Uncover the next chapter of the story.

By eight o'clock the following morning, the storm had passed, leaving behind a crisp, sunny autumn sky that painted the rose garden in shades of brilliant gold and dark green.

I stood near the greenhouse, wearing my work boots and leather apron, holding my father's pruning shears.

The front gate clicked open, but it wasn't the police, nor was it Calvin.

Tabitha walked into the yard.

She looked entirely different from the polished, arrogant woman who had walked through the roses two days ago. Her designer cream suit was gone, replaced by a wrinkled trench coat and oversized sunglasses that failed to hide the deep black circles under her swollen eyes. She wasn't wearing her high heels today—she wore flat leather shoes that looked scuffed and dirt-stained.

She stopped ten feet away from me near the white rose bushes, clutching her leather handbag to her chest like a shield.

"Where is he?" Tabitha demanded, her voice crackling with nervous exhaustion.

"Where is who, Tabitha?" I asked, calmly trimming a dead thorn branch from a heavy bloom.

"Calvin!" she shouted, her hands shaking. "He didn't come home last night! The police showed up at our condo at six this morning with a search warrant! They took his laptop, my hard drives, my jewelry receipts, and all our financial documents! What did you do to him?!"

I set my pruning shears on the small wooden table beside me and wiped my hands on my apron.

"Calvin was arrested at two o'clock this morning on State Route 9," I informed her smoothly. "He was charged with grand larceny, corporate fraud, and attempting to flee a pending felony investigation."

Tabitha gasped, taking a step back, her face turning gray. "Arrested... no... no, that's impossible! He told me his lawyers had everything under control!"

"Calvin lied to you, Tabitha," I said, folding my arms. "Just like he lied to me for fifteen years. Did he tell you about the $400,000 he stole from my father's business?"

"I didn't know about that!" Tabitha shrieked, her voice rising in pitch. "I didn't know anything about stolen money! I thought Calvin was rich! He told me he was a senior vice president!"

"He was a middle-tier consultant who spent his life savings trying to look like a high-roller to impress his twenty-six-year-old secretary," I corrected coldly. "And you were so blinded by the sight of his credit cards that you never bothered to ask where the money was coming from."

Tabitha pulled off her sunglasses, revealing raw, red eyes streaming with tears.

"Paige... please," Tabitha whimpered, her arrogant tone completely gone. "You have to tell the prosecutors that I had nothing to do with this! I only came here two days ago because Calvin told me to! He told me to tell you to pack! He drafted that speech!"

"You seemed to enjoy delivering it," I reminded her. "Especially the part about ripping out my father's rose bushes to build something 'more modern.'"

Tabitha fell silent, clutching her handbag, unable to meet my eyes.

"The state investigators know about the offshore accounts, Tabitha," I continued, taking a step toward her. "They know about the designer bags, the luxury vacations to Saint Barthelemy, and the lease payments on your sports car that were drawn directly from Apex Investments' corporate accounts."

"That... that was corporate spending!" she stammered.

"That was stolen money," I stated flatly. "And in the eyes of the law, accepting stolen assets while assisting in the harassment of an estate victim makes you an active co-conspirator."

A sharp siren echoed in the distance, getting closer with every passing second.

Tabitha turned around in absolute panic, looking toward the street where a white county sheriff's cruiser pulled up to the gate, its lights flashing red and blue against the autumn sunlight.

Two uniformed deputies stepped out of the vehicle and walked through the wooden gate, their boots stepping firmly onto the gravel path.

"Tabitha Vance?" the lead deputy asked, pulling a legal warrant from his belt.

"No... please... no!" Tabitha wept, backing away until her heels hit the edge of the rose bed. "I didn't steal anything! It was Calvin! It was all Calvin!"

"Ma'am, you have an outstanding felony warrant for receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy issued by the District Attorney's office," the deputy stated calmly, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

"Paige! Tell them!" Tabitha screamed as the deputy snapped the cold steel cuffs around her wrists. "PAIGE! HELP ME!"

I stood quietly near my father's white roses, holding my pruning shears, watching as the deputies led the weeping, hysterical woman down the path and loaded her into the back of the cruiser.