The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 80

The final line of text on the screen burned into Annelise's retinas like a silent ghost fire in the dark.

The faint trembling in her hand quickly subsided.

Replacing it was an icy, almost ruthless excitement rising from the very marrow of her bones.

She slowly deleted the message, powered off the device, and slid the backup phone—heavy with its damning secrets—back beneath her pillow.

He was coming.

Elias Lehman was coming.

This belated wedding, thrown in his honor, was finally going to feature its true leading man.

Annelise closed her eyes. In the darkness, the chessboard of revenge that previously belonged only to her expanded exponentially.

The board was no longer just her against Hackett and Clarissa.

Now, there was a new, wildly unpredictable wildcard in play.

A man who was supposed to be dead.

Starting the very next day, the Lehman Estate was thrown into a frenzied, manic state of preparation.

Throwing a belated wedding for a "dead son's" widow was so absurdly theatrical it was destined to be the hottest gossip in Cresthaven's high society for months.

Lizzie, a woman whose sanity had nearly shattered from the grief of losing her son, suddenly radiated a shocking, almost pathological energy.

It was as if she were pouring three years of longing, guilt, and the desperate need for redemption into this one grandiose event.

She personally supervised the crew repainting the estate walls, demanded all the garden flowers be swapped for the rarest blooms, and even ordered entirely new carpets and drapes.

Breakfast was no longer shrouded in oppressive silence.

Instead, Lizzie would spread out a massive guest ledger, marking it up with a gold fountain pen while muttering to herself.

"The Li family from the South Side gets a personal invitation; the old man loves a good party."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify