The Last Promise: A Novel
When a mysterious inheritance tests the boundaries of love, loss, and technology, one woman must confront her past to claim her future...
Maya Whitmore built her life around one rule: keep people at a distance. But when her estranged sister Claire dies in a tragic accident, Maya inherits more than grief?she inherits Solace Technologies, a cutting-edge AI company designed to help people process loss.
There's just one catch: to claim the inheritance, Maya must spend 30 days working alongside Claire's team, including Ethan Miller?the man whose kiss three years ago sparked a chain of misunderstandings that tore their friendship apart.
As Maya delves into Claire's digital legacy, she discovers her sister's brilliant programming hides a devastating secret: Claire used herself as a test subject for grief AI while battling depression. Now, facing corporate espionage, patent disputes, and Claire's encrypted final message marked "Open only when you're ready to forgive," Maya must navigate a complex web of technology and emotion.
Forced into a remote mountain retreat by an unexpected storm, Maya's carefully constructed walls begin to crumble. Through virtual reality sessions, support group meetings, and late-night coding marathons, she learns that Claire had been manipulating her digital life?intercepting texts, monitoring communications, orchestrating second chances?all to protect Maya from her own isolation.
With the inheritance deadline looming and acquisition offers approaching half a billion dollars, Maya faces an impossible choice: sell the company and secure her financial future, or honor Claire's vision by completing a revolutionary grief platform that could save lives?including her own.
A powerful story about:
✨ Sisterhood and inherited trauma
✨ Technology's role in human connection
✨ Second chances at love and forgiveness
✨ Mental health representation in tech
✨ The architecture of grief and healing
"Some walls protect us. Others imprison us. And sometimes, it takes an inheritance we never wanted to learn the difference."
The Last Promise weaves Silicon Valley innovation with Seattle's tech scene, exploring how artificial intelligence might bridge the gap between loss and love?if we're brave enough to let it in.
Will Maya honor her sister's last promise, or will the fear of vulnerability cost her everything she's finally found?
From the bestselling tradition of emotionally resonant fiction comes a novel that redefines what it means to inherit?not just wealth, but wisdom, connection, and the courage to love again.
