Chapter 1
The sound of scissors ripping through my daughter's costume was the sound of eighteen months of dreams being destroyed.
I heard the tearing fabric before I even saw what was happening.
Then Maya screamed.
"NO! AUNT DIANE, PLEASE!"
I turned the corner of Westbrook High School's crowded hallway and saw my older sister standing over my daughter.
Diane had a pair of enormous silver scissors in one hand.
In the other, she held an open can of bright-red paint.
My daughter's beautiful pale-blue costume hung in shredded pieces from her shoulders.
White feathers covered the floor.
And before I could reach them, Diane lifted the paint can.
She smiled.
Then she poured the entire thing down the front of Maya's dress.
Red paint splashed across the delicate fabric.
It ran over the hand-stitched pearls, soaked into the feathers, and dripped onto my daughter's shoes.
Maya screamed again.
Then her knees buckled.
She collapsed beside the lockers, clutching the ruined fabric.
"Why would you do this?"
My heart stopped.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
I had watched my daughter work on that costume every night for almost eight months.
I had watched her fall asleep with a needle in her hand.
I had watched her skip parties, save her allowance, and spend every free hour making something she believed could change her future.
And now my own sister was standing over her, smiling.
"Now you can't compete," Diane said.
Something inside me snapped.
I ran toward them.
"DIANE!"
She barely had time to turn before I grabbed her wrist and ripped the scissors from her hand.
"What is WRONG with you?"
My voice echoed through the hallway.
Students stopped walking.
Teachers turned.
Several contestants stared in horror.
I threw the scissors onto an empty chair and dropped beside Maya.
"Baby, look at me."
She was shaking.
"Mom..."
I pulled her against my chest.
Her face was covered in tears.
"Mom, she ruined it."
"I know, sweetheart."
"She ruined everything."
I held her tighter.
My fingers touched the wet red paint.
The costume was destroyed.
There was no pretending otherwise.
I looked up at Diane.
She stood there in her expensive cream blazer, completely calm.
As if she had merely knocked over a glass of water.
"Are you out of your mind?" I demanded.
She folded her arms.
"Don't be dramatic, Nia."
"DRAMATIC?"
People around us gasped.
"You attacked my daughter with scissors!"
"I cut a costume."
"You deliberately destroyed something she spent months creating!"
Diane rolled her eyes.
"My daughter deserves to win."
I stared at her.
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what I had just heard.
"Your daughter?"
Diane nodded toward Lily.
My sixteen-year-old niece stood a few feet away in a glittering pink competition dress.
Her face was pale.
She kept looking at Maya.
Then at the ruined costume.
Then at her mother.
"Lily deserves this opportunity," Diane continued.
My hands began trembling.
"So you destroyed an eighteen-year-old girl's work because you wanted your daughter to win?"
Diane shrugged.
"Life isn't always fair."
Maya made a broken sound against my shoulder.
I looked down at her.
Her braids had fallen across her face.
Red paint covered the pale-blue fabric she had loved so much.
And suddenly, I remembered the night she had finished sewing the final feather.
She had stood in our tiny living room, spinning excitedly.
"Mom, do you think Grandma would have loved it?"
Our mother had been gone for three years.
She had taught Maya how to sew when Maya was just seven.
Every feather on that costume reminded my daughter of the woman she missed.
And Diane knew that.
She knew exactly what she had destroyed.
I stood slowly.
"Say that again."
Diane frowned.
"What?"
"Tell everyone why you destroyed Maya's costume."
She laughed.
"I don't owe anyone an explanation."
I pulled out my phone.
"Good. Then explain it to the police."
Her smile faltered.
"Nia, don't be ridiculous."
I pointed above the lockers.
A security camera was mounted near the ceiling.
A small red indicator flashed beside its lens.
"That camera recorded everything."
Diane looked up.
For the first time, genuine fear crossed her face.
Then she shook her head.
"Those cameras barely work."
A deep voice interrupted her.
"Actually, Mrs. Whitmore, they work perfectly."
I turned.
Principal Bennett was walking toward us with two staff members.
His expression was unlike anything I had ever seen.
He looked furious.
"What happened here?" he demanded.
I pointed toward Maya.
"She attacked my daughter and destroyed her competition costume."
Diane stepped forward.
"Principal Bennett, this is a misunderstanding."
He looked at the red paint covering the floor.
Then at Maya's shredded dress.
Then at the scissors lying nearby.
"A misunderstanding?"
Diane forced a laugh.
"The girls had a little disagreement."
Maya lifted her tear-streaked face.
"I didn't do anything."
Principal Bennett crouched beside her.
"Maya, are you injured?"
She shook her head.
"No, sir."
"But you're frightened."
She nodded.
His jaw tightened.
He stood and turned toward Diane.
"I have already been informed of the situation. Security contacted my office."
Diane's eyes widened.
"There's no need to overreact."
Principal Bennett picked up the scissors carefully and handed them to a staff member for safekeeping.
Then he looked directly at her.
"Your daughter is removed from the competition."
Lily gasped.
"Principal Bennett!"
Diane stepped forward.
"You cannot punish my daughter for something I did!"
"Her eligibility is suspended pending review of her involvement."
Diane's face turned white.
"This competition determines scholarship opportunities!"
"I am aware."
"You'll destroy her future!"
Principal Bennett's voice hardened.
"Mrs. Whitmore, you should have considered that before destroying another student's work."
A murmur passed through the crowd.
I felt Maya's hand tighten around mine.
For the first time, Diane looked genuinely frightened.
But Principal Bennett wasn't finished.
He turned toward us.
"Mrs. Carter, Maya, there's something else."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Our security team reviewed additional hallway footage."
He lifted a tablet.
The screen showed the same hallway several minutes before the attack.
Diane stood near the trophy case.
She was speaking to someone.
Someone who appeared to hand her an object.
Principal Bennett paused the video.
"Before your sister approached Maya, she met with another person."
I leaned forward.
"Who?"
He glanced at me.
His face was grim.
"That's what we need to discuss."
He tapped the screen.
The person beside Diane began turning toward the camera.
My stomach tightened.
Because whoever it was, Diane hadn't acted alone.
And when Principal Bennett enlarged the image, I noticed something that made my blood run cold.
The second person was wearing a Westbrook High School staff identification badge.
I looked at him.
"Who is that?"
May you like
He didn't answer immediately.
And the fear in his eyes told me the truth was going to be far worse than a ruined costume.
