Chapter 1: The Envelope
Rain pounded against the city streets. Angela’s hands trembled as she held the small gift she had saved for weeks. Today was Daniel’s birthday—the day she thought would be perfect.
She pushed open the restaurant door and froze.
Daniel wasn’t alone.
A beautiful girl laughed beside him, his hand holding hers.
“Daniel?” Her voice barely whispered.
He looked up, irritation flashing in his eyes. “So you finally found out.”
Angela’s chest tightened. Her gift slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor.
Tears blurred her vision. She turned to run.
Then a sleek black car pulled up beside her. The window rolled down slowly.
Inside sat a man she had never seen before. Tall. Handsome. Dangerous.
“Angela,” he said, his voice calm but commanding.
She froze. “Who… who are you?”
He stepped out. Rain slicked his dark hair, but he looked untouchable, powerful.
“I have a proposition,” he said, pulling a folded envelope from his pocket. “One that could change your life… forever.”
Angela stared at the envelope. Heart pounding. Fingers shaking.
“Why me?” she whispered.
“Because,” he said, a faint, unreadable smile on his lips, “you don’t have a choice.”
Her pulse raced. Something about him made the hair on her neck stand up.
Opening the envelope could save her family. It could ruin her life.
She swallowed hard. Took a shaky step forward.
And then he said something that made her blood run cold.
“Open it… if you dare.”
Angela froze.
The rain fell harder. The city blurred around her.
And in that moment, she realized: nothing would ever be the same again.
