Chapter 1 - The Woman in the CoffinThe first thing Liam Vance noticed when he stepped through the front door of his mother's mansion was the smell.
Lilies.
Hundreds of them.
Their sweet, almost suffocating fragrance filled the marble foyer and drifted toward the living room, where expensive white flowers had been arranged with the precision of a funeral home advertisement.
Liam stopped.
His suitcase remained beside him.
He had imagined this moment for months.
He had imagined Claire running into his arms. He had imagined surprising her with the news that his overseas assignment had ended early. He had imagined placing his hand against her pregnant belly and feeling their son—or daughter—kick beneath his palm.
Instead, he heard silence.
Not ordinary silence.
Funeral silence.
His eyes moved toward the living room.
And then he saw the coffin.
It was an elegant white satin-lined coffin positioned beneath the chandelier.
Beside it stood his mother, Evelyn.
His brother, Nathan, stood near the fireplace.
Neither of them moved.
Liam's heart stopped.
"Where is Claire?"
Nobody answered.
He walked closer.
Then he saw her.
Claire was lying inside the coffin.
Her eyes were closed.
Her face was pale.
One hand rested against her swollen stomach.
For one terrible second, Liam could not breathe.
"No..."
He stumbled forward.
"Claire!"
He reached into the coffin and touched her cheek.
Cold.
Too cold.
His fingers moved toward her neck.
Nothing.
Then—
A faint pulse.
Liam froze.
"She's alive!"
His voice exploded through the room.
Evelyn stepped forward.
"Liam, please—"
"CALL 911!"
He lifted Claire's head, screaming for help as Nathan backed away.
Then Claire's lips moved.
Barely.
A broken breath escaped her.
"Liam..."
He almost collapsed.
"Yes. Yes, I'm here."
Her fingers twitched.
"The baby..."
"I'm here. You're both here."
Outside, sirens began to rise in the distance.
The family mansion erupted into chaos.
But as paramedics rushed through the front door, Liam looked across the room at his mother.
Evelyn wasn't crying.
She was watching him.
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And for the first time in his life, Liam saw something in his mother's eyes that frightened him more than death.
Fear.
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