PART 1: THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD

The moment the woman in black entered the ballroom, the richest rancher in Montana dropped his champagne glass.

“Elizabeth?” he whispered.

But Elizabeth Whitmore had been dead for seven years.

Tonight was supposed to celebrate the first wedding anniversary of cattle baron James Whitmore and his beautiful second wife, Victoria.

Two hundred guests had gathered at Whitmore Ranch. Music filled the grand hall, and Victoria stood proudly beside her husband, wearing a diamond necklace that had once belonged to Elizabeth.

Then the doors opened.

A slender woman dressed entirely in black stepped inside. A delicate lace veil concealed her face.

James went pale.

“Elizabeth… is that you?”

The woman stopped beneath the chandelier.

“You still remember her name, James. How touching.”

Her voice was unmistakable.

Victoria grabbed her husband’s arm. “James, who is this woman?”

But James couldn’t answer.

The stranger slowly lifted her veil.

Gasps swept across the ballroom.

She had Elizabeth’s green eyes, her dark hair, and the same small scar above her eyebrow.

“That’s impossible,” James whispered. “I buried you myself.”

The woman smiled sadly.

“No, James. You buried my sister.”

Silence.

“My name is Eleanor Hayes. Elizabeth was my identical twin.”

Victoria’s face suddenly lost its color.

Eleanor reached into her handbag and removed a yellowed envelope.

“Seven years ago, everyone believed my sister died after falling from her horse. But three weeks before her death, she sent me a letter.”

James stared at the envelope.

“What letter?”

Eleanor unfolded the paper.

“She wrote that someone at this ranch wanted her dead.”

Victoria stepped forward. “This is outrageous! Get this woman out!”

But Eleanor wasn’t looking at Victoria.

She was watching James.

“There’s something else,” Eleanor said quietly. “Elizabeth told me she discovered a secret about your family.”

James gripped the edge of the table.

“What secret?”

Eleanor pulled a photograph from the envelope and placed it beside his champagne glass.

James looked down.

His expression changed from confusion to absolute terror.

Because the photograph showed Elizabeth standing beside someone James knew very well.

And written across the back were six chilling words:

“If I die, ask Victoria why.”