ame: fragmented images of the hotel room, the suffocating scent of cedar and whiskey,

it up with more than a dozen missed cal

ht? I came back and you were gone

nored them and opened a chat with the only family membe

mbling. She hit send, then set the phon

long moment, her thumb hovering. Every instinct told her to decline-to block the number and never look back. But somethi

ing. She pressed the phone to her ear,

iffany's sharp, excited voice cut through. But she wasn

rned to ice. She

yes, dripping with cruel satisfaction. "Good girl

rrible-you can barely see his face. Just a blurry silhouette. I figured we'd wait until she's even fatter and more pathetic, then leak the whole thing with

it down. She had dialed Chloe's number, heard the click of an answer, but since Chloe hadn't spoken, she had ass

adding that stuff to her protein powder. We can't have her losing any weig

ward the kitchen counter, where a large canister of protein powder s

had believed her. She had drunk it faithfully, watched the scale climb, and blamed herself for lacking willpower. Twice she had thrown away empty canisters and started fresh with new diets, o

rved herself. But the number on the scale only ever went up. It wasn't

now, I know, it's so annoying. But Mom, do yo

charity case from his dead wife. As long as Ch

d the phone. She ended the call with a stab of her t

it like it was a venomous snake, she threw the entire thing into the trash can.

-puffy, pale, lifeless. The last bit of weakness, the last

her reputation. They wanted

e laughed at her own naivety, her own stupidity

eng

ver been so cle

ake them suffer a hundred times over

ure of the sad, overweight girl she had been forced to become. She searched for the

days-a freelance cybersecurity expert named Chris. "I need eyes on Brenda Ha

minutes. "For you? Alw

mother had left her. It was her last re

laced it in the bottom of a small jewelry box. Thi

st time. Tiffany's name

like chips of ice. She blocked th

he old Chloe H

sunlight flooded the room, and she didn't flinch. She stared d

would give her

that was hers. And she would make Brenda and Tiffany