Chapter 2

"Elara Reed, I'm sorry, you cannot board this flight."

The harsh fluorescent lights of the airport customs office glared in my eyes, making it hard to keep them open.

The officer typed my passport information into the system, then declared it invalid without any expression.

"Why?!" I lunged at the counter, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable. "My visa is legal! I have a full Ivy League scholarship! I have to leave today!"

I had worked myself to the bone for four years for this day.

For four years, I slept only four hours a night, juggling the library and my restaurant job, all to escape that leeching family, that suffocating swamp.

Now, I was one step away.

The officer looked up coldly and slid a printed sheet across the glass.

"Why? See for yourself."

"You have a shell company registered under your name, involved in multiple cases of contract fraud. You also have a total of one million dollars in overdue loans across twelve online lending platforms."

"You are currently a debtor in default. Not only are you restricted from leaving the country, but you're also banned from flying or taking long-distance public transport."

"Ms. Reed, please leave immediately, or we'll have to call security."

One million dollars?

Shell company? Fraud?

I stared at the paper.

Name: Elara Reed.

ID Number: ...

The photo was mine.

But I couldn't even bring myself to buy a twenty-dollar milkshake. How could I start a company? How could I borrow a million dollars?!

"Impossible... this is absolutely impossible! You've made a mistake! Someone stole my identity!"

I pounded on the glass, tears streaming down my face.

Other passengers stopped and whispered.

"Look at her, dressed so shabbily. Turns out she's a fraudster."

"A million in debt and she wants to run abroad?"

"You never truly know a person."

Every word felt like a knife twisting in my heart.

My Ivy League dream.

My new life.

All gone.

I sank onto the cold marble floor, shaking uncontrollably.

Then something from six months ago flashed through my mind.

Brenda had shown up at my college, crying that she'd lost her ID and needed to borrow mine to complete some paperwork. I was busy with finals and gave it to her without thinking.

She returned it the next day.

No one else had touched my ID but her.

I scrambled up, grabbed the crumpled credit report, and ran out of the airport like a madwoman.

Home.

I had to go home and get to the bottom of this.