d of dry, smoggy heat that made your skin feel tight. Avery step

was drunk and crying, looked at her now with a mixture of pity and jud

and raised her hand. A yellow cab, battered and sme

kseat. "West Hollywoo

souvenir from last night. It was blowing up. Thirty missed calls from "

here at the top, bold and condemning: Hall Family

membered. Cheslie Griffin, the family's perfect adopted angel, had leaked her own photos t

in the rearview mirror. His ey

et up. She shrank into the seat,

ess of glass and steel, a place where people paid a pr

orty-five," t

It was the card tied to her trust fund. She swip

e

e machine read

rop in her stomach.

Decl

day," the driver said,

calm, but her pulse was racing. Ernest h

hundred dollars. She had exactly fifty dollars lef

said, though there wasn

making her shiver. The concierge, a man who usually greeted her with a smile

stiff. "Your key fob has been deac

brother," Avery s

e desk. It was a legal notice. Eviction. Effective immediate

e letters swam before her eye

concierge said. He signaled to

stood too close, his presence a physical re

tacked high. Strangers were touching her things.

e ignored the closet full of couture gowns she would never

he code. 1-9-9-8

er passport, a stack of cash-emergency money the original A

ll into her ove

ng again. Br

screen for a sec

cards, Ern

of a brother. It was the voice of a judge delivering a death sentence.

those photos," Avery said. She

. "Don't you dare drag her down

ne wen

ecurity guard said from the

just a collection of boxes. She grabbed a single suitcase from

ut. She didn

activated credit card, Avery felt the weight of the city

number Ernest would

e line connected. "I'm