Chapter 1
Alan had to be the first one to unzip the bag.
The metallic sound echoed through the cramped back room of La Estrella Market. Fifteen duffel bags were stacked against the wall opposite the entrance, illuminated by a single yellow bulb that flickered every few seconds.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
For a moment, the only sound was the distant hum of the refrigerators outside.
Alan slowly pulled the zipper open.
Money.
Bundles upon bundles of dollar notes, wrapped tightly in brown paper bands.
The room erupted.
"No way!" Yashin shouted.
He lunged over the bags before Alan could even react, snatching a bundle and holding it up to the light. His face lit up with excitement.
"We actually did it!"
Laughter filled the room.
Everyone seemed fascinated by the cash.
Everyone except Naomi.
She stood near the doorway, her eyes scanning the room for the third time.
Something wasn't right.
Three security cameras had been mounted throughout the store. Naomi herself had disabled them before the robbery. Yet the back room—the room containing enough money to change all their lives—had none.
Not a single camera.
Why?
The question sat heavily in her mind.
The others didn't seem to care.
Alan was already opening another duffel bag.
Yashin was throwing bundles of cash into the air.
Daniel had his phone out, recording everything.
Celine was laughing while trying to stop him from posting anything online.
Only Naomi remained uneasy.
"Guys," she said.
Nobody listened.
"Guys!"
The room fell quiet.
"Why are there no cameras in here?"
The excitement immediately faded.
Yashin lowered the money.
Alan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Naomi pointed around the room.
"This store barely gets customers. Half the food outside is expired. But somehow they keep all this money hidden in a room with no security?"
Nobody had an answer.
Before anyone could respond, Yashin attempted to jump across the pile of duffel bags.
His foot slipped.
The bags collapsed beneath him.
Seconds later he disappeared under a mountain of canvas and cash.
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Withdraw me now!" his muffled voice shouted.
Even Naomi, Ms Smarty Pants laughed.
Ivan was the first to reach him, using his firm grip to pull Yashin out from beneath the pile of bags that had fallen on top of him.
He rushed forward and pulled several bags away.
"You alive?" he asked.
Yashin emerged coughing dramatically.
"You're my hero man."
More laughter.
For a moment the tension disappeared.
“Let’s get out of here!” Daniel ran a hand through his scruffy hair and paused for a moment, staring in awe at the money before him.
Before the excitement could die down, Yashin grabbed another bundle of cash and waved it in the air.
"We're rich!" he shouted.
Alan laughed and shoved him lightly.
"Yeah, yeah, you psycho."
The room erupted with excitement once again.
For the first time in years, every person standing in that room could see their dreams within reach.
Life after high school hadn't gone according to plan.
Not for any of them.
Alan glanced toward Celine.
She caught him staring and smiled.
A small smile, but enough.
Ever since they had started dating in Grade eleven, they had talked about the same dream: a small house beside a lake. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere they could finally escape all the noise.
Three years later, they were still chasing it.
Maybe now they wouldn't have to chase anymore.
"Hold this," Yashin said, tossing another stack of cash toward Alan.
Alan caught it.
"Stop throwing money around."
"Long nose, you're no fun."
The room burst into laughter.
Even Celine couldn't help smiling.
Yet beneath Alan's grin sat a familiar frustration.
Celine's father hated him.
Always had.
No matter how hard Alan worked or how seriously he treated Celine, the man never thought he was good enough.
Maybe money would finally change that.
Maybe money changed everything.
Across the room, Daniel stood quietly watching.
Unlike the others, he wasn't interested in celebrating.
He was deeply in calculations.
His family owned a small pizza restaurant that had been passed down for generations. Daniel knew every recipe by heart. His father, Martel Martinez, had spent years teaching him everything there was to know about the business.
Yet Daniel wasn't the chosen successor.
That honour belonged to his younger brother, Marcel.
The favourite.
The future owner.
Daniel was simply expected to work.
To obey.
To accept it.
But not anymore.
The money sitting in front of him represented freedom.
A fresh start.
His own restaurant.
His own name above the door.
Far away from expectations.
Far away from home.
Maybe even in New Jersey.
For the first time, the dream felt possible.
Near the doorway, Ivan remained silent.
Nobody seemed to notice him.
Nobody ever really did.
He stood with his hands buried in his jacket pockets, watching the others celebrate.
Watching their dreams unfold.
His father had died the previous year.
A few months later, his mother disappeared too.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just gone.
Since then, Ivan had been living alone, managing a small store to keep himself afloat.
The job paid enough to survive.
Nothing more.
Customers complained that he never smiled.
Managers complained that he wasn't friendly enough.
But Ivan didn't care.
Smiling didn't pay bills.
Smiling didn't bring people back.
The money in those duffel bags meant something different to him.
He wasn't thinking about houses.
Or restaurants.
Or Ferraris.
He was thinking about finding his mother.
And when he found her, giving her everything she had ever wanted.
His eyes drifted back to the money.
For a moment, something flickered across his face.
Something nobody noticed.
Something cold.
Then it was gone.
"Guys!"
Naomi's voice cut through the celebration.
The room fell quiet once again.
Naomi Jacobs had always been the smartest person in the room.
At school, teachers praised her. Students copied her notes. Universities wanted her.
For years, she'd dreamed of attending MIT.
Then reality arrived.
Reality came in the form of tuition fees she couldn't afford.
Despite graduating at the top of her class, Naomi was forced to put her dream on hold. Instead, she found work as an auditing assistant, spending her days balancing accounts while saving every cent she could.
She told herself it was temporary.
One day she'd get there.
One day.
For now, her priority was survival.
After all, she wasn't only looking after herself.
Her mother had spent most of Naomi's childhood drowning her problems in alcohol, only attempting to reconnect during Naomi's final year of high school. By then, the damage had already been done.
Her siblings, Rashed and Mandy, were growing up under circumstances far harsher than those Naomi had faced. With their mother consumed by alcohol, Naomi had become the closest thing they had to a parent.
Every paycheck she earned helped keep food on their table.
Every dream she postponed was for them.
Which was exactly why she needed money.
Fast.
Yashin Chayton Yazzie couldn't have been more different.
While Naomi dreamed about universities and careers, Yashin dreamed about freedom.
His idea of success wasn't a degree hanging on a wall.
It was pulling up to a corner store in a Ferrari just to buy a loaf of bread.
It was having enough money to never worry about consequences.
Yashin had actually been accepted into university.
He lasted two months.
Then he dropped out.
Basketball.
Parties.
Drugs.
Those became his priorities.
Most people said he was wasting his potential.
Yashin called it living.
The robbery itself had started with a simple message.
Three weeks earlier, on a cold rainy evening, Yashin had been struggling to scrape together money.
That's when he received a message from someone known only as Rob.
Rob told him about La Estrella Market.
About the old owner, Papa Vic that the gang always made fun of how he never discounted them. Ever.
About the cash supposedly hidden in the back room.
Most importantly, Rob claimed the place would be easy to rob.
Yashin never questioned how Rob knew so much.
Never questioned why he'd chosen to share the opportunity.
He simply said yes.
A week later, the six friends found themselves standing inside La Estrella Market.
Wednesday.
Midnight.
Surrounded by more money than they'd ever seen.
None of them realized that by sunrise, their lives would never be the same.
