“Dead fatass, you open this door! Do you hear me? Open up!”

Emily’s shrill voice and pounding fist jolted me awake from my nightmare. I sat up with a gasp, cold sweat drenching my shirt as the Caribbean facility explosion images still flashed behind my eyelids.

“I know you’re in there! Hiding won’t help you!”

Taking a deep breath to center myself, I moved silently toward the door. In one swift motion, I yanked it open. Emily, who’d been leaning her weight into her next knock, stumbled forward, nearly falling face-first into my room.

As she flailed to regain her balance, my hand instinctively shot out. For a split second, I visualized snapping her neck with a quick twist—a clean, efficient elimination. The muscle memory from my days as Shadow was so ingrained that I had to consciously stop myself.

Not now. Not here. She’s not worth it.

My cold gaze swept past Emily to take in the rest of the Morgan family standing in the hallway. Frank looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Max stood behind him, his eyes wide with worry. And Linda—my so-called mother—clutched something in her hands, her face contorted with rage.

“You ungrateful little thief!” Linda spat, thrusting the items in her hands toward me. I recognized the designer clothes I’d bought for Max yesterday—the tags still attached to them. “Where did you get the money for this? Who did you steal from?”

I leaned against my doorframe, arms crossed. “I didn’t steal anything.”

“Bullshit!” Linda stepped closer, her cheap perfume assaulting my senses. “You expect me to believe that? You, who can’t even pass a simple math test, suddenly have hundreds of dollars to spend?”

Frank placed a tentative hand on Linda’s shoulder. “Maybe we should calm down and—”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” She shrugged his hand off violently. “This little bitch is stealing, and you want me to calm down? What if she stole from someone important? What if the police come here?”

Frank winced. “Let’s at least hear what Max has to say. He was with her yesterday.”

Linda stormed into the living room, still clutching Max’s new clothes. I followed, maintaining a calculated distance, monitoring everyone’s movements with practiced precision.

“And what about these?” Linda pointed dramatically at the kitchen table where she’d placed Max’s new shoes and the box from his iPhone. “Emily says these cost thousands! Where would you get thousands of dollars, huh? Answer me!”

Emily smirked from behind Linda. “That phone alone is like, one thousand dollars. And the shoes are at least five hundred.”

Frank’s face paled. “Jade… is this true? Did you… take something that wasn’t yours?”

Before I could answer, Max stepped forward. “She didn’t steal anything! Jade would never do that.”

“Then explain this!” Linda gestured wildly at the items. “Your sister suddenly has thousands of dollars to throw around? The same girl who couldn’t even afford school breakfast last month?”

Max glanced at me, then back at Linda. “She’s been… she’s been doing programming work. Online. Data analysis stuff.”

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