Chapter 1 - THE CAKE HIT THE FLOOR
The birthday cake hit the floor before Sebastian Stellan understood why his sister was screaming.
“GET LILY AWAY FROM THE WINDOW!”
Claire slammed both hands into the three-tier pink cake.
It tipped sideways.
Candles flew.
Frosting exploded across the hardwood floor.
Seven-year-old Lily screamed.
“My cake!”
Twenty parents and children went silent.
Sebastian shot out of his chair.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Claire didn’t answer.
She was staring through the glass doors behind Lily.
Her face had gone white.
Outside the Stellan house, beyond the balloons tied along the fence, a black SUV sat across the street.
Its engine was running.
Claire grabbed Lily by the arm.
“Come here.”
“You’re hurting me!” Lily cried.
Sebastian crossed the room in three steps and pulled his daughter away.
“Take your hands off her.”
Claire stared at him.
For one second, she didn’t look like the sister who had spent years avoiding family dinners.
She looked terrified.
Then the black SUV moved.
Claire rushed toward the window.
Too late.
It disappeared around the corner.
“What was that?” Sebastian demanded.
Claire looked at Lily.
Then at the destroyed cake.
“We need to leave.”
Sebastian laughed once, without humor.
“You show up after disappearing for eight months, destroy my daughter’s birthday, scare her half to death, and now you want us to leave?”
“Sebastian, please.”
“No.”
Lily was crying against his jacket.
“You promised you’d behave,” Sebastian said.
Claire flinched.
“I didn’t do that to hurt her.”
“Then explain it.”
Claire opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
One of the guests quietly led the other children toward the backyard.
Sebastian lowered his voice.
“Who was in that SUV?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I said I don’t know.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Aunt Claire?”
Claire turned.
The little girl wiped frosting from her sleeve.
“Why did that man take my picture?”
The room froze.
Sebastian looked at his daughter.
“What man?”
Lily pointed toward the street.
“The one in the car.”
Claire shut her eyes.
Sebastian felt something cold settle inside him.
“You knew someone was watching my daughter?”
Claire stepped closer.
“Listen to me. Take Lily somewhere tonight. Not here.”
“Who is he?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because the last person who knew the truth died.”
Sebastian stared at her.
Before he could speak, Claire grabbed her purse.
She headed for the door.
“Claire!”
She stopped.
“Whatever happens,” she said quietly, “don’t trust anyone who tells you this started today.”
Then she left.
Sebastian stood there surrounded by torn balloons, crying children, and pink frosting.
Ten minutes later, while cleaning the ruined cake, he found something taped beneath the cardboard base.
A small brass key.
May you like
And underneath it, written in Claire’s handwriting, were four words.
MARA MERCER. ELEVEN YEARS AGO.
