They Said She Was Studying In Florence, But They Were Hiding A Monster

by Christina Palmer

She found the criminal defense bills hidden in a crumbling box marked 'Tax 1999.' For thirty-eight years, Sarah Miller was the chaotic younger sister, the family scapegoat destined to clean out her mother's hoarded Victorian while her flawless pediatrician sister, Elena, saved lives. Sarah accepted her role, even letting her teenage daughter Lily live in Elena's pristine smart-home for a medical internship. But the legal invoices prove Elena's celebrated college 'gap year' in Florence was actually a violent cover-up that sent her to a psychiatric prison. Now, Lily's personality is flattening under her aunt's strict 'vitamins,' and Sarah realizes the medically managed sociopathy her family buried twenty-seven years ago wasn't cured. Sarah must outsmart the celebrated doctor holding her daughter captive, or Lily will become the next casualty of a family that protects its monsters and sacrifices its own.