The oceanfront restaurant glittered like a palace above the sea. Crystal chandeliers reflected across marble floors, candles burned on gold tables, and wealthy guests laughed behind walls of glass overlooking the dark water. Then humiliation exploded in one second.

The brutal impact of the shockwave threw Sarah forcefully to the marble floor amid a dangerous shower of broken glass.

Fierce ocean wind and thick black smoke immediately rushed into the ruined dining room, choking the terrified guests.

Sarah coughed heavily, pushing herself up on her bruised hands to look out through the shattered window frames.

Maxwell’s massive, multi-million dollar luxury yacht was currently completely engulfed in towering orange flames on the dark water.

Julian stared out at the blazing inferno with his mouth hanging wide open in absolute, unadulterated shock.

He dropped the black detonator onto the floor, his entire body trembling as he realized he had lost total control.

"I did not do that," Julian stammers pathetically, completely loosening his aggressive grip on Cynthia.

Before anyone could react to his confession, a squad of massive men wearing black tactical gear stormed into the restaurant.

They moved with terrifying military precision, completely ignoring the screaming guests and the spreading fires.

These men were absolutely not local police officers, and they disarmed Maxwell’s elite guards in a matter of seconds.

The leader of the heavily armed squad slowly walked up onto the ruined private stage, his heavy combat boots crunching loudly on broken glass.

He reached up with gloved hands and casually pulled the dark tactical mask completely off his face.

Sarah felt all the air forcefully leave her lungs as she stared up at the impossible figure standing above her.

It was David, her beloved fiancé who had supposedly burned to death in a horrific car crash exactly two years ago.

David looked down at her with a chillingly familiar smile, looking entirely healthy and dangerously alive.

"Hello, darling," David said smoothly, his voice cutting through the chaotic noise of the burning harbor.

Sarah could not form a single word, her mind completely shattered by the sight of the ghost standing before her.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

David jumped down from the stage and held his hand out toward her with an expectant, demanding look in his eyes.

"Hand over the golden folder, Sarah, and I promise no one else has to die tonight."

Chapter 4 - Fire on the Water