Chapter 1

My mother-in-law, Brenda, loved to prank me with AI-generated videos of a homeless man breaking into our house.

The first two times, panicked by Brenda's pleas for help, I sped home, running several red lights. Only to find the front door wide open, Brenda and her friends laughing on the sofa.

"See? I told you my daughter-in-law does whatever I say. Even if I call her at midnight, she'll rush right back."

It wasn't until the third time that she was truly stabbed by a homeless man and rushed to the emergency room.

The doctors told us the knife had pierced her heart, and the surgery was too complex for them. The only cardiac surgeon in the entire hospital who could do it was my husband, Ryan Miller.

I called him like a madwoman. He finally picked up on the 99th call.

"Ashley, are you out of your mind? I'm delivering Chloe's dog's puppies right now. If anything happens, can you take responsibility for that?"

He hung up, blocking me on every platform imaginable.

Ultimately, Brenda passed away on the operating table from excessive blood loss.

On the day of Brenda's funeral, Ryan Miller and Chloe Davis knelt at her grave, crying until they fainted.

Once that jerk and his conniving witch had cried enough, I tossed my phone at their faces. "Now, Ms. Davis, can you explain why you hired someone to commit murder?"