Chapter 1

Seven minutes. That was all the time left before the liver failure from the poisoning killed my mother-in-law.

I'd dug my husband Thomas Henson's debit card, the one holding five hundred thousand dollars, out of the drawer, and I'd barely made it into the hospital lobby.

Two police officers and my husband, Thomas Henson, stepped straight into my path.

"Mr. Henson reported that you were maliciously hiding a large sum of marital assets."

Frantic, I tried to push past them, pointing at the payment window. "My mother is in the ICU waiting on this money to save her life. Let me pay first!"

Thomas snatched the card out of my hand, his eyes mocking.

"Yesterday you were pushing me to give this money to your brother for a car. I said no. So today you drag your mother into it as an excuse?"

"Your mother isn't having some mushroom allergy. Rita Simmons, your lies are getting clumsier by the day."

I pulled out my phone to call the attending physician. My hands shook so hard I couldn't even unlock the screen.

The call went through, and a cold, mechanical woman's voice announced, "We're sorry. The person you are calling cannot be reached at this time."

The countdown was closing in, second by second, and I all but knelt on the floor, begging him. "Thomas, if I'm lying to you, I'll walk straight out that door and let a car run me down. Please, just pay it first!"

He gave a cold snort and looked at the officers. "What are you standing around for? Take this lying woman away."

At that exact moment, the red emergency light above us went dark with a crash.

I let go of his pant leg, the one I'd been clinging to for dear life, rose slowly to my feet, and held out both hands.

"I won't pay it now. Officer, go ahead. Cuff me."

...

Thomas pointed at the doors of the operating room.

"Rita, you think putting on this little act with the handcuffs is going to make me go soft?"

"I'm telling you, not one cent of this five hundred thousand is going to your worthless brother for a car. Not today."

I looked at him and spoke quietly.

"Thomas, are you sure? You won't let me pay with the card?"

"Enough of your nonsense!" Thomas shoved the card into his own pocket. "Officers, caught red-handed!"

"She's trying to move marital assets. Take her away, now!"

The two officers exchanged a glance.

One of them, a younger officer, hesitated. "Mr. Henson, if there really is someone in there being resuscitated—"

"Resuscitated, my ass!" Thomas exploded. "Officer, I want to press fraud charges against her!"

The officer let out a sigh and stepped forward.

"Ms. Simmons, please come with us for questioning."

The cold handcuffs closed around my wrists.

The lights in the interrogation room were harsh. I sat on the cold metal chair.

The young officer across from me handed me a cup of warm water.

"Ms. Simmons, your husband is accusing you of maliciously moving five hundred thousand dollars in marital assets."

"Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

I watched the water shiver in the cup, my voice dry.

"There really is five hundred thousand on that card."

"It's the emergency fund we saved together when we got married."

"I took it to the hospital to pay for the resuscitation."

The officer flipped through the statement in his hands.

"But Mr. Henson says it was to buy your brother a car."

"He also provided the messages between you two from yesterday."

The officer pushed a few printed screenshots across the table toward me.

They really were messages I'd sent to Thomas.

【Thomas, my brother has his eye on a car and he's a little short on the down payment. Could we lend him ten thousand for now?】

【He promises he'll pay it back by the end of the year.】

Below that came Thomas's icy reply.

【No money.】

【Your family's a bottomless pit. Don't think you're getting a single cent out of me.】

I looked at the screenshots, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

"Yes, I did bring it up."

"But after he turned me down, I never mentioned it again."

"Going to the hospital today was because of a sudden emergency. Someone needed money to save their life."

The officer stared into my eyes.

"A sudden emergency? Who had the emergency?"

I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"My... family member."

"Family member? Who exactly?" the officer pressed.

"Someone who matters a great deal to me."

Just then, the door of the interrogation room was pushed open.