The house smelled like sage, roasted garlic, and the cinnamon candles Mom had lit everywhere. Thanksgiving was tomorrow, but half the family had already rolled in tonight, uncles, aunts, cousins, the whole loud pack. Dad insisted we host because, well, we could. Biggest place in the family, biggest dining room, biggest everything. Marble floors, double ovens, wine cellar nobody ever touched except Uncle Ray when he thought no one was looking. I was used to it. The house was alive in that loud, messy way only big family gatherings can be. Dad’s mansion in the hills - marble floors, twenty-foot ceilings, the kind of place that makes people whisper when they walk in. It had turned into chaos now Aunts arguing over stuffing recipes in the kitchen, uncles yelling at football on the massive TV, cousins chasing each other through the halls. I’m Max, eighteen. Senior year. Rich-kid problems, right? Except tonight I couldn’t sleep. I’d By midnight the house had finally gone quiet. I
Last Updated : 2026-03-16 Read more