"My sister smiled while the men she hired beat me in our father’s driveway, all because the will gave me more than her."

CHAPTER 1 — THE FOLDER IN THE RAIN

Ethan Keller had not wanted the mansion.

That was the part his sister never believed.

He stepped out through the front door at 9:17 p.m. with their father’s inheritance folder tucked under one arm, rain blowing sideways across the porch, and his heart sitting like a stone in his chest.

Behind him, the house glowed warm and gold.

The Keller house.

Three stories of old brick, white columns, framed family portraits, and rooms that still smelled faintly of his mother’s lavender soap even though she had been gone eleven years.

Ethan hated how quiet it felt now.

Their father, Arthur, had just signed the final estate papers in the study.

Not because he was dying that night.

Not because anyone had forced him.

Because his doctors had told him the tremor in his hands would get worse, and Arthur Keller was a man who believed unfinished business was a form of cowardice.

So he called both his children home.

Ethan came.

Madison arrived late, wearing diamonds and anger.

Then the truth landed.

Ethan would receive controlling authority over the family trust, the house, and Keller Holdings.

Madison would receive money.

A lot of money.

But not power.

She laughed when the attorney read it.

Then she looked at Ethan as if he had stolen something from her while she was sleeping.

“You finally got what you wanted,” she said.

Ethan had looked at his father.

Arthur only lowered his eyes.

Now Ethan stood in the driveway, intending to put the folder in his car and come back inside to talk to Madison like they were still children sharing the same last name.

He never made it past the SUV.

Two men in black jackets moved from beside the vehicle so fast Ethan barely had time to turn.

One grabbed his coat.

The other shoved him hard against the side of the SUV.

The folder burst open.

Inheritance papers scattered across the wet pavement, white pages sliding through rainwater, porch light flashing across signatures and seals.

Ethan gasped, stunned, fighting to keep his feet under him.

“What the hell—”

Then he saw Madison.

She stood under the porch light in a sleek black coat, arms crossed, watching him with a cold little smile.

Rain misted around her like she had staged the weather too.

Ethan stared at her.