It was my diamond bracelet.

I recognized it instantly, and my chest tightened. Landen had told me it disappeared during a weekend trip to Atlanta six months earlier. He’d helped me search every suitcase and watched me call the hotel twice.

Naomi looked down at the bracelet on the floor, then up at me. For the first time that morning, she had absolutely nothing to say.

The doorbell rang again, breaking the tension. Emilia glanced toward the foyer as the clerk’s representative stepped aside to let another county employee enter, holding a sealed white envelope.

Landen saw the envelope and smiled — small and arrogant, but there. “You’re too late, Elisa. The deed transfer was officially filed this morning.”

Part IV — The Fallen House

For one terrible second, I felt the floor disappear beneath me, and Landen noticed my reaction. His smile widened. “You thought you were the only one with a smart lawyer?”