Chapter 1

The jet touched down at Logan, a familiar grayness coating Boston. Five years. Five years chasing algorithms and venture capital on the West Coast. Now, a family trust needed untangling, something my Winthrop grandparents insisted required my personal touch.

My phone buzzed before I even cleared customs. Maya.

"Evie! You're back? You have to come out tonight!"

Her voice was a whirlwind, same as it was at Harvard.

"Maya, I just landed. I'm beat."

"No excuses! Atherton Club. Annual gala. Everyone who's anyone. You can't miss your grand re-entry."

The Atherton. Old money, older secrets. I sighed. "Fine. One drink."

The club was exactly as I remembered: dark wood, hushed tones, portraits of stern-faced ancestors judging every guest. Maya, vibrant in a sapphire dress, grabbed my arm.

"Come on, the real party's this way. They're doing some... interactive art thing."

She pulled me into a smaller, crowded salon. A massive screen dominated one wall. On it, a video played. Grainy, intimate. A young woman, her face turned away.

Then she turned, and my breath hitched. Chloe. My sister.

On a low dais beneath the screen stood Bryce Campbell, Chloe's fiancé, his arm around a blonde I vaguely recognized as Olivia Sterling, Chloe's stepsister. Liv. Bryce held a microphone.

"Just a little piece of... performance art, shall we say?" Bryce's voice, slick and smug, filled the room. "A commentary on value. See, Liv's favorite diamond tennis bracelet, a gift from her father, was... tragically damaged. By Chloe."

He gestured towards my sister, standing alone near the edge of the crowd.

"Chloe, dear, you insisted on making amends. So, we're giving you the chance. These little... digital masterpieces. Each one a chance to pay back your debt. Or, they go wider. Much wider."

Chloe was a ghost. Her face, ashen. Her dress, something cheap, a stark contrast to Liv's glittering couture. She clutched her hands, knuckles white.

A ripple of murmurs went through the onlookers. A few snickers.

"Looks like quite the collection, Campbell." A man's voice, slurred. "What's the opening bid?"

I stood frozen in the doorway, Maya forgotten beside me. A cold, precise anger began to crystallize in my chest. Five years. And this is what they'd done to my family.