Within seconds, my skin flushed red and began to swell. Clusters of blisters crawled up my arms and crept along my neck.
Then she ordered the guards to drag me to the edge of the swimming pool. From behind her back, she produced my daughter's keepsake locket, the one she'd worn since birth.
"Don't you touch that!"
My vision was already blurring, my throat swelling shut. I thrashed against the guards despite the agony tearing through me, my voice raw with desperation.
Mabel leaned in close to my ear, her whisper dripping with venom. "Amber Fox, why should you get a brother who adores you? A good husband? Everything you have, I'm going to take it all."
Then came the splash. She flung the locket into the pool.
"No!"
The fury that erupted gave me a strength I didn't know I had. I tore free of the guards, grabbed Mabel by the collar, and hauled her into the water. "Who gave you permission to throw that? Since you did, you're going to find it for me!"
Water exploded around us. I fought through the pain and shoved Mabel beneath the surface, searching frantically for the locket at the same time.