Chapter 1

The email notification arrived with a simple, unassuming chime, a sound that would split Ava Smith' s life into a before and an after. She stared at the screen, her heart pounding against her ribs. She had logged into the College Board website with trembling fingers, Chloe bouncing nervously beside her.

"Hurry, hurry, open it!" Chloe urged, her voice a little too high, a little too sharp.

Ava took a deep breath and clicked. The numbers loaded, stark and black against the white screen.

Total Score: 1600.

A perfect score. Air rushed from Ava's lungs. She couldn't believe it. All those late nights, the endless practice tests, the pressure to prove she was worthy of the Miller name-it had all paid off. A slow, tentative smile spread across her face.

"What is it? What did you get?" Chloe pressed, leaning so close Ava could feel her warm breath on her neck.

Before Ava could answer, Chloe let out a sharp gasp. She had already pulled up her own scores on her phone.

"1599," Chloe whispered, her voice hollow. She looked from her phone to Ava' s screen, her eyes wide with disbelief. Then, her expression curdled. The initial shock was replaced by a cold, hard resentment that seemed to drop the temperature in the room.

"One point," Chloe said, her voice flat. "You beat me by one point."

The joy that had bloomed in Ava' s chest withered instantly. She had hoped they would celebrate together. She had wanted this achievement to be something that brought them closer, a sign that she was finally, truly a part of the family. Instead, a chasm had just opened between them.

"Chloe, it' s just a number," Ava said softly, trying to bridge the gap. "Your score is incredible! We both did so well."

But Chloe wasn't listening. Her eyes were already filling with tears, her lower lip trembling. It was a performance Ava had seen many times, a carefully orchestrated display of vulnerability that always got Chloe exactly what she wanted.

"How could you?" Chloe sobbed, backing away as if Ava had physically struck her. "You did this on purpose. You wanted to humiliate me."

"What? No, of course not!" Ava protested, reaching for her, but Chloe flinched away.

Just then, their adoptive brother, Liam, walked into the room, drawn by the sound of Chloe' s crying. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and his face, usually handsome and relaxed, was immediately tight with concern for Chloe.

"What' s wrong? What did she do to you?" he demanded, his gaze falling on Ava with immediate suspicion. He went straight to Chloe, wrapping a protective arm around her.

"She... she did it to make me look bad," Chloe cried into his chest. "She knew how much this meant to me. She probably cheated."

The accusation hung in the air, ugly and baseless. Ava felt a cold dread creep up her spine.

"I didn' t cheat," Ava said, her voice shaking with a mixture of anger and hurt. "Liam, you know how hard I studied."

Liam looked from Chloe' s tear-streaked face to Ava' s perfect score on the screen. His expression hardened into a mask of cold fury. He didn' t question Chloe' s accusation for a second. In his eyes, Chloe was a fragile doll to be protected, and Ava, the outsider, was the perpetual threat.

"You' ve been here for two years, Ava," Liam said, his voice low and dangerous. "We took you in, gave you everything. And this is how you repay us? By trying to prove you' re better than my sister? By trying to drive her out?"

"That' s not what I was doing!" Ava pleaded. "I just wanted to do well. For us. For the family."

"Don' t lie to me," Liam sneered. "Your sudden academic success is suspicious. You come from nothing, and you suddenly get a perfect score? While Chloe, who has had the best tutors her whole life, gets one point less? It doesn' t add up."

He was gaslighting her, twisting her hard-earned success into a crime. Every word was a deliberate blow, designed to make her feel small and guilty.

"You need to think about what you' ve done," Liam continued, his voice void of any warmth. "You need to understand your mistake."

He grabbed Ava' s arm, his grip like iron.

"Liam, what are you doing?" she cried out, trying to pull away.

"I' m taking you somewhere you can reflect," he said, dragging her out of the room. Chloe watched them go, a flicker of triumph in her wet eyes.

He forced her into his car, the expensive leather seats feeling cold and alien. A deep, primal fear began to bubble inside Ava, a terror that had nothing to do with Liam' s anger. It was a dark memory, a phobia she had carried since she was a small child, a trauma the Millers knew all about.

"Liam, please, where are we going?" she begged, her voice trembling.

He didn't answer. They drove for what felt like an eternity, leaving the pristine, manicured lawns of their neighborhood behind. They pulled up to a rundown building on the industrial outskirts of town. A faded sign read "Westwood Animal Shelter." The air was filled with the cacophony of barking dogs.

The sound hit Ava like a physical blow. Her breath caught in her throat, her blood running cold. She remembered teeth, snapping and snarling. The pain. The terror of being small and helpless as a large dog pinned her to the ground.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Liam, no. Not here. Please."

He ignored her pleas, pulling her out of the car and toward the entrance. Waiting by the door was Ethan Hayes. Ethan, her childhood friend, the one person from her old life who knew her before the Millers. He was supposed to be her ally.

But the look on his face was not friendly. It was cold, contemptuous.

"Ethan, help me," Ava choked out, reaching for him. "He can' t do this."

Ethan took a step back, his arms crossed. "This was my idea," he said, his voice flat. "Chloe is heartbroken. You needed to be taught a lesson. Maybe a night with these mutts will remind you of where you came from."

The betrayal was so absolute, so shocking, it stole the air from her lungs. Ethan, who had once defended her from bullies, was now one of them. He had taken her deepest, most vulnerable secret and turned it into a weapon against her.

"You' ll stay here until you understand what a huge mistake you' ve made," Liam said, shoving her toward the shelter' s back entrance. An overpowering stench of wet fur and disinfectant filled her nostrils.

Inside, the barking was deafening. Rows of cages lined the concrete walls, filled with dogs of all shapes and sizes. Some were whining, but others were throwing themselves against the metal bars, their eyes wild, their teeth bared.

Liam unlocked a heavy door to a small, isolated kennel at the far end of the building. It was empty, save for a dirty water bowl and a thin, stained blanket on the floor.

"Liam, please don' t do this," Ava sobbed, her body shaking uncontrollably. "I' m sorry. I' m sorry about the score. Just don' t leave me here."

Liam' s face was unreadable. For a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of doubt, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Chloe was his priority. Always.

He looked over at the shelter manager, a grim-faced man who had been paid to look the other way.

"Make sure the aggressive ones are in the cages next to her," Liam commanded, his voice echoing in the concrete room. "I want her to hear them all night. It will help her 'reflection' ."

With a final look of disdain, Liam turned and walked away. Ethan followed without a backward glance. The heavy metal door slammed shut, the sound of the lock clicking into place sealing Ava' s fate. She was left alone in the dark, with nothing but the sound of growling dogs and the suffocating weight of her own terror.