Too Late, My Betrayer: Now I Shine

Vanc

Chicago snow fell heavily, landing on my dark screen and melting against the warm glass. I did not wipe the wa

g Sloan's social media timeline all the way ba

rs ago.

l flute of champagne. The geotag read a private island in the Maldives. T

e vanished, replaced by the sterile, blinding ligh

ands. I remembered Nathan kneeling beside my bed, burying his face in my sheets, sobbing uncontrollably. He told me he

forced my finger to keep

s ago. Chr

lack car key with the Porsche crest. In the background, a bran

udget tracker. I scrolled back to the e

e city and sold my mother's emerald ring, the only thing she left me before she died. I handed the cash directly to

hissing loudly. The driver honked the horn, rol

iver muttered a curse word, rolled the window

Sloan's timelin

of a VIP viewing box at Paris Fashion Week. She was wearing a c

y. My third

tore through my abdomen. Nathan had told me he was driving to another state to pitch to a cheap supplier. He turned h

A violent, physical reaction

the bus shelter. I grabbed the frozen rim and dry heaved. My stomach muscles con

y, tight, and hot. The crushing sadness I expected was not there. Instead, a ter

ench. I stood up slowly, wiping the so

creen. A text mes

ing today. My feet are killing m

r again until they looked like a foreign language. It was a joke. My entire e

of my hand and stood up complet

opened a hidden folder on my phone. I clicked on an encr

il I found a solid black avatar. I typed

e person replied with a

ll button. The line co

my ear, followed by a lazy, sharp voice. "Well, look who it is.

pped speaking to me the day I dropped out of

did not sound like my own

Maya was abrasive, but she was brilliant. She h

store cutting through the snow. "I need your help. I need y

the sarcasm gone. "Who a

n's profile and pasted it

n if it's just lines of code,