Morning arrives gray and heavy with rain. I wake to the sound of it drumming against the windows, turning the lake into a pockmarked mirror.
I lie in bed longer than I should, staring at the ceiling, replaying last night's conversation. Marcus's confession. His admission of love twisted with possession. The raw honesty that somehow made everything worse.
My phone shows eight-thirty. I have three missed texts from Lily and one from a number I don't recognize.
The unknown number makes my stomach drop.
I open it.
Your boyfriend didn't pay us enough. We're still owed. And we know you're worth more than five million. Check your email.
My hands shake as I open my laptop. There's one new message from an address that's just random numbers and letters.
The subject line: How much is she worth
