Chapter 1
The solemn organ music echoed through the towering stone arches of Saint Jude’s Cathedral in downtown Philadelphia.
Every breath I took was a silent, agonizing victory over the paralytic sedative running through my system.
Dr. Mei Lin had administered a rare, temporary nerve-blocking compound developed for clinical trials in Switzerland.
It reduced my heart rate to three beats per minute, dropped my core body temperature, and completely suppressed my pulse.
To the medical examiner Grant had bribed three weeks ago, I appeared stone-cold dead from terminal stage-four lymphoma.
Grant leaned over the open mahogany casket, casually resting his hand on the polished brass handle.
“You look peaceful, Nora,” Grant murmured under his breath, his voice devoid of a single grain of genuine grief.
Tessa giggled softly behind her black lace veil, leaning her head against his shoulder in front of three hundred mourners.
May you like
“She looks like a ghost,” Tessa whispered, her red lips curling into a cruel, triumphant smirk.
“Let’s get this circus over with so we can sign the estate papers at Brenner’s office.”
