Chapter 1 - The Empty Seats
I sat in the echoing Stanford auditorium while the crowd slowly dispersed around me.
Four seats remained perfectly empty in the second row.
One was meant for my father.
One was for my mother.
One was for my sister, Camille.
And one was meant to honor my late grandmother, Opal, because I still held onto a foolish hope that my family cared.
I clutched my second master's degree in my hands.
My phone suddenly buzzed with a notification.
It was an email from Ingrid Søberg, a senior recruiter at the Halden Vale Group.
She was offering to fly me to New York to discuss a massive opportunity based entirely on my academic research.
Before I could even process the reality of a multi-million dollar firm noticing me, my screen lit up with an incoming call.
The caller ID displayed my mother's name.
I hesitated for a moment before pressing the green button and lifting the phone to my ear.
"Marlo, I hope you are not crying in your dorm room," my mother said coldly.
"Aunt Delphine told me you lied to the family," I replied, keeping my voice terrifyingly calm.
"I did not lie, I simply protected you from the embarrassment of your academic failure," she snapped back.
"I graduated with distinction today, Mom."
There was a long, heavy silence on the other end of the line.
"Well, you are always so selfish, demanding attention when today is your sister's birthday," she finally said.
"Camille is turning twenty-six, it is not even a milestone," I pointed out.
"We threw a party because Camille needs our support, unlike you," she hissed.
I realized then that she was never going to apologize or admit her jealousy.
"I have a job interview in New York," I said quietly.
"Do not lie to me, Marlo, nobody is hiring a professional student," she mocked.
"They are flying me out tomorrow morning."
"If you get on that plane instead of coming home to apologize to your sister, you are no longer part of this family," she threatened.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at the screen.
I ended the call and blocked her number without a second thought.
I stood up, threw my graduation cap into a nearby trash can, and walked out into the California sun.
My phone buzzed again, but it was not my mother.
May you like
It was a text message from an unknown number.
"Your parents are hiding a massive financial secret, Marlo, and they were planning to use your graduation money to pay for it."
