Chapter One: The Envelope
The clock ticked ominously in the corner of our bedroom, its hands gliding unceremoniously past midnight. I found myself perched on the edge of the bed, half-buried under a mountain of crumpled clothes, pillows strewn like fallen soldiers across the floor, a battlefield I didn’t ask for. Outside, the humid Mississippi air clung to everything, thick and suffocating. The sound of rain pattering against the window seemed to echo my heartbeat. I could almost hear it whispering, “This isn’t how it should be.”