Chapter 1My phone lit up at 3 AM. The hospital's number flashed on screen.
"Mrs. Parker? Your sister's been in an accident. She's in the ER right now."
I didn't even think. I called David immediately. My husband. Head of neurosurgery at Metro General.
"David, it's me. My sister just got rushed in. Can you handle this?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll take care of it personally." He sounded wide awake and confident. "Don't worry."
I actually believed him. God, I was stupid.
Four hours later, I'm pacing outside the operating room. That red light above the door refuses to turn off.
Then it does.
The doors swing open and this girl stumbles out in scrubs. Maybe twenty-six, twenty-seven. Mascara smudged everywhere. She's not crying because she's tired—she's crying because she screwed up.
David walks out right behind her. He sees me and his face goes completely blank.
"Emma." His voice is super calm, using that doctor tone. "She didn't make it. You should start calling people and making plans."
I just stare at him. "What? It was basic surgery. She was fine when they brought her in."
"Things happen. The brain swelling was worse than we thought." He checks his watch like he's got somewhere else to be. "Sometimes patients just don't pull through."
"Don't do that. Don't give me the doctor speech." My voice cracks. "What actually happened in there?"
The girl, Sophie, is one of his residents I think. She makes this choking sound and David's hand goes right to her shoulder.
"Sophie did her best," he says quietly. "We both did everything we could."
I try to get past him but he blocks me.
"There's nothing for you to see. She's gone. You need to accept that."
"Accept what? My sister was talking to me an hour ago! She was awake!"
"And now she's not." His jaw tightens. "Internal bleeding. Pressure on the brain. You don't understand how this stuff works, so stop making this harder than it already is."
Sophie's basically hanging off him now, gripping his arm tight.
She looks up at me and for just a second, through all those tears, she looks pleased with herself.
Then she shoves her face into his chest and he actually puts his arm around her. He walks her down the hall like she's the victim here.
I can't move. I just watch them leave together.
I wonder if he'd still be smiling like that if he knew the person lying in that operating room wasn't my sister at all. It was his own little sister, Jessica.
"Mrs. Parker?"
Some nurse is trying to hand me papers. It's a death certificate.
"You need to sign this."
"No. Get Dr. Parker to sign it. He was in charge."
She frowns at me. "You're family. You have to..."
"I'm not signing anything. Get me his supervisor or whoever runs this place."
Her whole face changes and goes cold. "Mrs. Parker, I get that you're upset. But causing problems won't bring her back. Dr. Parker's reputation in this hospital is really important. Do you really want to mess that up over something that can't be changed?"
"Yeah. Actually I do."
She walks off looking pissed.
I pull out my phone and text my assistant. Find me a divorce lawyer. The best one you can get.
That night I'm sitting in our house alone. I can't sleep at all.
I check my phone out of habit. Sophie posted something on Instagram.
The first photo shows two wine glasses with candles between them. Fancy steaks on white plates. You can see a man's hand in the shot, and he's wearing David's watch. They're both making hearts with their fingers.
Her caption reads: When your mentor saves your life AND buys you dinner with a bunch of hearts and sparkle emojis.
I scroll down to the next picture. It's blurry, like she took a photo of a computer screen. The hospital security system interface. A bunch of video files are highlighted and the delete confirmation button is showing.
Her caption says: Someone's really looking out for me tonight. I owe him everything with like ten kiss emojis.
The comments are already rolling in.
omg you guys are adorable
wait is that DR. PARKER???
SOPHIE!!! Girl you better spill!!!
I take screenshots of everything and send them to my assistant with a message: Add this to the file.
Then I open a new text to David.
Papers will be ready tomorrow. Don't come home.
He calls immediately. I answer.
"Emma, what are you..."
"Just sign them, David."
"You're not thinking straight right now. You're upset. Let's talk about this tomorrow when you've had some sleep."
"I'm thinking fine. Sign the papers."
There's silence on his end.
"We've been married for six years. You're going to throw that away because you're emotional right now?"
"I'm not emotional." I'm looking at my reflection in the dark window. I'm actually smiling. "I'm good."
"This is insane. Your sister just died and you're talking about divorce?"
I hang up before he can ask who it was.
Chapter 2
Twenty minutes later, my phone rings again. David's calling.
I pick up.
"What the hell, Emma? What's this supposed to mean?"
He sounds pissed. Like I'm the one who did something wrong here.
I keep my voice flat. "The divorce papers. We need to—"
"Divorce? Are you kidding me right now?" He cuts me off completely. "Stop trying to make this about Sophie's Instagram. That has nothing to do with anything. You're being crazy."
"David, I literally saw—"
"No, you listen." Now he sounds really angry. "If you keep starting drama at my hospital, if you screw up Sophie's graduation or wreck my career, then yeah, we'll get divorced. That what you want?"
He hangs up on me.
I'm just staring at my phone. I mean, I already knew what kind of person he was. I'd already decided. But it still stings, you know?
I thought he was calling about the papers. He didn't even read them. He was just worried about her.
I type out a text. Maybe check whose sister was actually in your OR today before you call me crazy.
Send.
One gray check. That's it.
Then I realize. He blocked me.
I actually laugh. Like, out loud, sitting alone in this house. If he doesn't even care about his own sister, why should I care about anything anymore?
Earlier today, I was in this huge meeting with a client. Like, really important. My assistant comes in looking stressed. She whispers that David's sister Jessica got in a car accident. A bad one.
I left right away. Didn't even finish the meeting.
Got to the hospital and nobody from his family was there. Not his mom. Not his dad. Nobody.
I called him immediately.
"I'm on vacation, Emma. Can't you just deal with this? Get another doctor or something."
He sounded so annoyed. Like I was bothering him.
"David, it's your sister. She needs surgery."
"Ugh, fine. I'll come in." Big sigh, like I'm asking for the world. "But I'm bringing Sophie. She needs practice."
Jessica had bleeding in her brain. Pressure was building. She needed emergency surgery, like right away.
David said he'd do it himself. Simple procedure, he said. Nothing to worry about.
Then hours later, I find out she's dead.
And David somehow still doesn't know it was his own sister in there.
Which means he definitely wasn't doing the surgery himself.
But here's the weird part. Jessica's body has been at the hospital all day. They're supposed to call the family. That's just standard, right?
So why does David have no clue?
I'm sitting there trying to figure this out when I hear the front door open.
Two people walking in. I can hear them talking in the hallway.
David's voice first. Then Sophie's, all giggly and dressed up like they're on a date or something.
"But seriously, Dr. Parker, you handled Mrs. Parker's sister's body without telling anyone? What if she finds out?"
Sophie sounds almost excited about it. Like it's juicy gossip.
"Who cares if she finds out?" David laughs. Actual laughter. "That woman chased me around for three years. You think I would've married her if her family didn't have money? If they couldn't help my career?"
I can hear him getting closer to her.
"Plus I took a huge risk for you today. So how are you gonna thank me?"
Oh. Now I get it. That's why nobody called the Parker family. David used his hospital connections to hide Jessica's body. Covered the whole thing up himself.
Does he even realize that's not just wrong? That's literally a crime?
"Mmm..." Sophie's voice goes all soft. "I'm yours tonight. Whatever you want."
"Yeah?"
David sounds really pleased with himself. I hear footsteps coming toward the bedroom.
Then they stop.
I'm standing right there in the bedroom doorway, phone in my hand, just watching them. Not even hiding.
David's face goes totally pale.
"Emma? What... what are you doing here?"
His voice actually shakes a little.
Good.
Chapter 3
"Last I checked, my name's on the deed. So yeah, I live here."
I lean against the doorframe.
"Don't stop on my account."
"You're supposed to be at the funeral home right now. Not lurking around here."
David drops Sophie's hand real quick. Now he's looking at me like I'm the weird one.
Unbelievable. He brings his girlfriend into our bedroom and somehow I'm in the wrong?
"Since you decided to show up..."
David's tone shifts. Gets clinical.
"Nobody signed off on anything and we couldn't track down your relatives. So I took care of the paperwork."
He tosses a beat-up box at me. Wrapped in a Walmart bag.
"Got your sister cremated. Here you go."
I expected him to mess this up but seeing actual ashes leaking through the plastic bag makes my blood boil.
My sister Rachel's been traveling in Europe for the past month. She's not even in the country. But David has no idea about that.
Because the person he just cremated? That was his own little sister, Jessica.
"Must've been in a real hurry to make this disappear."
"Make what disappear? You sound paranoid."
His face flushes and he kicks the box. More ashes spill across the hardwood.
"Car accidents are fatal sometimes. That's reality. I work in medicine, not magic."
I crouch down slow and pick up what's left of the box.
Maybe a third full at this point.
"Basic human decency. Even for dead strangers. You forgot how that works?"
I can't keep my voice steady anymore.
David rolls his eyes at me.
"Funeral homes process dozens of bodies daily. Everything gets mixed up in the incinerator. As long as there's something for the grave, it counts."
Is he actually serious right now?
"Oh god, please stop. This is all my fault."
Sophie's eyes well up watching us.
"I'm the one who grabbed the ashes from the funeral home. I should've been more careful. Then there'd be extra if it spilled."
"Hey. Stop blaming yourself."
David tucks her hair behind her ear. Looks at me with pure disgust.
"She abandoned the body for two days without calling anyone. Now she wants someone to yell at."
"You literally drove the ashes over here as a favor and she can't even be grateful. Just wants someone to punish. Absolutely heartless."
I'm about to lose it completely. The audacity.
A routine procedure ends in death and I owe them gratitude?
Forget it. Not my family anymore. If David wants to worship the person who killed his actual sister Jessica, be my guest.
"Dr. Parker, ease up. Mrs. Parker's clearly going through something intense losing family like this."
Sophie makes puppy eyes and puts both hands on David's chest. Playing cute.
David gazes at her like she hung the moon. That expression? Never seen it directed at me in six years of marriage.
Hurts worse than the slap.
"Mrs. Parker, grief makes people act out. You should try to find peace with this. Otherwise you might accidentally scatter her remains somewhere random."
Sophie blinks innocently and holds the damaged box toward me again.
I bark out a laugh and shove it back in her direction.
"David's sister, David's problem."
Sophie yelps and jumps backward like I swung at her. The bag splits completely. Gray dust erupts into the air and I'm coughing, eyes watering.
"Mrs. Parker, please! I'm really sorry! You can yell at me if you need to!"
Sophie collapses onto the carpet looking wounded.
"I promise I didn't do anything wrong during the surgery."
"What is wrong with you?"
David charges over and his palm connects with my cheek. Hard.
Jabs his finger at me looking revolted. "Sophie brings you ashes as a courtesy and you assault her? You've completely lost it!"
He scoops her up off the floor like she weighs nothing.
"David."
I press my palm to my burning face. I'm past anger now. Just tired.
"We're getting divorced."
I pull folded papers from my back pocket.
