One dead college student. One forbidden secret. One woman’s obsession. C laudia Aldridge has spent years building a life of control. She runs a student apartment building in an elite mountain college town, keeps her head down, and never talks about the reckless girl she used to be. Not with her husband. Not with her friends. Not with anyone. Then a student is found dead in her building under chillingly familiar circumstances, and Claudia’s carefully curated life starts to crack. She knows she should walk away, but she can’t. Not without answers. She sneaks into his apartment. She questions his friends, attends his funeral, and becomes consumed with his life. She knows some secrets don’t stay buried, and beneath this tragedy is a secret that may have been worth killing for: a steamy, messy affair with explosive implications. The deeper Claudia digs, the more her impulsive instincts resurface. She’s lying to her husband, avoiding her friends, and risking everything she’s built. Because she’s not just chasing answers. She’s chasing a killer. Her younger self would approve. *See author's website for content warnings.