Chapter 1I Died. Then He Saw Me Again

Before the divorce, I wrote fairy tales.

After the divorce, I exiled myself to Detroit and became a bestselling horror novelist.

My readers asked why my style changed so drastically. I told them, "Before you die, you have to get a little wild."

The basement of this villa was my forbidden zone.

Until the agent brought in a new tenant, Ethan Hayes, my ex-husband, whom I hadn't seen in four years.

He still had that cop's sharp gaze, steady and stern, but beside him was a five-year-old boy whose eyes were exactly like his.

We had only been divorced for four years.

He handed me a handkerchief to wipe my coffee-scalded hand. "Elara Vance, there is no need to hold onto the past."

I clutched the handkerchief, remembering that rainy night four years ago, when he pushed the divorce papers toward me and said, "I betrayed you."

Now I finally saw the proof of that "betrayal."

Before turning to go back to the basement, I tossed out a line. "I just don't want to get too involved with a married man."

As I brushed past him, he suddenly grabbed my wrist. A small packet of white powder fell from my pocket.

He picked it up, his eyes instantly turning sharp. "What is this?"

I snatched the powder back, looking up at him. "None of your business."

"Elara Vance, don't tell me you have fallen that low." He pinned me against the wall, bloodshot eyes staring into mine.

I pushed him away with all my strength. "On the day we divorced, you said my affairs would no longer concern you."

Closing the door, I collapsed onto the table, trembling with pain.

That packet of powder was morphine.

The doctor said the blood vessel in my brain was pressing on a nerve, making surgery impossible. I could die at any moment.