Very Short Summary
Manhattan, present day. After witnessing a fatal accident, struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh met Jeremy Crawford, who offered her a lucrative job completing his wife's famous thriller series.
Lowen moved into the Crawfords' Vermont home to sort through Verity's office, where she discovered an autobiography manuscript revealing disturbing truths about Verity's past, including her attempted infanticide of her daughter Harper and her role in the deaths of both twin daughters.
As Lowen and Jeremy grew closer, she became convinced that Verity, supposedly left catatonic after a car accident, was faking her condition. Their relationship intensified, leading to intimate encounters while Lowen debated whether to show Jeremy the manuscript.
When Lowen finally showed Jeremy the manuscript, he confronted Verity, who revealed she could indeed speak and move. In their confrontation, Jeremy and Lowen killed Verity, making it appear she had died in her sleep.
I loved making love to you, but most of the time it was to please you because that's what couples do for each other. It wasn't because I couldn't live without it. You were a good husband to me and I was a good wife to you.
Later, Lowen discovered a letter from Verity claiming the manuscript was a writing exercise and that she had been faking her condition out of fear after Jeremy had tried to kill her twice. The letter's discovery left both the truth about Verity and the justification of her death ambiguous. Ten weeks later, Lowen, now pregnant with Jeremy's child, chose to keep the letter's existence a secret.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
A Fateful Meeting and an Unusual Job Offer
After witnessing a gruesome pedestrian accident in Manhattan, struggling author Lowen Ashleigh met Jeremy Crawford in a coffee shop bathroom where he helped her clean up the victim's blood from her clothes. The same day, they both attended a meeting at Pantem Press publishing house.
At the meeting, Lowen learned that Jeremy's wife, successful author Verity Crawford, was unable to complete her bestselling series due to injuries from a car accident. The publisher offered Lowen a substantial sum to complete the remaining three books in the series. Jeremy revealed that it was he, not Verity, who had read and admired Lowen's work, leading to her selection for this project.
Arrival at the Crawford House and First Discoveries
Facing eviction from her apartment, Lowen accepted Jeremy's invitation to stay at his Vermont home while researching Verity's work. Upon arrival, she met Crew, Jeremy and Verity's young son, and encountered the bedridden Verity, who was being cared for by a nurse named April. The house's atmosphere immediately unsettled Lowen.
We're Chronics. Prone to chronic tragedy. One terrible thing after another. Some families are lucky enough to never experience a single tragedy. But then there are those families that seem to have tragedies waiting.
Verity's Manuscript and Dark Revelations
While organizing Verity's office, Lowen discovered an autobiographical manuscript that revealed disturbing truths about Verity's past. The manuscript, written in first person, detailed Verity's obsessive love for Jeremy and her disturbing thoughts about motherhood. Most shockingly, it revealed her attempts to harm her twin daughters, Chastin and Harper, when they were infants.
An autobiography encouraging the reader to like the author is not a true autobiography. No one is likable from the inside out. One should only walk away from an autobiography with, at best, an uncomfortable distaste for its author.
Growing Suspicions and Strange Occurrences
As Lowen continued reading the manuscript, she learned about the tragic deaths of both twins. Chastin died from an allergic reaction at a sleepover, while Harper drowned in the lake behind their house. The manuscript suggested that Verity had orchestrated Harper's death, tipping over a canoe with both Harper and Crew inside, then saving only Crew.
I'm not sure it was healthy—how codependent I was. Still am, really. But when a person finds someone who makes all the negativity in their lives disappear, it's hard not to feed off that person.
Deepening Relationship with Jeremy
Despite her growing fears about Verity, Lowen found herself increasingly attracted to Jeremy. They grew closer as he shared stories about his past and his struggles with grief. Their relationship turned intimate after Lowen's birthday celebration, but their moment was interrupted when Lowen claimed to see Verity standing at the top of the stairs, despite her supposed paralysis.
Sometimes I feel if I don't trust my own mind in my sleep, I'm starting to not trust myself when I'm awake. Did I see her? Was it a hallucination because of stress? Did I feel guilty for being with her husband?
Confrontation and Verity's Death
After several unsettling incidents, including Crew's injury with a butter knife and strange occurrences in the house, Lowen showed the manuscript to Jeremy. Upon reading it, Jeremy confronted Verity, who revealed she had been faking her condition. In a moment of rage and grief over his daughters' deaths, Jeremy attempted to strangle Verity. With Lowen's help, they ultimately caused Verity's death, making it appear as though she had choked on her own vomit in her sleep.
The Hidden Letter and Final Truth
Later, while cleaning the house, Lowen discovered a letter hidden under a floorboard. In it, Verity explained that the manuscript was actually a writing exercise - an antagonistic journal meant to help her write better villains for her novels. She claimed that both girls' deaths were accidents and that she had been faking her recovery to protect herself from Jeremy, who had already tried to kill her once in the car accident after finding and believing the manuscript.
The only question that remains is: Which truth was she manipulating? No matter which way I look at it, it's clear that Verity was a master at manipulating the truth.
Lowen's Choice and Uncertain Future
Faced with this revelation, Lowen chose to destroy the letter and keep its contents secret from Jeremy. She decided that regardless of which version was true, revealing it would only cause more pain. The story ended with Lowen and Jeremy leaving the house together, expecting a child, while the truth about Verity's manuscript and the real circumstances of her death remained buried with her.