luxury apartment building, the wheels of her suitc

a taxi to

e lifted the heavy suitcase into the trunk herself,

window. The glittering, lavish Manhattan skyline-her "canary

pped in front of an old, weather

lit, narrow corridor until she reached the he

nch coat pocket and pulled ou

The lock turned with a heavy, satisf

of warm, industrial-style track lights

was filled with a reassuring scent of du

nnequins, surrounded by high-end sewing machines

orner of the room. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, t

open. She carefully reached inside and pu

g the opening and poured t

was her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science fr

d-edition haute couture design sketches. Each page bore a prom

with her fingertips. The lifeless, empty look in her eye

and opened the old, broken laptop she h

assing security protocols and logging directly into the inte

window and began drafti

as a physical blow, severing yet another c

ly quit the useless tech support job that Cornelius

turned and looked at a faded ph

, standing next to legendary haute coutu

and swiped to a number she

yped: "Aunt Klema. I've thought i

could build the perfect life her own way. Now, those naive fantasies have been st

on the screen for a full three

message being sent echoed clea

the first time in seven years, the heavy burde

single bed in the corner of th

raw fabric and wood, she closed her