FALLING FOR MY REVENGE

THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED

CHAPTER ONE—

Kira's POV:

The day I became a millionaire started with me tripping over a mannequin.

Not exactly the glamorous beginning you'd expect.

"Ow!" I hissed, grabbing the edge of the dressing rack before I could fall face-first onto the studio floor. A few models nearby laughed at me.

I shot them a glare.

"One day, when I'm rich and famous, I'll pretend I don't know any of you."

"Sure, Kira," one of them called back. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

I rolled my eyes and continued organizing my outfits backstage.

The truth was, I wasn't a famous model; not yet.

I was nineteen years old, drowning in auditions, surviving on instant noodles, and praying every casting director in Los Angeles would finally remember my name.

Most days, casting directors didn't notice me.

Most days, I walked home disappointed.

But today I’m feeling different.

I can’t explain why I was.

Maybe it was the strange excitement sitting in my chest. Maybe it was the feeling that something was about to change. I always felt that; but today felt different.

My phone vibrated. I glanced down at my screen. It was an unknown number. I almost ignored it; because I rarely take unknown phone calls.

"Hello?" I said sluggishly.

"Is this Kira Morgan?"

My heart skipped.

"Yes."

There was a brief silence, neither of us spoke.

"This is Madison Brooks from Elite Vision Modeling Agency."

I froze instantly. Every sound around me disappeared. I could barely breathe.

Elite Vision. The agency I'd been trying to sign with for almost two years.

The agency that rejected thousands of models every year.

"Oh," I whispered.

Professional, Kira. Be professional. I said to myself.

"Oh. Hi.” The woman chuckled.

"You don't sound very excited." She said to me.

"I think I'm having a heart attack."

Now she laughed. She laughed so hard.

"I'll keep this short. The company loved your campaign shoot."

My fingers tightened around my phone. Loved?

Nobody in this industry loved anything.

"We'd like to offer you the contract." I blinked.

"What?"

"The contract."

My brain stopped working.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"The one-million-dollar contract, Ms. Morgan."

The mannequin I'd nearly tripped over earlier suddenly became my support system because my knees almost gave out.

One million dollars. One. Million. Dollars. OMG

The number sounded unreal. This is impossible.

This has already changed my life, and that of my entire family.

For several seconds, I couldn't think straight.

I couldn't even speak.

"Ms. Morgan?"

"Y..y..yes." My voice was literally shaking.

"Are you still there?"

I laughed. Then I cried. Then I laughed again.

"Sorry. I'm here."

The woman spent several minutes discussing details. I heard maybe twenty percent of what she said. My mind was already somewhere else.

My home, my Mom, and my twin brother. They are going to be so excited.

After years of struggling...

After years of watching my Mom work double shifts...

After years of pretending we were okay...

We finally had a chance.

When the call ended, I stood frozen in place.

Then I started to scream.

I screamed so loud everyone turned to look at me.

"I GOT IT!"

The room exploded with reactions.

"What?" "No way!" "Seriously?" "Oh my God, Kira!"

I was already running for the exit. Nothing else mattered. I needed to get home; as fast as I could.

---

The apartment building looked exactly the same.

Old, and crowded. Barely standing.

But today it looked beautiful.

Because for the first time in years, I wasn't walking home carrying disappointment.

I was carrying hope.

I burst through the front door. "Mom!"

Nobody answered.

"Kelvin!"

No answer. I frowned. Come on.

Then I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I followed them. The moment I stepped inside, I stopped.

Mom was standing by the counter.

Kelvin was stealing food from a pot. Some things never changed.

"Hey!" Mom smacked his arm. Kelvin grinned.

"You made it. Took you long enough."

I couldn't stop smiling.

"What?" My mom asked. She narrowed her eyes.

That mother look. My Mom and I are so close she knows almost every part of me. She could detect secrets from miles away.

"What happened?"

I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I opened it again. I couldn't speak.

"Nothing." I said to her.

Kelvin snorted.

"She's lying."

"I am not." I said jiggly.

"You smile like that when you're hiding something."

My Mom folded her arms.

"Kira."

I gave up. A squeal escaped me.

"Kira, are you okay?"

"No."

That got their attention.

"What happened?" Kelvin asked.

I looked at both of them.

The two people who had stood beside me through everything.

The people who never stopped believing in me.

Then I whispered—

"Guys guess what?”

“What?” Kelvin stepped closer.

“I got it."

Our apartment grew silent. Mom and Kelvin didn't get it yet.

"The contract." I grinned.

They still stood confused. Another second passed.

Then realization hit. Kelvin nearly dropped his plate. Mom's hand flew to her mouth.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"YES!"

Mom burst into tears. Real tears.

The kind that came from years of pain finally breaking apart.

"Oh, baby."

She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me.I hugged her back tightly.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Nobody needed to speak.

Because we all understood what this meant.

Everything. Absolutely everything.

Kelvin suddenly grabbed me.

"One million dollars?"

"One million dollars."

He screamed. Kelvin always had his way of making me laugh, even when I tried pretending.

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

"We're rich!"

"We are not rich," Mom immediately corrected.

"We're rich enough!"

She laughed through her tears.

For the first time in a long time, our apartment felt light, happy, and alive.

We ordered takeout. The expensive kind.

Not the cheap version we usually bought.

Kelvin acted like we'd won the lottery. Maybe we had.

Hours passed. Mom kept looking at me like she couldn't believe I was real.

At one point she reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

"You did it."

Emotion clogged my throat. I love my family so much.

"We did it."

She glanced at me, softly.

"No."

She shook her head.

"You did this, Kira."

Everything I had accomplished was because of her. Everything.

If she hadn't sacrificed so much...

If she hadn't worked herself to exhaustion...

If she hadn't believed in me when nobody else did...

I wouldn't be here.

"I love you, Mom." Her cheeks softened. She smiled at me.

"I love you too."

For a second, sadness and fear crossed her face.

Gone so quickly I almost missed it.

Then her phone rang.

She looked at the screen, and became silent.

The light from the screen drained from her face.

My smile faded instantly.

"Mom?"

She didn't say anything. She kept staring at the phone.

"Mom?"

She quickly declined the call. Then she forced a smile.

"Everything okay?" Kelvin asked.

"Of course."

She stood.

"I'll be right back."

She walked into her bedroom.

I exchanged a look with Kelvin.

"That was weird."

"A little." He responded.

A few minutes later she returned. The smile was back.

But something felt off.

Like she was trying too hard to hide something from us.

I almost asked her.

But she looked so happy. I didn't want to ruin the moment.

So I let it go.

That would become one of my biggest regrets.

---

Around nine o'clock, I left for a small networking event connected to the contract.

Mom insisted.

"You need to start acting like a professional model."

I groaned.

"I hate networking."

"Too bad."

Kelvin laughed.

"Go suffer professionally." He said.

Traitor. Before leaving, I hugged Mom again.

She held me a little longer than usual. A lot longer.

When she finally pulled away, her eyes looked suspiciously bright.

"Mom?"

"Nothing."

She touched my cheek.

"I'm just proud of you."

I smiled.

"I'll be back soon."

"I know."

Those were the last words she said to me before everything changed.

---

The event was painfully boring.

Two hours of fake smiles and fake conversations.

I escaped the second I could.

By the time I reached our neighborhood, it was late. The streets were quieter, and cooler.

I checked my phone.

There were no new messages, or missed calls.

Everything was just normal.

Then I turned the corner. The corner to the entrance of our apartment. I stopped immediately.

My heart skipped. Red and blue lights flashed in the darkness.

Police cars. Many of them. I could see an ambulance, and yellow tape crossed all the way to the second apartment.

Crowds gathering outside my apartment building.

For a moment, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.

My feet started moving slowly, then faster.

Before I knew it. I had started running.

People were whispering. Police officers were everywhere. My pulse exploded. Fear crawled up my spine.

"No..."

I pushed through the crowd.

"No."

A police officer stepped in front of me.

"Miss, you can't go through."

"That's my building."

His expression changed immediately.

The fear in his eyes made my stomach drop.

"Miss..."

"No." My voice cracked.

"No, where's my mother?"

The officer didn't answer me.

And somehow...

That has made the situation much worse.

Because in that moment—

I knew something was terribly wrong.

And my world was about to fall apart.