A stranger on the New York subway grabbed my wrist and told me to soak my anniversary necklace in water overnight. I thought she was crazy—until the water revealed a message my husband never expected me to see.

“He followed me,” I said.

Of course he had.

Ethan wasn’t the only one who’d been watching me.

Marcus had been there from the start.

The coffee shop.

The attic.

Probably my office.

My apartment.

Everywhere.

“Back door,” Emily said, pulling me toward the kitchen. “Hurry.”

We ran through the house.

Out the back.

Into the woods behind her property.

We didn’t stop running until we couldn’t see the house anymore.

Until we couldn’t hear anything but our own heavy breathing.

We hid behind a large oak tree.

“Does he know about Lucas?” I whispered.

Emily’s face went pale.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Ethan always said he’d kept the boy a secret. That if Marcus knew there was an heir… he’d never stop hunting us. Arthur is dead now, but Marcus runs everything. He’s worse than his father ever was.”

Heir.

Lucas was Arthur Carter’s grandson.

Ethan’s son.

The rightful heir to the Carter fortune.

And Marcus, who had no children of his own, had spent the last ten years believing he was next in line.

If he found out about Lucas…

“He saw my car,” I said. “He knows someone was here. He’ll search the house. He’ll find Lucas.”

Emily started to panic.

“I have to go back,” she said, starting to stand.

I pulled her down.

“No,” I said. “If you go back there now, he’ll kill you both. We have to call Ethan. He’s the only one who can stop Marcus.”

She looked at me like I was crazy.

“Ethan is the reason Marcus is here!” she said. “If Ethan had just kept his mouth shut about Vermont—”

“Ethan didn’t tell Marcus,” I said. “I did. By coming here. Marcus has been following me for days. Watching everything I do. This is my fault.”

My phone rang.

Ethan’s name on the screen.

I answered.

“Where are you?” he said. His voice was tight. Scared.

“Vermont,” I said. “Emily’s house. Marcus is here. He followed me.”

A curse on the other end.

“Stay hidden,” Ethan said. “Whatever you do, don’t let him see you. I’m two hours out. I’m calling the police. But Sarah… the police in Burlington are on the Carter payroll. They won’t help. Not really. So you have to stay out of sight until I get there. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Keep Emily safe,” he said. “And Sarah… if Marcus finds you… run. Don’t fight. Just run. He won’t hesitate to kill you both. And he won’t lose a minute of sleep over it.”

He hung up.

Two hours.

We had to survive two hours.

We sat in the cold woods.

Emily shivering beside me.

Every sound made us jump.

A twig snapping.

A bird taking flight.

A car driving by on the distant road.

After forty-five minutes, we heard voices.

Male voices.

Coming from the direction of the house.

“…told you she was here,” one said.

Marcus.

I’d know that voice anywhere.

“Where is she?” another voice said. Not Ethan. A stranger.

“Probably ran into the woods,” Marcus said. “Split up. Find them. And Carter… if you find the boy, bring him to me alive. The rest… I don’t care.”

The rest.

Meaning Emily and me.

Dead.

Emily’s hand clamped over her mouth to muffle a sob.

I squeezed her arm.

We had to move.

Now.

Slowly, silently, we crawled deeper into the trees.

Away from the house.

Away from Marcus and his men.

We crawled for what felt like miles.

Until the ground started to slope downward.

Until we heard water.

A small river.

We stood up.

Ran along the bank.

Stayed low.

Used the trees for cover.

Then Emily tripped.

Fell hard.

Made a loud splash in the shallow water.

Everything went silent.

Then: “There!”

Flashlights.

Bobbing through the trees.

Getting closer.

“Run!” I screamed.

We ran.

Up the riverbank.

Onto a dirt road.

And then, headlights.

Bright.

Blinding.

A car was coming fast.

I thought it was Marcus.

Thought this was the end.

The car skidded to a stop in front of us.

The driver’s door flew open.

Ethan.

“Get in!” he shouted.

We didn’t hesitate.

We threw ourselves into the backseat.

Ethan hit the gas.

Tires screamed.

We were moving.

Fast.

I looked back.

Marcus stood in the middle of the road.

Watching us leave.

He didn’t chase.

He just stood there.

Smiling.

That’s when I knew.

This wasn’t over.

It was just beginning.

Ethan drove for twenty minutes without saying a word.

Emily was curled in the corner of the backseat, crying silently.

I sat between them.

Caught in the middle of a war I hadn’t known existed.

“Lucas,” Emily finally said. “He’s still at the neighbor’s. Marcus will find him.”

“I already called,” Ethan said. “My security team is there. They picked him up ten minutes ago. He’s safe. On his way to a hotel in Montreal. No one knows where. Not even me. Not yet.”

Emily let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for eleven years.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Ethan didn’t answer.

He just kept driving.

His knuckles white on the wheel.

“Marcus knows now,” I said. “About Lucas. About Vermont. Everything.”

“I know,” Ethan said.

“What are we going to do?”