Sarah Winfield took a cab back to the home she'd shared with Ralph Sanchez. She walked into the bedroom and, numb, began gathering her things. The season's newest dresses, the priciest necklaces from the auction house, the most fully loaded designer bags from the boutiques. Ralph had given her a great deal.
But once she peeled away that mask wrapped in counterfeit affection, Sarah saw it clearly. The dresses were the lake-blue Jocelyn Winfield favored. The necklaces were the rubies Jocelyn liked. Even the bags were styles Jocelyn preferred.
Back then, drowning in that so-called love, she'd overlooked the contempt and the mockery in Jocelyn's eyes every single time the girl looked at her.
Sarah gave a bitter little laugh. Married this long, and Ralph probably still had no idea what she actually liked.
She crouched on the floor and went through everything piece by piece, until she came to an ice-jade pendant. She turned it over. Engraved on the back, tiny, was the letter "J." It had been custom-made. Given to the wrong woman.
None of it mattered anymore. She didn't cry. She just took photos, then packed away a few old belongings from before.
One simple suitcase, light as though she herself had never existed.
Once she'd packed part of her things, Sarah called Byron Simmons, a divorce lawyer with a considerable reputation in the field.
"Lawyer Simmons, draft me a divorce agreement."
Those five years were like a nightmare, reminding her at every hour that she was nothing but a stray dog everyone had thrown away. She couldn't wait to leave this place.
The moment she had the divorce agreement, Sarah emailed it straight to Ralph. But Ralph didn't respond.
For days on end, Ralph didn't come home, as if he were waiting for Sarah to bow her head. He spent those days at Jocelyn's side.
The entertainment headlines exploded, again and again. One day they caught him down on one knee tying Jocelyn's shoelace. The next, they caught him tenderly shielding Jocelyn on her way into the auction house.
This was his usual move. The old Sarah had swallowed it whole, going to grovel and apologize every single time.
Now, lying on the bed, Sarah felt an unexpected calm. She should have known long ago. She'd been the cuckoo in the wrong nest. Ralph had never wanted the Winfields' true heiress. He only wanted Jocelyn. No matter how hard she'd tried, it had made no difference.
She scrolled through the news screenshots, her finger dragging across them, saving each one, and along with the earlier photos of the jewelry, sent them all to Byron.
"Evidence of the marital gifts is complete. For years Ralph gave gifts under the guise of gifting his wife, when the actual recipient was Jocelyn Winfield. Suspected transfer of marital assets."
"Public intimacy with a third party during the marriage. Chain of evidence supplemented."
If Ralph refused to sign the divorce agreement, she would take this evidence and sue for divorce.
Over those days she'd done a great deal, methodically. Saying goodbye to close friends, settling the sponsorship contracts she had on hand, handing off her work, run off her feet with it all.
By the time she saw Ralph and Jocelyn again, three days had passed. It was at Harry Harris's birthday banquet.
Harry was a man of great standing and respect, one of the few who had shown her any kindness back when she'd just been recognized into the Winfield family.
"Sis, you came."
Jocelyn slipped nimbly through the perfumed, glittering crowd, drifting over like a butterfly, her eyes bright with a smile as they settled on the necklace at Sarah's throat.
"Is it this season's new piece, Sis? What a coincidence, I have one too."
Following Jocelyn's gaze, Sarah took in the necklace hanging at that fair throat. Its ruby was clearly larger than the one on hers.
Her guess had been right. All these years of gifts had been what Ralph wanted to give Jocelyn. Hers were only the scraps.
Ralph stood at Jocelyn's side in the posture of a guardian. A talented man, a beautiful woman, a well-matched pair.
His expression turned uneasy, and just as he was about to explain, Sarah smiled. "Yours is lovely too."
She wouldn't care about these trivial little details anymore. None of it mattered.
Before the banquet began, Jocelyn tugged Sarah away with a smile, saying playfully, "I want a few private words with my sister. Ralph, you're not allowed to follow."
Ralph watched Sarah, uneasy, his eyes full of warning. He leaned in, his voice low and rough. "Nothing can happen to the baby in Jocelyn's belly. Sarah, you know where the line is. Don't make me angry."
Sarah turned her head and glanced at him. The look in her eyes was calm, calm enough that Ralph felt an inexplicable flicker of panic. Then she brushed Jocelyn's hand off and eased back a step. "Say whatever you have to say right here. I don't think we're close enough for private words."
Jocelyn smiled and leaned in close. "It's about your grandmother's keepsake."
Sarah's face changed. Before she was recognized into the Winfield family, she and her grandmother had leaned on each other to survive. Later, when her grandmother died, Judy Winfield had found it all bad luck and thrown out everything her grandmother left behind.
She went with Jocelyn all the same. But before she did, her finger silently pressed the record button inside her pocket.
Jocelyn wanted to set a trap for her. But this time, Sarah would not walk into any trap empty-handed.
Jocelyn's steps halted at a corner on the second floor, out of everyone's sight. She smiled sweetly, her eyes brimming with provocation.
"Sis, if I were to fall from up here, do you think Mom and Dad would throw you out of the Winfield family?"
The words had barely left her mouth when Jocelyn threw herself backward and fell, the enormous crash startling everyone below.
