When Linda was just a little girl, her whole world turned upside down. Her older sister, Amanda, left her behind in a group home. Linda was heartbroken. She never thought her own sister would abandon her like that. Growing up, Linda and Amanda were always at each other’s throats. They argued about everything. Amanda, being the older one, left home first to go to college, while Linda was still stuck in high school. For a short while, things were peaceful. The constant fighting stopped since they weren’t living under the

The wind cut through Richard’s worn coat like icy knives as he trudged toward the office doors. His fingers were numb, his face raw from the cold, but he pushed forward. This was the last branch. His last hope. For a month, Richard had gone from one office to another—offices he once proudly owned—testing the people who worked there. He had given his life to building this company, pouring his values into it like a father raising children. But at every branch, he had only found arrogance, cruelty, and indifference.

My husband gave away our baby’s nursery to his mom because she was “lonely and depressed.” I was shattered. But then, late that night, I passed by the nursery door and overheard what my mother-in-law had really been planning. That was the moment I realized she was far more cunning than I had ever imagined. For two months straight, my husband and I worked on the nursery like it was our heart outside of our bodies. Every detail mattered. I painted the walls a soft sage green, and even though