There are families who pass down heirlooms, traditions, recipes, or stories.

And then there are families like the Scotts, where what gets passed down is power, sharpened by secrets, protected by silence, and weaponized by the people who know how to use it.

Elise Scott never asked to be the keeper of her family’s legacy. She was simply born into it; the mansion on the hill, the fog-lined estate, the privileges that came with the Scott name, and the unspoken expectation that she would uphold everything the dynasty represented. From the outside, her life looked enviable: wealth, stability, lineage, a future carved out before she ever took her first breath. But behind those locked doors and curated smiles lived something darker. Something colder. Something her family spent generations burying beneath polished floors and iron-gated rituals.

And when Elise’s memory fractures, she realizes those buried things have teeth.

It begins quietly. A shifting sensation under the surface of her thoughts. A memory out of place. A conversation she can’t recall, though everyone insists she had it. The feeling of being watched from inside her own skin. The creeping suspicion that something happened, something pivotal, something dangerous, and that her mind has chosen to hide it from her.

But the truth doesn’t stay buried in a family like hers.

It claws its way out.

As Elise pieces together the splintered edges of her memory, the people closest to her begin to unravel. Her father grows unpredictable. Her mother becomes a portrait of brittle silence. Her siblings start behaving as if they’re protecting something — or someone — from her. The Scott estate, once elegant and serene, shifts into a labyrinth of shadows where every hallway whispers a different version of the past.

And hovering over all of it is the question nobody wants answered:

What really happened the night Elise forgot?

Desperate for clarity, Elise begins digging into old journals, family documents, and whispered stories overheard through locked doors. But every truth she uncovers contradicts the last. Every revelation opens a deeper wound. And every attempt to confront her family is met with one message:

Let it go, Elise.

Some things are better left forgotten.

But Elise knows better.

Because forgetting hasn’t made her feel safer — it has made her feel hunted.

The deeper she ventures into her family’s history, the more she realizes that the Scott legacy is not built on honor or tradition. It is built on carefully curated lies, protected by generations of control, fear, and manipulation. It is built on the backs of people whose names were erased, whose stories were stolen, whose voices were silenced. Elise wasn’t spared; she was groomed. Molded. Positioned.

And she begins to understand the truth:

Some inherit money.

Some inherit trauma.

Elise inherited a conspiracy.

When a shocking discovery exposes the final crack in her memory, the floodgates open. Her forgotten night was not an accident. It was engineered — by the very people sworn to protect her. Her amnesia is not a glitch of the mind; it is a symptom of control. A desperate attempt by the family to erase a truth that threatens to collapse the entire empire.

Elise wasn’t losing her memory.

They were taking it from her.

Now she must choose:

Remain the obedient daughter whose silence upholds the dynasty?

Or become the woman who burns it down?

As she inches closer to the truth, alliances shift. Friends become suspects. Blood becomes bargaining chips. And the mansion that once felt like home becomes a maze she must escape before the lies swallow her whole.

Because the most dangerous thing about the Scotts isn’t their money.

It’s their ability to rewrite reality.

And Elise has finally stopped cooperating.

The Lies We Inherit is a psychological thriller about the stories families tell to survive — and the ones they bury to stay powerful. It is a novel of memory and manipulation, of inherited trauma and the cost of uncovering the truth. Atmospheric, gripping, and deeply emotional, this book asks one razor-edged question:

If your entire life was built on lies, would you want to know the truth — or would you rather stay safe inside the illusion?

For readers who crave:

multigenerational secrets

fractured memory narratives

wealthy families with dark underbellies

slow-burn psychological unraveling

emotional depth paired with relentless tension

heroines who refuse to stay silent

This novel will wrap around your throat and not let go.

In the Scott family, truth is the most dangerous inheritance of all.

And Elise is about to claim hers.