A year later, Leah is living as an enigmatic heiress in a sprawling, ultra-modern Hamptons estate, having bought Barbra's silence with Cayman Islands cash. During the lavish Summer Solstice Gala, amid Manhattan's elite, Leah spot a figure near the dark beach path. It is not a guest in a tuxedo, but Titus Howell. He looks gaunt and unhinged, hallowed out by a year of obsession. Having used a forensic accountant and a tip from a disgruntled cousin to trace Leah to Zurich, Titus reveals he knows the truth. While Leah played the grieving granddaughter, she stole his life’s work. He issues a chilling promise: the hunt isn't over—it's just moving inland.

The Heart of the Lie is a fanfic podcast by M Wright. New episodes come out Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Four days after Zurich, Leah is ensconced at the Ritz-Carlton in Paris, adapting to obscene wealth with the speed of a virus. The illusion of safety is shattered by a single phone call from a gravel-voiced woman using an old family nickname: “Leah-loo.” Leah’s estranged cousin, Barbra, has connected the dots between Nana’s death and the sudden appearance of a historic blue diamond in Zurich. The threat is clear: Barbra knows about the private charter and the Swiss wire reports. Worst of all, she reveals that a bankrupt and desperate Titus Howell is asking questions. Leah realized she didn’t just steal a diamond; she awakened a hungry family of ghosts, and the clean extortion has just begun.

The Heart of the Lie is a fanfic podcast by M Wright. New episodes come out Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The generic hotel room in Zurich is a sterile box, a welcomed contrast to the diesel fuel and ghosts of the North Atlantic research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. Having convinced Coast Guard authorities and treasure hunter Titus Howell that she threw Nana’s legendary treasure back into the ocean, Leah Colwell plays the part of the grieving granddaughter to perfection. No one thinks to look inside the lining of her bag, where an impossible weight is wrapped in a pair of tube socks. Now, Leah waits for the receipt. When Herr Weber arrives, the legend is confirmed: the stone is the authentic Diamant du Destin, valued at an unimaginable $248 million. As she holds the check, trading Nana’s ghost for an empire, Leah realizes she has spent her life being safe—but now, she is about to buy the world.

The Heart of the Lie is a fanfic podcast by M Wright. New episodes come out Tuesdays and Thursdays.