MY HUSBAND'S MISTRESS SECRETLY DROPPED AN ILLEGAL DRUG INTO MY WINE, AND I CAUGHT HER IN THE ACT. SHE EVEN LAUGHED, "RELAX, SIS YOU CAN'T DRINK!" I GRABBED HER HAIR AND FORCED HER TO FINISH IT ALL, LEAVING MY HUSBAND FROZEN IN SHOCK.

At 5:30 PM, Detective Marcus Miller and six state troopers executed a search warrant on Daniel’s luxury apartment in the Marina district—the apartment paid for with stolen money.

I stood on the sidewalk below, watching the flashing lights reflect against the high-rise windows.

Ten minutes later, Miller walked out holding a red evidence locker. He walked over to my car and leaned down against the open passenger window.

"You were right, Claire," Miller said, taking off his cap and running a hand through his gray hair. "We found the hard drive. But we found something else in the safe."

"What?"

Miller pulled out a clear evidence bag containing a set of typed documents, bound with official blue ribbons.

"It’s an offshore life insurance policy written through a shell insurer in the Cayman Islands," Miller said. "Taken out four weeks ago. Ten million dollars on your life."

My jaw tightened. "And the trigger condition?"

"Accidental poisoning or unexplained heart arrhythmia," Miller replied grimly. "And there’s an addendum: if you died before the end of this month, Daniel was authorized to collect sixty percent immediately in liquid bearer bonds. The other forty percent went to Aegis Consulting."

I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, letting the reality settle into my bones.

He didn't just want to frame Vanessa or use her to cover his tracks. Daniel had designed the entire plot so that both of us would be neutralized: I would be in a morgue, Vanessa would be in a maximum-security prison for my murder, and Daniel would walk onto a flight to Zurich with fifteen million dollars in untraceable funds.

"Did you find the purchase trail for the narcotics?" I asked, opening my eyes.

"Found the encrypted transaction receipts on his laptop," Miller said. "Paid for in Bitcoin from his primary hardware wallet. Claire... this isn't an attempted manslaughter charge anymore. The District Attorney just signed off on the warrant."

"Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Premeditated Murder," I said.