Olivia had reacted with a stra

l a lie. A thirty-year lie t

silk comforter muffling the sound. She tu

py now, Ethan

o the Miller family. You can finally stop

on me, her fi

If it weren' t for you, I'

lappe

ompared to the memory of the fire.

d at her, my mind clear for t

truggling tech firm. I remembered working eighteen-hour days to make it profitable, to secure her future, to earn her

ho wasn

built o

of her twis

hings would

this time. "Say something, y

strike a third time. My grip was fir

go o

d directly into her eyes,

No

but it was also a lesson.

ed husband. I would not be the sacr

I would s

wrist, and sh

aid, my voice devoid of the warmth s