Her Calculated Comeback

re us, her face a ma

om was thick with the smell of stale

an offer for y

ing, flickered between me a

job as a live-in housekeeper for a ver

ting the words

private high school with the son, Ethan. But I' ll

as opt

here with your uncle. Finish high school, and I' ll use my savi

idn' t h

eclared, her voice filled with a gr

mile widened.

She deserves a chance at a better life. I' ll make it up to you

e triumphant gleam in her

eborn, ju

making a pla

ll for someone as shallow as her. I knew this

nded in fir

ley took the Ivy League promise. I went to be with my

botics and quantum physics, our conversations a secret language no one else understood. Our lov

drunk on expensive champagne. He pulled me asi

ome to MIT

ove. He offered to

c. I ran to t

lappe

hissed, her face twisted with ra

She told me all her money w

be supportive, asked Ethan to "look out for" Ashley, w

ame th

n unconscious Ethan. A text mess

burned behind my eyes. I grabbed my keys, my hands shakin

er ma

ife bled out on the as

her and Ashley, on t

eked with laughter. "It wor

th. He found the note I' d left him, explai

physical force. He walked to the

I used the last of my energy to find Ashley. I wat

ment, the one bought with the money she' d extorted from Ethan

dark

smoke-filled living room, with my

differently. This time, th