Three years ago, Alex Langford—darling of Wall Street, devoted husband, and perfect father—vanished without a trace. No note. No body. Just a half-empty closet, a crimson stain beneath the nursery rug, and the distinct, echoing sense that something was terribly wrong.

Now, the Langford estate sits like a glass coffin on the hill—pristine, polished, and rotting from the inside.

Ava Langford still lives there.

Wrapped in designer silk and sprayed with perfume that never fades, Ava drifts through the house like a dream that refuses to end. She laughs too sweetly. Cries when no one’s watching. And smothers her only remaining lifeline—her 17-year-old son Adrien—with love so intense it feels like a noose.

She kisses his forehead six times before bed. Waits outside his school in a Rolls-Royce every day. Tucks him in. Feeds him dinner like he’s still a child.

Adrien—tall, cold, adored—is unraveling.
The school calls him brilliant. His mother calls him “my baby.”
He doesn’t call her anything at all.

But the glass is cracking.

Someone walks the halls at night. Doors open when no one touches them. There’s a man in the security footage—one with Alex’s eyes, but not his smile. A forgotten journal turns up in Adrien’s room, scrawled with ink and obsession. And beneath the floorboards, something is ticking.

Everyone says Alex left. But Ava remembers that night.
She remembers the knock at the glass.
The way the lights went out.
The man in love with her who should never have been let in.

I almost cancelled the meeting. Almost.


But I needed to get out of the house. I needed to breathe somewhere that didn't echo with the sound of knocks in the dark and shadows that didn't belong. And Nolan had texted. Again.


He was already waiting in the sunlit lounge of my office, seated like he owned the place. Legs crossed, phone in hand, a porcelain cup balanced on his knee. Always pristine. Always pleasant. Always… too much.


I forced a smile as I stepped into the room.


He looked up and lit up the way people do when they see something they've missed too long.


"Ava." He stood. "You look beautiful. A little tired, but still beautiful."


I gave him a polite hug. He always lingered too long.


I poured myself a glass of water. My hand was shaking slightly.


"You okay?" he asked, sitting again. "You look… shaken."


I sat across from him, smoothing my skirt down nervously. "Something weird happened last night."


His eyes sharpened behind the charm. "Weird how?"


It felt stupid now, saying it out loud. Like a ghost story I was too old to believe in.


"There were noises," I said. "Footsteps. Breathing. Adrien heard it too."


"No. I didn't see anything. Just—" I paused. "The curtains were open. And I didn't leave them that way. Then the lights flickered. The shadow…"


I stopped. My skin prickled even remembering it.


Nolan was quiet for a moment. Too quiet.


Then he reached forward and placed a hand gently over mine.


"You've been through a lot," he said softly. "Maybe you're just… imagining things. Stress. Lack of sleep."


"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant…" He leaned forward. His voice dropped. "If someone is watching you, you should be careful who you trust. There are people who envy you. People who want what you have."


He smiled when he said it. But the smile didn't reach his eyes.


I pulled my hand away and stood, suddenly cold despite the sunlight streaming in.


"Of course," he said, standing too. "But Ava?"


"If you ever feel scared," he murmured, "call me. Day or night."


When the door closed behind him, I let out a shaky breath and walked to my desk.


And scribbled in the corner in red ink:


Chapter 5 - Glass Coffee and Gentle Lies