Chapter 1: The Scissors
I was on my knees when Dad walked into the room.
Pieces of my graduation dress were scattered across the hardwood floor like dead leaves after a storm. The dress I had worked extra shifts to afford. The dress I had carefully hidden in the back of my closet because I was terrified someone would spill coffee on it, snag it, or somehow ruin the one thing I had bought entirely for myself.
And Mia was still holding the scissors.
“Please stop.””
My voice shook so badly the words barely sounded like mine.
Mia looked directly at me.
Then she made another cut.
The fabric gave way with a soft, ugly rip.
“Mia, please!””
She stepped back, smiling.
I turned toward Mom.
“Make her stop.””
Mom was standing by the kitchen island, holding a mug in one hand and scrolling through her phone with the other. She glanced at the ruined dress, then at me.
“Stop being dramatic.””
“Mom…”
She sighed like I was exhausting her.
“It’s only a dress.””
Only a dress.
The words landed harder than the scissors.
Months of saving.
Months of telling myself no.
No new shoes.
No takeout.
No weekend trips with friends.
I had picked up extra shifts at the pharmacy, come home with sore feet, counted every bill twice, and transferred money into a separate savings account every Friday.
All for this dress.
It was dark blue, simple from the front, with tiny silver beads stitched around the waist. Not covered in glitter. Not some ridiculous princess gown.
Just elegant.
I had stood in the dressing room for twenty minutes the day I bought it, staring at myself in the mirror and imagining the stage.
My name being called.
My diploma in my hand.
Dad clapping.
Maybe Mom smiling.
Maybe, for one afternoon, I would feel like I had actually done something worth celebrating.
Mia tossed another strip of fabric onto the floor.
“Honestly,” she said, “I did you a favor.””
I stared at her.
“How?””
“You were going to look ridiculous in this thing.””
“It cost me hundreds of dollars.””
She shrugged.
“You can buy another one.””
“With what money?””
She laughed.
“That sounds like a you problem.””
I stood slowly, my knees aching against the floor.
“You knew how long I saved for it.””
“Yeah.””
“And you still did this?””
Mia twirled the scissors around one finger.
“Because you were acting like some spoiled princess about your graduation.””
I almost laughed.
Me?
Spoiled?
Mia had received a brand-new designer handbag three months earlier for her twenty-first birthday. Three thousand dollars. Dad had driven across town to get it because the store was sold out online.
I had given her a candle.
She had laughed at that too.
“You're jealous,” Mia said.
“I’m not jealous of you.””
“You are.””
“No. I just want you to leave my things alone.””
Mom finally put her phone down.
“Enough.””
I looked at her.
“She destroyed my dress.””
“And she made a mistake.””
Mia smiled.
“That’s right.””
I stared at both of them.
“A mistake is spilling juice on something,” I said quietly.
“You cut it apart.””
Mia's smile vanished.
“Watch your attitude.””
“Why? Because you're my sister?””
“Because Mom is talking to you.””
Before I could answer, the front door opened.
Dad stepped inside.
The keys in his hand jingled once.
Then silence.
He looked at the room.
The torn fabric.
The scissors.
My face.
Then Mia.
“What happened?””
Nobody answered.
Mom moved first.
“David, don't make this into something.””
Dad looked at her.
“Something?””
He said the word softly.
That was when I knew something had changed.
His eyes went back to me.
“Did she do this?””
I couldn't make my throat work.
I nodded.
He stared at the dress for several seconds.
Then he noticed Mia’s handbag sitting on the chair.
The expensive one she guarded like it was a newborn baby.
Dad walked over and picked it up.
Mia's face changed instantly.
“Wait.””
He turned it over in his hand.
Mia rushed toward him.
“Dad, don't touch that.””
He looked at her.
“Why?””
“That bag cost three thousand dollars.””
He nodded once.
Then he reached down.
And picked up the scissors.
Mia went pale.
“Dad…”
He looked at the bag.
Then at the shredded dress.
Then at Mom.
“Interesting.””
Mom's voice hardened.
“David.””
“Five minutes ago,” Dad said, “I was told things are just things.””
He lifted the scissors.
“Apparently that rule changes depending on whose thing we're talking about.””
Mia stepped forward.
“You're not seriously going to cut my bag.””
Dad looked at her.
“Why not?””
“Because it's expensive!””
“So was her dress.””
“That’s different!””
“How?””
Mia opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Dad lowered the scissors.
Then his attention shifted.
Mia’s handbag was still open.
Something white was sticking out from an inner compartment.
Dad frowned.
“What’s that?””
“Nothing,” Mia said immediately.
Dad pulled it free.
A folded envelope.
Mom's mug stopped halfway to her mouth.
Mia stopped breathing.
Dad turned the envelope over.
There was a name written across the front.
*Evelyn Harper.*
My name.
I stared at it.
“What is that?””
No one answered.
Dad looked at Mom.
“Why is Evelyn’s name on this?””
Mom set her mug down.
“David, give me that.””
He didn’t move.
He looked at the seal.
Then at me.
Then back at Mom.
His jaw tightened.
“Why was my daughter's mail in Mia’s bag?””
“I don't know,” Mom said.
Mia spoke too quickly.
“I was going to give it to her.””
“When?””
She looked at the floor.
Dad turned the envelope over again.
It had already been opened.
My stomach dropped.
I stepped closer.
“Who opened it?””
Silence.
Dad's eyes lifted.
And this time, he wasn't looking at Mia.
He was looking at Mom.
May you like
Then he said something that made my entire body go cold.
“Linda… what did you do?””