Chapter 1 - The Fall
Eleanor’s fingers tightened around Claire’s wrist at the edge of the stone balcony.
“You should never have come back here.”
Claire stared at her mother-in-law, stunned by the hatred in her voice.
“Let go of me!”
The dinner party behind them had gone silent.
Dozens of guests stood beneath the crystal chandeliers inside the Blackwood estate, watching through the open French doors.
Claire tried to pull free.
Eleanor shoved her.
Claire’s heel slipped from the wet stone.
For one terrifying second, she seemed suspended against the night sky.
Then she disappeared over the balcony rail.
“Oh my God, she pushed her!”
A maid named Rosa screamed and rushed toward the railing.
“Someone help her, please!”
Ethan Blackwood dropped the champagne glass in his hand.
It shattered across the marble floor.
He ran.
Claire had managed to catch the decorative iron ledge beneath the balcony.
Her fingers were slipping.
Twenty feet below her was the stone courtyard.
“Hold on, I’m coming!”
Ethan climbed over the railing without hesitation.
“Claire!”
She looked up.
“Ethan…”
Her voice was barely audible.
He reached down.
Their fingertips touched.
Then Claire’s left hand slipped.
Ethan lunged farther over the edge and caught her wrist.
“I’ve got you.”
His voice shook.
“I’ve got you.”
Two guests grabbed Ethan around the waist while Rosa helped pull Claire upward.
Seconds later, Claire collapsed onto the balcony floor.
She was trembling violently.
“I can’t breathe…”
Ethan dropped beside her.
“Look at me.”
“Stay with me.”
Claire forced her eyes open.
Across Ethan’s shoulder, she saw Eleanor.
Her mother-in-law was standing perfectly still.
She did not look frightened.
She looked disappointed.
Ethan followed Claire’s stare.
Something changed in his face.
He stood.
“Call the police.”
Eleanor finally reacted.
“Ethan, this is ridiculous.”
“You just tried to kill my wife.”
“I slipped.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“She told me I should never have come back.”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“She’s confused.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“I heard her.”
Eleanor stared at the maid.
Rosa went pale but did not retreat.
“I heard every word.”
Sirens began sounding beyond the estate gates.
Ethan knelt beside Claire again.
“Why would she do this?”
Claire reached inside the pocket of her dress.
Her trembling fingers pulled out a small brass key.
Eleanor’s expression changed instantly.
For the first time that evening, she looked afraid.
Claire saw it.
So did Ethan.
Claire closed her fist around the key.
“Because I found something in your father’s study.”
Ethan’s face went still.
“My father’s study has been locked for fifteen years.”
Claire looked directly at Eleanor.
“Not anymore.”
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And as police lights flooded the windows of Blackwood Manor, Eleanor whispered four words that Claire would never forget.
“You opened the wrong door.”
