All Chapters of The Mafia's Ledger: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 1: The Golden CageI wake up at 5:47 AM. Same time. Every single day.The hospital bill is taped to my bathroom mirror where I can't miss it: $47,293.18.I don't need to look at it anymore. The number is burned into my brain. Just like everything else.Sigh.I have two hours before my shift at Romano's Restaurant. Three hours before I visit Mason at the cancer center. Four hours before I start coding websites for rich people who'll never know my name.Sleep? That's a luxury I traded for my brother's health.I drag myself out of bed and—Wait.Something's wrong.The mattress beneath me is too soft. Way too soft. My brain does this thing where it notices details I don't even want to know.I sit up fast. My heart starts pounding.Thread count: 1,200. Egyptian cotton. EXPENSIVE!!My mattress is a cheap foam thing from a discount store. Thread count: maybe 200 if I'm lucky.Everything is different.My broken couch and the desk I held together with duct tape are gone. Instead, there

CHAPTER 3: The Threat and the DealMy heart is pounding so hard, I can hear it in my ears.The man from my kitchen is walking toward me. Through the crowd. People move out of his way like he's made of fire.30 seconds until he reaches me.Should I run? Where would I even go?Before he reaches me, every phone in the room buzzes at the exact same time.Everyone reach for their phones, I look at mine.Mass text: Building lockdown in effect. No one leaves until I find what belongs to me.Confusion spreads through the crowd."What's going on?""Is this a joke?"Then the main doors SLAM shut.Heavy. Metallic. Electronic locks clicking into place.Someone screams. The room explodes into chaos, people scatter through the noise, shoving, trying to get to the exits.Armed men in black tactical suits pour through the side entrances. They don't look like regular security. They move like soldiers.I press myself against the wall, trying to disappear. The man from my kitchen stops walking toward me