Chapter 1 - The Shattered Glass
The sound of my father’s crystal tumbler shattering against the expensive Brazilian hardwood floor was the loudest thing in that dining room.
My mother, Eleanor, stood frozen. The phone was still pressed to her ear, but her hand was trembling violently. Her perfect, icy blonde updo suddenly seemed at odds with the sheer, unfiltered panic contorting her face.
"What do you mean, seized?" my father, Richard, bellowed, his voice cracking in a way I had never heard before. He lunged toward my mother, grabbing the phone from her hand. "Who is this? Give me my broker!"
I didn't wait to watch the rest of the meltdown.
I turned my back on them, my boots crunching over the shards of crystal, and walked out the front door. The crisp December air hit my face, a stark contrast to the suffocating toxicity of that house.
Leo was waiting on the porch, his small shoulders hunched against the cold. He looked up at me, his brown eyes wide and fearful. "Mom? Are they mad at me?"
"No, baby," I said, crouching down and wrapping my coat around him. "They are mad because they finally got caught. Come on. We're going home."
As I buckled Leo into the backseat of my SUV, the heavy oak front door of my parents' mansion flew open. My sister, Claire, ran out in her designer heels, her face flushed with anger and confusion.
"What did you do?!" Claire screamed across the manicured lawn. "Dad is having a panic attack in the foyer! The bank says the accounts are locked! All of them!"
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I rolled down my window, my expression completely blank. "Check your own trust account, Claire," I said calmly. "You might want to see if the money Dad promised you is actually there."
I rolled the window up before she could respond, put the car in drive, and left them in the rearview mirror. For the first time in my thirty-two years of life, my chest felt completely light. I had just dropped a nuclear bomb on my family, and I wasn't going to look back at the explosion.
