Chapter 11: The Debt Collectors

By Friday, the house no longer felt like a home.

It felt like a building waiting to be seized.

The landline rang throughout the morning until Richard unplugged it from the wall. Calls then shifted to his cell phone.

The utility company wanted payment.

The office

Chapter 12: Leo’s Downward Spiral

On Monday morning, Leo sat inside Headmaster Sterling’s office at St. Jude’s Academy.

The room had always intimidated him.

Dark shelves held leather-bound books and framed photographs of graduating classes. The school crest hung above a wide mahogany desk, its La

Chapter 13: The Mistress’s True Colors

The Gilded Spoon occupied the ground floor of an old financial-district hotel.

Its private booths were separated by heavy velvet curtains, and its lighting was designed to flatter expensive faces while concealing discreet conversations.

At exactly three o’cl