A year later, on a sunny afternoon, I sat by the villa's floor-to-ceiling windows, carefully trimming the fresh roses Declan had picked from the estate that morning.
My phone vibrated on the table. It was an unknown number.
I answered. On the other end was Miles's hoarse, pleading voice. "Elena… no, Mrs. Forsythe, I'm begging you. Please come to the hospital to see Lucian just once."
His voice cracked with sobs. "This past year, he drove the Lawson family to near bankruptcy. He drank every day. Now he has a gastric perforation with massive bleeding. The doctors say he doesn't even want to survive. If you don't come, he really will die!"
I paused, lowering the scissors, and looked out at the lilies swaying in the breeze. My heart remained perfectly calm.
Declan came up behind me and ge
