The note was pinned beneath my husband’s heavy silver watch on the kitchen counter: “See to the old woman in the guest room.” Fifteen minutes later, that “old woman” was clutching my forearm with a desperate grip, warning me that the real danger was the family I had married into.

I returned home at 4:00 PM. Marcus was in the living room, nervously pacing while looking at his phone.

“Hey,” he said quickly, shoving the phone in his pocket. “How was work?”

“Stressful,” I sighed, dropping my keys on the counter. “My CFO is frantic. We had a massive glitch in our payroll servers. It looks like a million dollars was temporarily routed into a phantom holding account. We’re locked out of the system.”

Marcus’s eyes lit up with barely concealed excitement. The offshore wire had triggered on his end, showing a pending transfer. He thought the money was his.

“Oh no, that’s terrible,” he feigned sympathy, rubbing my shoulders. “Do you think you can get it back?”

“It will take days to audit the system,” I said, leaning into his touch to sell the lie. “I’m just so exhausted. Between work and your grandmother... I don't know how much more I can take.”

Sylvia walked in from the patio, holding a glass of iced tea. “You’re working too hard, Clara. You should let Marcus handle the finances. He’s so good with numbers.”

“Maybe I will,” I smiled weakly.

Marcus kissed my cheek. “Go rest, babe. I’m taking my mother out to a nice dinner tonight to give her a break. We’ll be gone for a few hours.”

They were going out to celebrate. They thought the money was secured and that Eleanor was on her deathbed.

“Have fun,” I said.

The moment their car pulled out of the driveway, I dropped the exhausted housewife act. I went into Eleanor’s room. She was sitting up, eating a sandwich I had hidden in my bag.

“The tox screen came back,” I told her. “Lethal levels of benzodiazepines over a sustained period. It’s premeditated attempted murder. Victor is drafting the arrest warrants with the District Attorney as we speak.”