Chapter 2

When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a white ceiling.

An oxygen tube sat beneath my nose. My throat felt as though someone had scraped it raw with sandpaper.

I turned my head and saw wilted lilies on the nightstand. The card had my name on it, with Ethan's signature underneath.

I stared at that card for a long time. Then I slowly pulled out the oxygen tube.

"Ms. Bennett, you're awake!" A nurse rushed through the door and nearly dropped her tray. "Wait here. I'll get the doctor."

"Don't." I caught her wrist. My voice was barely more than air. "Don't tell my fiancé. What time does he usually come?"

"Around three or four. He comes at the same time every day and stays for over an hour."

I checked the clock. It was nine in the morning.

"Help me transfer to another hospital. Keep it confidential. If anyone asks, tell them my condition got worse and I had to be moved."

She looked young, fresh out of nursing school. Something in my expression must have frightened her, because after ten seconds of hesitation, she nodded.

By noon, I was in a private hospital that my childhood friend, Jake Morgan, had arranged. Jake was an attorney, which was about to come in very handy.

I removed the SIM card from my phone and threw it away. Jake was the only person who got my new number. At that point, he was the only person I trusted.

I sent Ethan one final message from my old phone.

[I've been transferred. Don't look for me.]

Then I powered it off and locked it in the nightstand.

Jake came to see me the next day carrying a thick stack of documents. He sat beside my bed and spread them out in a neat row.

"During the month you were unconscious, Ethan used your power of attorney to transfer two of your three rental houses into Sophie's name. The third deed is still being processed." He tapped the copies of the county filings. "Just over a million dollars in savings, drained in dozens of smaller transfers. And your retail property? That's the best part. Sophie formed a shell LLC, deeded the building to it, and named herself managing member. On paper, you have nothing to do with the place anymore. So, Ms. Bennett, how are you feeling about your devoted fiancé and your best friend?"

"What about my parents' house?"

"Untouched. It's too far outside the city to fetch the kind of price they wanted. Apparently, even thieves have standards."

I turned the pages one by one. The first transfer had been made ten days after my accident. I had still been in a deep coma then, my heartbeat maintained by machines, and Ethan had already begun stripping my life for parts.

"He thought I would never wake up," I said.

"He treated you like you were already dead." Jake gathered the documents into a stack. "What are you going to do? Sue him?"

"Not yet." I slid the papers under my pillow. "I need you to let a rumor slip that my condition deteriorated and I didn't make it. Keep it subtle. Let it pass through three or four people so it feels real."

Jake stared at me. "You want him to think you're dead?"

"He already does. Before, I was almost dead. Now he can believe I actually am." I leaned back against my pillows and smiled. "Then find me an event planner who takes unusual jobs."

"An event planner?"

"For a funeral. Mine."

Jake was quiet for a moment. Then he pulled his chair closer.

"Natalie, are you planning to jump out of a casket and scare him?"

"Something like that."

"You think it'll make you feel better?"

"First I make myself feel better." I pulled the blanket higher. "Then I sue."

Jake stood in the hospital corridor for five full minutes before he finally left.