This love kills me, p.1
This Love Kills Me, page 1
Contents
This Love Kills Me
ADVANCED REVIEWS
PROLOGUE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
SIX MONTHS LATER
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ALSO BY A.B. WHELAN
Amazon Links
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ONLINE
BOOK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This Love Kills Me
A. B. Whelan
Thank you for downloading THIS LOVE KILLS ME (a domestic psychological thriller) by A.B. Whelan about a missing millionaire author and a friend obsess with finding out the truth and bringing her justice.
Sign up for Burbank Books VIP mailing list to be the first to hear about new releases, advance copy availabilities, and book giveaways, and get one of Whelan’s bestselling domestic thrillers for free.
Please select the book you want!
IF I HAD TWO LIVES
GET THE BOOK HERE
AS SICK AS OUR SECRETS
GET THE BOOK HERE
ADVANCED REVIEWS
Here is what early reviewers are saying about This Love Kills Me:
“So this is my first A.B Whelan book and I have no idea where this author has been all my life but I'm hooked!” —Rubie C. Netgalley
“Seriously one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read in a long time!” — Joyce Stewart Reviews
“This is my first A.B. Whelan book and it definitely will not be my last!!!!!!!!!! Now I have to go back and read all of the previous books and stalk him/her on social media. I loved this story and this author’s writing style of storytelling. I highly recommend this book!” — Tiffany F. Netgalley
“OMG! What a powerful story...A.B.Whelan weaves an amazing story with all the feels…I highly recommend this book.” — Robin B. Netgalley
“I absolutely love this unexpected thriller. I could identify with the main character right away and really got into the plot. I highly recommend this one.” — Lynn B. Netgalley
“Wow, what a rollercoaster of a book! I loved it. It had everything you could want in this type of book - Twists and Turns, Secrets and Lies. I honestly did not see any of it coming and I could not put it down. I read it in two sittings and would highly recommend it.” — Victoria J, Netgalley
“This was a wild ride of a story. An act of revenge and redemption at its finest. It was filled with mystery, greed, romance, and family drama. I have enjoyed A.B. Whelan's books in the past so I knew I was going to get a story that will stick with me. This one did just that.” — @coffee.break.book.reviews
“The twists and turns had me reading on and on, even though I needed to go to bed for work in the a.m., but some things are worth staying up late for!!” — Karen C. Goodreads
“Have you ever stayed up really late, because you just had to finish a book? Well, expect that to happen with this book ... and believe me, it has been quite a while since a book has kept me up, and I have had to force myself to actually 'close' the book and go to sleep, or risk being a total sleep deprived Zombie the next day, or I've just thought bugger it, I need to finish, I have to.” know!” — Mary, Goodreads
“It has been a while since I read an A.B. Whelan novel so when this arrived on my kindle I was beyond excited because I knew I was in for a thrilling and suspenseful read. This story did not disappoint!” — Lynn, Goodreads
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
© 2021 Andrea Bizderi Whelan
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
This Love Kills Me: a novel / A.B. Whelan
Psychological thriller
Suspense, Thriller & Mystery
Domestic suspense
Kidnapping
Human trafficking
Dysfunctional family
Sexual abuse
“Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson
PROLOGUE
Los Angeles Times
Acclaimed Fantasy Writer Vanishes from Cruise Ship
BY EDUARDO MONTOYA ǀ STAFF WRITER MARCH 14, 2017 ǀ 7 AM
As an annual tradition, the Rose family gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate William and Barbara Rose’s 35th wedding anniversary. The couple boarded the Princess Royal cruise ship to Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico, with their children and grandchildren in the late afternoon. Their party of ten included the couple’s son, Tony Rose, 28, and his wife, millionaire author Julia Rose, 26.
On the second day at sea, in the early morning hours of March 11, 2017, Tony Rose reported his wife missing to the captain of the ship. An extensive search was conducted to locate the missing passenger, Julia Rose, aboard the cruise liner, but she couldn’t be found. According to her husband’s statement, Mrs. Rose was drinking and acting out the night before her disappearance when the married couple attended the popular game show, The Newlywed Game. According to our sources, the couple had left the event early. In a statement to the police, Mr. Rose admitted that he argued with his wife on the way to their cabin and he returned to the couple’s room alone. It’s not clear what time the couple had separated.
Tony Rose’s statement corresponds with the account of one of the bartenders that came forward as a witness who claimed to have seen Julia Rose arguing with an unidentified individual near the pool on Deck 5, used only by the crewmembers of the Princess Royal. The security camera captured Mrs. Rose walking alone on the deck, seemingly in distress.
Julia Rose has not been seen since.
The US Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy searched the waters along the coastline where the Princess Royal was cruising during the hours in question. She has not been found. A search and rescue attempt is still underway.
The Princess Royal is registered in the Bahamas and a detective with the Royal Bahamas Police Force was summoned to investigate the incident. No report has been released to the public about the progress of the investigation, but according to our sources, the disappearance of Julia Rose is being considered either an accident or a suicide. However, homicide has not yet been ruled out.
Julia Rose is a 26-year-old Montclair, New Jersey, resident. In 2014, her breakout novel about a young girl discovering a portal to a parallel universe became an instant #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller. The four-book series is currently being adapted to the big screen by Lionsgate. The first movie, titled The New Earth, is set to release in 2021.
Fans of Julia Rose have demonstrated an outpouring of support for the author. Thousands of people posted on her social media sites praying for the author’s safe return.
Mr. Rose couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Royal Cruise Line and the FBI both issued statements declaring that the investigation is still ongoing and no further information is available at this time.
According to the accident lawyers at Madalon Law, who investigate cruise line crew and passenger disappearances, only a few people are reported falling overboard by the cruise lines each year, but the numbers are much higher.
The following statistics are quoted from their website.
The longest a person was known to survive in the water after having fallen overboard is 18 hours.
Falling overboard is most common during the night of a cruise.
Those who fall overboard are most often residents of California and Florida.
Most overboard falls are often alcohol or mischief-related, such as playing on railings or attempting to climb between cabins.
Women are less likely than men to fall overboard.
Only about 1 in 5 persons have survived falling overboard between the years 2000 and 2013.
The average age of a person who falls overboard is 41 years old.
If you know someone who has disappeared while onboard a cruise ship, contact Madalon Law for consultation.
1
Revenge is a word I live by these days. The verb, not the noun. After years of fantasizing and planning, I’m finally in a position to act. So what I need is an action word to drive me.
The definition of revenge is to inflict hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrongdoing done to oneself or another. Revenge takes you on a bittersweet, high-risk, and sacrificial mission. It’s the collective noun of the old proverb: an eye for an eye. A motto our society no longer lives by or allows. According to Google, the use of this word has diminished since the eighteen hundreds. If this trend continues, people won’t even think of this nostalgic word at all in the future. Perhaps our new motto will be: “Let fate decide,” or “Turn the other cheek.”
But not today. Or n
I know I’m too cryptic, confusing even, but soon my story will make sense, and every bit and piece will fall into place. Soon, you will understand why I did what I did. And then you can judge me for my actions, as you see fit.
But I’m hoping you will take my side, because people who commit crimes must be punished, mustn’t they?
On that, we both must agree.
* * * * *
As if the heavens were disapproving of my plans, it was a finger-numbingly cold and stormy afternoon as I entered the Manhattan sports bar on 7th Avenue. I held my cashmere coat over my head to keep my hair dry, even though ruining something so expensive made me feel dreadful and ungrateful.
Aware of every beat of my racing heart, I searched the vaguely lit and humid room for the familiar faces I came here to meet.
As I stood in the door, shaking the rain from my coat as drops of water ran down my nylons, a chill prickled the naked skin underneath. I shuddered, not simply from the cold but from the nerves that played at my insides.
“Annie!” someone called out.
It took me a second to react. Annie, yes, that’s my new name.
I waved at Brooke, who was leaning out from a table, her arm in the air beckoning me.
Brooke Russell was Julia Rose’s crusty and battle-worn attorney—she used to be her attorney before Julia was officially presumed dead nearly three years ago. From the day I showed up in Brooke’s office with Julia’s diary and a remarkable yet almost unbelievable story, she has been guiding me on my path of revenge at every step of the way. She has been my rock and moral compass, but nobody in the world knew that. It was our most kept secret.
On my way to the table, I folded the coat over my arm and adjusted my purse’s strap over my shoulder, trying to look every bit a professional woman of law, which I was not—far from it. But I’d been preparing for this critical role for months, and practice had given me some confidence.
This moment was my final test.
I counted the heads of four individuals around the table. My anticipation, blended with surprise, accelerated my pulse and I needed to force myself to take the first step toward them.
As I waded across a tight pathway, my heels clicking on the painted concrete flooring, the program playing on the TV screens above the bar diverted my attention. An unofficial documentary about Julia Rose’s life was playing.
“She jumped,” said a woman sitting at the table I was passing.
“Probably the fame got to her and she couldn’t handle it,” added her companion. “Did you read her books? They aren’t that good. More hype than substance if you ask me.”
Hearing people talk ill of Julia infuriated me, especially when they didn’t know her, never even met her. Though I wasn’t at all surprised. Yesterday marked the third anniversary of Julia’s disappearance from the cruise ship. Over the past three years, different theories had been debated online and reported in the news. Some going so far as to claim they’d untangled the mysteries surrounding her disappearance. As a result, the public’s opinion has been misled, their opinions twisted, warped, and cheapened. Even the faith of Julia’s most devoted fans wavered from the overwhelming amount of fake news in the papers.
The facts were made clear early on, and the path was set. Julia’s husband wrote the narrative: she was drunk and irresponsible on the night in question, leaving a child without a mother and a loving husband without a wife.
Julia would be heartbroken to learn about the judgments people had passed on her so easily without knowing the truth.
The authorities weren’t much help in uncovering the truth about what happened to Julia either. The Royal Cruise Line rushed to sweep the negative PR under the rug. The Royal Bahamas Police Force proved incompetent in running a high-profile investigation. The FBI was secretive about their findings, if they had any, releasing few official statements to the public, leaving the tabloids and readers’ imaginations to run wild with theories.
Julia was a celebrated prodigy one minute and a lousy alcoholic mother and wife the next. She was never given a chance to defend herself, to clear her name. As it turned out, her family lacked the character to stand up for her as well. Of course, they didn’t. They had their own names and millions of dollars in inheritance to protect. Only her brother spoke out against the Roses, while her mother cried on TV, begging the public for information.
On the other hand, the unfortunate widower, Tony Rose, had become the hero of the story. The public dubbed him a loving father and devoted husband to Julia, left to raise their child alone. People seemed to forget that Tony had the most to gain from Julia’s death. He was inheriting her fortune. And while most families suffer from a sudden financial strain when the breadwinner of the house suddenly dies, Tony was blessed with a huge injection of income.
The immense media coverage on Julia’s mysterious disappearance during a family trip rejuvenated reader interest in her published work. Discussions about her books dominated the book-lover world on Instagram, Goodreads, and Facebook, making Tony all the richer.
When I researched the case online in Brooke’s house, I learned that the Bahamian detective held and questioned Tony as a person of interest in Julia’s disappearance for a few days during the early days of the investigation. However, Tony paid for the best legal defense Julia’s money could buy, and they soon released him due to insufficient evidence against him. Why the media didn’t gnaw on that significant detail longer has always remained a mystery to me.
After spending years building up my hatred and plotting an act of revenge against Julia’s husband, I was about to meet him for the first time, yet my emotions had to be locked up like a canary in a cage.
The conflicting feelings coiling in my chest pushed me to a brisker pace.
As I reached the table, out of breath and nervous, I witnessed one of the men seated there call out to the bartender in an ear-pleasing baritone, “Would you mind changing the channel, please?” I could only see the back of his head. Elongated in shape and covered in thick dark hair.
The stylish young man polishing a glass behind the bar reached for the remote at once. “Certainly, Mr. Rose.”
No, this soft voice can’t belong to a wife killer, I thought. When I first looked at his pictures online and saw his gentle eyes and charming smile, I kept telling myself that he must have the voice of the devil as a sign of his wickedness. But that’s not what I got now. I felt cheated. Disappointed.
Brooke removed a white cloth napkin from her lap and set it next to her plate as she stood up to greet me. “I’m glad you could make it.” She put a hand on my arm and turned me toward her companions. Her skin was dry and wrinkled like papyrus paper, and golden rings cut into her warm, blotchy sausage fingers.
“This is Annie Adams, my new assistant I was talking about,” Brooke introduced me in a hoarse voice hardened by years of smoking and drinking hard liquor.
I nodded with a smile. Be charming, sexy even—I reminded myself.
“This is Tony Rose, his sister, Sylvia Rose, and his brother, Justin,” my boss finished the introduction. Her name didn’t suit her. I’d have imagined someone called Brooke as a tall, slender woman with a hint of elegance. Perhaps with long brown hair and a very feminine face. My new boss was short and stocky, with a waist-less barrel body. Underneath her close-cropped dark hair sat an array of distinct facial features framed with translucent-rimmed thick glasses on a wide-set face. She might have seemed intimidating to some, but I knew that the rough-around-the-edges appearance was only an act. Brooke’s heart was in the right place, and she cared for Julia.
I offered my hand to Tony first.
He slipped his warm and moist fingers over mine, teasingly staring into my eyes.
I held his gaze.
Today marked my first day at my new job, and I needed to make a good impression. I’d dreamed about this opportunity for so long, planning my first encounter with Julia’s in-laws, especially her widower. If I messed it up, my whole plan would collapse like a house of cards.
