Chapter 1

"My sister makes so much money. She can definitely cough up the extra twenty grand for the wedding car. Once the ceremony is over, we'll make her transfer the house title to Hudson."

I stared at this message on my brother's laptop. It was a notification from a group chat titled "The Inner Circle."

There were five members. My dad, my mom, my brother, his fiancée, and my aunt.

Everyone was there except me.

I scrolled back through two hundred and seventy messages. Not a single person had asked if I was working overtime or if I had eaten dinner.

Every text was a calculation. They were counting how much money I had left to give them.

I snapped the laptop shut and dialed a number.

"Mark, that house I paid for in full―I want to take it back."

01

My name is Selah Sterling, and I just turned thirty.

I work in tech management in Seattle, making about fifteen thousand a month. It sounds like a lot, but the most expensive thing I own is a twenty-dollar pair of knock-off earbuds.

The rest of my money went to my family.

I've been doing this for eight years, ever since I was twenty-two.

My brother, Hudson, is twenty-seven. He started dating a girl named Lila last year, and they planned a wedding within six months.

My mom called me while I was grinding through overtime at the office.

"Selah, Hudson is getting married! We need to buy a house for the new couple."

I said okay and asked how much the down payment would be.

Mom stayed silent for a few seconds. Then she said it was better to pay in full to save on interest.

Two hundred thousand dollars. All at once.

I stared at the spreadsheets on my screen, feeling like I'd swallowed a lead pipe. "Mom, two hundred thousand isn't just pocket change."

"You've been saving for years, haven't you? Hudson is your only brother. If you don't help him, who will?"

"Besides, the house will be in your name. You'll always have a home to come back to in Grand Rapids."

That last sentence got to me. I was tired of being a nomad.

I wired the two hundred thousand dollars. Mom kept saying how wonderful and responsible I was.

After I hung up, I threw my empty takeout container into the trash. It was a five-dollar taco bowl, and I hadn't even finished the rice.

The house was in a nice suburb of Grand Rapids. Three bedrooms, two baths, and lots of natural light.

Mom sent me a ton of photos, bragging about how much Hudson and Lila loved it.

I was squeezed onto the light rail when the photos arrived. It was packed, and I leaned against the door, scrolling through them over and over.

Lila chose the decor―light gray walls and oak floors. There was a big south-facing balcony where she wanted to keep her plants.

I zoomed in on the photos for a long time. Every apartment I'd ever rented only faced north.

I paid for that house. But I had only ever seen it in pictures.