They want me dead, but I’ll live a
brilliant life
Chapter One
My life imploded.
The company teetered on the brink of
collapse when my brother “died,” and Mom
and Dad slipped into comas.
I had to drop out of college.
I was left to shoulder the mountain of debt.
For three years I worked myself to the bone.
I even ended up in the ER with a bleeding
ulcer, all so I could whip the company back
into shape.
Then, Mom and Dad woke up.
I thought the good times were about to begin.
But my brother, the one who supposedly
jumped off the pier, strolled back in with his
<
He wanted me to hand over the company.
Mom and Dad chimed in, saying he was the
man, the sole heir to the family legacy.
I wasn’t having it.
That night, as I went to talk to my brother, I
overheard a conversation between him and
his wife.
“It was the old man’s plan,” she whispered.
“I faked my death, they pretended to be
vegetables.
Who knew she’d actually turn the company
around?”
Stunned, I confronted Mom and Dad.
In a panic, the four of them ganged up on me,
shoved me off the balcony, and left me
splattered on the concrete below.
Г
I opened my eyes.
I was back to the day my brother planned to
fake his death.
1.
When the homeroom teacher called me out
again to take a phone call, I felt a chill.
It was Mom on the other end, sobbing
hysterically.
“Oh, Ashley, come home quick!
We’re broke!”
Last time, I’d been so shocked that I blurted
out, “What?!” right there in the office.
This time, I just held the phone without a
<
word.
She didn’t expect my lack of reaction.
“Ashley, are you in shock?
Just come home, we’ll talk about it there.”
I saw myself in the office mirror.
The corners of my mouth were twitching up
into a twisted smile.
A do–over?
I asked to be excused from class and headed
home.
I wasn’t gonna miss this show.