CHAPTER 1
The front door burst open so hard the chandelier trembled.
Claire Bennett flinched on the living room sofa, her hands locked together in her lap, her face pale beneath the warm golden lights of the mansion.
Her husband, Graham, stormed in wearing an expensive dark suit, his jaw tight, his eyes cold.
He did not ask why she had been crying.
He did not ask if she had eaten.
He crossed the room, slammed a thick stack of property transfer papers onto the glass coffee table, and shoved a pen toward her.
The papers slid everywhere.
Some spilled onto the white rug.
Some struck the silver picture frame from their wedding day.
Graham leaned over her like a threat.
“Sign it. The house and company are mine now.”
Claire looked at the documents.
Transfer of property.
Transfer of voting shares.
Emergency spousal authorization.
Her name was printed neatly below the signature line.
Claire did not touch the pen.
Graham’s face hardened.
He grabbed her wrist and tried to force it into her hand.
Claire pulled back silently, eyes filling with fear.
His grip tightened.
Then he punched the table beside her.
The sound cracked through the living room.
Papers flew.
The pen rolled off the glass and hit the floor.
Claire recoiled, trembling, one hand pressed to her chest.
Graham bent down to gather the scattered papers, breathing hard.
Then he froze.
Behind the wedding photo frame, partly hidden in shadow, a tiny red camera light blinked.
Once.
Twice.
His face changed.
“What is that?”
Before Claire could move, the phone lying face-down on the table began to vibrate.
The screen lit up.
An active video call.
Caller name: Dad.
Graham stared at it.
The blood drained from his face.
Outside the glass doors, black car headlights swept across the driveway and stopped at the mansion gate.
Graham looked from the blinking camera to the glowing phone.
Then toward the headlights.
His hands dropped.
May you like
His lips trembled.
And Claire, still silent, finally understood that the trap he had built for her had closed around him instead.
