Chapter 3The Moon That Once Watched Over Me

"Logan told you it's just a game. Can't you let it go?"

I couldn't hear a word she was saying. All I could do was gather my mother's ashes back into the urn.

Playing the victim, Logan clutched his throat and whined, "Camille, my neck really hurts. I almost died just now."

She had been going on and on at me a second ago, but went silent at his words. She ran her fingers gently over the marks on his neck and rushed him off to the hospital, panicked out of her mind.

The mansion went quiet, empty except for me. There wasn't much left of my mother's ashes, but it still took me a long time to gather it all.

I fought back tears, refusing to let them fall onto her remains. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mom."

In the silence, my phone buzzed with a new message from the private investigator.

[Mr. Locke, I don't think your mother's death was a suicide.]

He sent me a five-minute clip of security footage, in which both my mother and Logan could be seen. I couldn't make out what they said to each other in those five minutes, but right after he left, my mother used a rope to end her life.

I sat on the floor and watched that video over and over, torturing myself with it, until I heard movement at the front door.

Camille stormed in, her face dark, and slammed her purse against my head. "You're coming with me to apologize to Logan."

When I looked up and met her eyes, whatever she'd been about to say died in her throat at the hatred she saw there.

"My mom is dead. Logan killed her. And you want me to apologize to a murderer? Camille Sinclair, I will never forgive you for as long as I live."

Her expression froze for a second, then twisted into a sneer. "You think I need your forgiveness? I've gone to such lengths, yet you still refuse to divorce me. It's because Margaret still needs my medication, isn't it? If you need something from me, you could at least show a little sincerity."

Her gaze landed on the phone in my hand, on the video. Without a moment's hesitation, she snatched it, threw it to the ground, and crushed it under her heel.

"Besides playing the victim and begging me for medicine to save your mom, what else are you good for? So what if Margaret's dead? You think I'd actually believe you?"

She took a sharp breath and threw a pregnancy test result in my face. "I was actually going to tell you I'm pregnant, so Margaret could hold her grandchild before she died. And this is how you repay Logan?"

My eyes went wide. For a second, I couldn't process what she'd said.

"What?" I whispered.

I stared at the words on the page and let out a strange, broken laugh. Whatever unrealistic hope I'd still been holding onto shattered right then.

Watching me fall apart, Camille reached out to help me up.

"I'll make Logan pay for what he did. I'll get justice for my mom," I said, my voice hoarse.

Her hand froze in midair. She studied me for a long moment, disappointment creeping into her eyes.

"Is that seriously all you have to say to me?" she asked.

I wiped my tears and ignored her. She could crush that video all she wanted. I already had a backup copy.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. If you think you can actually pull it off, go ahead and try," she said, laughing coldly as she slammed the door on her way out.

And she turned out to be right. I took the evidence to law firm after law firm, and not one of them would take my case. No one wanted to fight it in court. They all turned me down with the exact same excuse.

"Even with security footage, your mother's death was still officially ruled a suicide. If you don't have solid proof, please don't waste our time. Find someone else."

Everyone laughed at me for even trying, and I hated myself for not being able to get justice for my mother.

After the last law firm in Kingsley turned me away, I sat on the curb outside for a long time. Long enough that the moon rose and fireworks lit up the sky. As passersby stopped to watch, I could hear their envious voices drifting past.