Chapter 17

Rose’s POV

“They found something.”

The words echoed in my mind even as I faced the cameras with a practiced smile. I’d barely stepped out of my boutique when the reporter lunged forward with his microphone.

“Ms. Lewis, do you think the police should reopen the investigation into your sister’s death?”

The question hit me like ice water. Three months. Three months since Camille’s car had been pulled from the river. Three months of playing the grieving sister while secretly celebrating my freedom. And still, these vultures wouldn’t let it rest.

I arranged my face into the perfect mask of dignified grief I’d perfected. “My family continues to cooperate fully with authorities,” I said, voice carefully controlled to show emotion without appearing unstable. “But we’ve accepted the official conclusion. Sometimes we must find peace without all the answers.”

The reporter pressed closer, and I caught a whiff of something that made my stomach lurch. Ja