Valerie Bennett stood inside the cabin bedroom with her phone still warm in her hand, listening to the laughter outside rise over the crackle of the fire pit. Through the window, she could see Daniel leaning back in his chair with that easy smile everyone loved, the one that made people forgive him before he even apologized. Sofia sat beside him, close enough that her knee touched his, close enough that anyone watching would assume Valerie was the outsider.
The cabin was tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, two hours outside Atlanta, the kind of weekend rental with string lights, plaid blankets, and a hot tub Daniel’s friends had already filled with beer cans. Valerie had paid for half of it without saying a word. Daniel had told everyone he “handled the reservation,” and she had let him because correcting him over small things felt petty back then.
Now nothing felt small.
She looked at herself in the mirror above the dresser. Her eyes were bright with anger, but her makeup was still perfect. Her engagement ring flashed under the warm bedroom lamp, and for the first time since Daniel slid it onto her finger, it felt less like a promise and more like a question.
Her cousin Lucia arrived forty-two minutes later.
Not alone.
She pulled up in a black SUV with two men in suits in the front seats, which immediately made Daniel’s friends stop laughing. Lucia Bennett stepped out wearing jeans, boots, and a cream coat that probably cost more than Sofia’s entire weekend wardrobe. Her hair was pulled back, her expression calm, and the look in her eyes told Valerie she had not come to comfort her.
She had come to confirm something.
Daniel stood when he saw her. “Lucia? What are you doing here?”
Lucia smiled without warmth. “I was invited.”
Sofia leaned closer to Daniel, instantly alert. “Who is she?”
“My cousin,” Valerie said, walking out onto the porch.
