Author: chiendeptrai

PART 1 My name is Amanda Riley, and at 28 years old, I never expected to be sitting in a lawyer’s office watching my sister Caroline receive $6.9 million while I got one single dollar. My grandfather Maxwell had been my hero, my confidant, my biggest supporter. So why did he leave me with just…

Part 1 The fluorescent lights of the New York General ER hummed, a sound I usually associated with wasted time. My time, to be precise. It was 9:15 AM on a Monday. I had a superficial cut on my forearm from a stupid kitchen knife incident—my chef’s knife, my $1,000 block, my fault. And I…

Part 1 The coffee was still brewing. That’s the detail that haunts me. The smell of the French roast, the gurgle of the machine. It was 9:15 AM on a Tuesday. Lily and Josh were at school. The house was quiet, peaceful. I was wearing yoga pants I had no intention of doing yoga in…

Part 1 It would be funny, they whispered, watching her make a fool of herself. Maya slowly walked toward the grand piano. Her legs felt like jelly. Every eye in the restaurant was fixed on her. She could hear the whispers. Someone laughed. She sat down on the piano bench. It felt good to be…

Part 1 The phone in my hand was black. Silent. Heavier than my backpack. Find your own way home. The words echoed in the sudden, roaring silence of my head. The laughter from the call—Kylie’s, Noah’s, Calvin’s—felt like it was still happening, a tinny, cruel sound buzzing in my ears. The gate agent was still…

Part 1   The burlap was rough against my skin, smelling of dust, potatoes, and my own terrified, shallow breaths. It was a shroud for the living, a punishment for a crime I hadn’t committed. My crime, in the eyes of my uncle, was my face. To the world, I was just Mara. The “Lost…

Part 1   The gun shop was a hive of noise and ego. The kind of place where testosterone hung thicker than the smell of gun oil. I didn’t come here to buy a gun. I came here for a signal. Out back, a live shooting demo was in full swing, and the rhythmic crack-crack-crack…