Chapter 1

My deadbeat husband steals every cent I've saved in five years of gutting fish—and then sends me a text.

Come up with five hundred thousand by noon tomorrow, or I'm handing you over to Marcus Wang.

I read it twice.

Then I reach for my fish knife.

Five hundred thousand dollars.

That's not a debt.

That's a death sentence.

Marcus Wang runs a club on the south side.

Last month, one of the girls working for him jumped from the roof.

Jason knows exactly what kind of man Marcus is.

He also knows exactly how much money I've saved.

One hundred thousand dollars.

Every cent of it is gone.

I spent five years standing in freezing water before sunrise, slicing fish until my hands cracked, while Jason slept late and called himself an entrepreneur.

He took that money to an underground poker game.

Now he's five hundred thousand deeper.

And apparently, I'm the collateral.

I shove the knife into the back of my waistband and head for the door.

I'm going to get my money back.

If Jason refuses, I'll find another way to make him talk.

I don't make it three blocks.

A black Rolls-Royce glides to the curb beside me.

The rear window lowers.

A man in an immaculate suit stares at me like he's seeing a ghost.

Beside him, a woman covers her mouth.

Her eyes are already full of tears.

"Are you Mia?"

I tighten my grip on the knife.

"Who are you?"

The man steps out.

He looks at my cracked boots.

My stained jacket.

My hands.

Then he looks at my face.

"I'm Henry Lu."

His voice breaks.

"I'm your father."

The woman gets out behind him.

"I'm your mother."

I almost laugh.

Instead, I stare at them.

They tell me their daughter disappeared twenty-two years ago.

They tell me they've been looking for her ever since.

Then they show me the DNA report.

The name on it is Mia Lu.

My name.

Or the name I apparently had before the world lost me.

An hour later, I'm standing in front of a thirty-thousand-square-foot estate.

I've spent years looking at this hill from the fish market.

I used to wonder what kind of people lived behind these gates.

Now I'm standing inside their home.

My home.

I don't even make it through the first room before a bowl of bone broth flies past my shoulder.

It explodes across the marble.

"God, you reek."

The girl standing in front of me looks like she belongs on a magazine cover.

Designer dress.

Diamond bracelet.

Perfect hair.

Her eyes stop at my boots.

"Don't think because Mommy and Daddy found you that you get to walk in here and take my place."

She folds her arms.

"Try it, and I'll put you right back where you came from."

Faye.

The girl who has lived my life for twenty-two years.

My replacement.

My sister.

My hand moves toward the knife.

Then something flashes across my vision.

Golden letters.

Floating in the air.

I freeze.

No one else reacts.

The words hang there for three seconds before fading.

【Do not attack her.】

I blink.

Nothing.

Then another line appears.

【She protects the people she considers family.】

My heart skips.

I look at Faye.

She doesn't see anything.

I look back at the empty air.

A third message appears.

【If you want to survive this family, stop fighting like a cornered animal.】

I swallow.

What the hell is this?

For one terrifying second, I wonder if I've finally lost my mind.

Then I remember the knife in my waistband.

The five hundred thousand dollars.

Jason.

Granny Fang.

Survival doesn't leave much room for insanity.

So I make a decision.

I let my knees buckle.

Faye's eyes widen as I grab her leg.

"Please."

"What are you doing?"

"Don't kick me out."

Her face twists.

"Get off me."

I cling tighter.

"Jason took all my money."

Her hands stop trying to push me away.

"He says he's going to hand me over to Marcus Wang."

Faye's expression changes.

Just a fraction.

Enough.

I keep crying.

"I know I don't belong here."

"I know I'm not like you."

"I didn't even finish school."

"I stink like fish."

"I don't have anywhere else to go."

Faye stares at me.

I bury my face against her knee.

"Please."

"I'll leave once I'm safe."

"I won't take anything from you."

That last sentence gets her.

Her jaw tightens.

"Are you stupid?"

She grabs my collar and hauls me upright.

"Someone steals your money and threatens to sell you, and you just cry?"

Her eyes flick toward the knife behind my back.

"What's that for?"

"Cutting fish."

She snorts.

"Right."

My phone buzzes.

Jason.

Faye sees the name.

"Speaker."

I answer.

Jason's voice fills the room.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Think you can hide now?"

"Tomorrow. Noon. Five hundred thousand."

"And if you don't have it, I'm going to that fish market."

His voice drops.

"I'm starting with that old woman."

My blood runs cold.

Granny Fang.

The woman who fed me when I was three.

The woman who taught me how to hold a knife.

The woman who kept me alive when nobody else wanted me.

Jason knows exactly where to hurt me.

Faye takes the phone from my hand.

"Who the hell are you?"

Jason laughs.

"One of that tramp's rich friends?"

Faye's eyes narrow.

"Five hundred thousand?"

She smiles.

"Fine."

"Where are you?"

Jason gives her the address.

Faye hangs up.

"Mr. Zhao."

The family steward appears immediately.

"Miss Faye."

"Call the police."

She hands him the phone.

"Then find Jason Chen."

"His debts. His creditors. His bank accounts. Everything."

She turns toward me.

"Get your coat."

I stare at her.

"Why?"

Her expression hardens.

"Because we're going to find your husband."

She grabs her purse.

"And I'm going to teach him what happens when someone threatens my sister."