Chapter 1 - The Forgotten Blade
The footfalls crunching through the autumn leaves weren’t heavy like my father-in-law Arthur’s, nor were they sharp like my mother-in-law Eleanor’s heels. They were soft, hesitant, and trembling.
It was Chloe, my sister-in-law.
I kept my body perfectly still, the cool, damp earth crushing against my ribs. In my right hand, buried just an inch below the loose topsoil, my fingers gripped the one thing they had overlooked: a small, tarnished brass pocket knife attached to my grandmother’s vintage charm bracelet. To Eleanor, it was just cheap costume jewelry. To me, it was a razor-sharp survival tool.
Chloe approached the pit, her face pale as bone under the moonlight. She held a small bottle of water and a blanket, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Clara," she sobbed, kneeling beside me. "I'm so sorry. Mom... she threatened to cut me off if I said anything. She paid the lab technician to forge that paternity test. Mark doesn't know, but he's too cowardly to care."
The truth struck me like a physical blow. The fake paternity test wasn't a mistake—it was a setup. Eleanor wanted me out of the picture because I had uncovered the offshore bank accounts she had been using to drain my husband’s trust fund.
"Chloe," I rasped, blood from my forehead stinging my eye. "If you have any humanity left... don't say a word. Just leave the water and walk away."
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Terrified, Chloe dropped the water bottle, scrambled back toward the estate, and vanished into the darkness.
The moment she was gone, I flicked open the tiny blade beneath the dirt. Adrenaline surged through my veins, drowning out the pain in my body. For my baby, I repeated like a mantra. We survive tonight.
