At the multimillionaire’s wife’s funeral, a homeless girl pointed at the casket and screamed, “She’s not dead! I saw him lock her in!” The husband sneered, “Get this lunatic out of here.” But when the lock broke and the lid slid open, what lay inside made the entire crowd freeze in terror…

Chapter 1: The Veneer of Grief

Rain clung to the gothic spires and slate rooftops of Saint Aurelia as if the heavens themselves refused to let go of their weeping. Up in the aristocratic, terraced hillside cemetery of Valmont Ridge, the mourners were a sea of tailored black wool and impenetrable silence. Wealth had a distinct scent, especially in the continue reading …