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All Chapters of Be Careful What You Steal: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Hand over the gold chains and cash in your drawer. Don't make me take them myself."The front door had barely closed when my older sister, Brielle Rowan, planted herself in my bedroom doorway, hands on her hips, as if she owned the place.I looked at her evenly. "Why would I? I spent four years working overtime to save that money.""Why? Because Mom just turned a bag of garbage into fifteen thousand dollars! Our family's finally getting the life we deserve!"She slapped a bank deposit receipt onto the cabinet, chin high."That box in the building lobby really works. And they just changed the rules. One wish per household per month. The more valuable your offering, the bigger the reward."She beamed. "Mom, Dad, and I already agreed. I get our family's turn this month. I'm wishing for a BMW 3 Series and forty-five thousand in cash for my wedding fund."I glanced at her new designer jacket. She'd bought it last month on my credit card."Then pay for your own offering," I said. "K

Chapter 2

"Enough arguing! The dealership needs proof of funds and full payment this afternoon. Give me your valuables!"When I didn't move, Brielle pulled a spare key from her pocket and forced open the lock on my wardrobe.I lunged forward. "Brielle, that's theft!""So what if it is? You grew up eating our food and living under our roof. The second we ask you to contribute, you act like we're killing you!"Mom grabbed my arm and yanked me away. I lost my balance and fell against the couch.Brielle overturned my backpack onto the bed.Two solid-gold necklaces. A Cartier bracelet. Three hundred dollars in cash I'd set aside for a professional training course.She swept everything into a cloth drawstring pouch."What an embarrassment," Dad said, getting to his feet. He sighed at me as though I were a particularly stubborn child. "Money comes and goes, Tessa. You obsess over the smallest things. Once your sister makes it big, do you really think she'll forget what you've done for her?"Br

Chapter 3

I swallowed my oatmeal and cut her off."And your point is?"Dad sighed heavily."Go to human resources and submit a recommendation transferring the position to Owen. Put your offer letter into the Wish Box as your offering, and Owen can rightfully become the director."He spread his hands."Once your brother has an executive title at Corvane Systems, the whole family will be secure. It's simply an efficient use of resources. And don't worry. When Owen becomes successful, I'm sure he'll find you a comfortable clerical job under him.""Absolutely not."I set down my spoon and looked from face to face."The role demands advanced systems engineering and a command of dense technical documentation. He can't even read basic code comments. How is he supposed to do my job?"Owen sprang up and kicked the coffee table over. A drinking glass smashed against the floor."Quit acting so superior! You've hogged everything good since we were kids! You want me to be a failure so you can laugh

Chapter 4

Click.The lock turned, and a narrow shaft of light cut into the storage room.Brielle came in carrying a glass of water. She looked down at my cracked lips before deliberately placing the glass on a shelf beyond my reach.Then she pulled out a stack of papers."Tessa, stop making this difficult. Dad says if you sign this voluntary transfer agreement, you can still be a good daughter to the Rowan family."I strained to read the cover in the dim light.They didn't just want my executive position and salary. They wanted the stock options that would vest over the next three years, too."Aren't you afraid you've bitten off more than you can chew?" I asked hoarsely."Not your concern. We've figured out the Wish Box's rules. As long as you give up the opportunity willingly, Owen gets the reward."She smoothed her curls and gave me a contemptuous smile."Besides, your reputation is ruined. HR already has your supposed psychiatric records. Even if you walk out of here, nobody in this

Chapter 5

Something snapped inside the Wish Box.The green glow flashed a sickly white. Smoke billowed from its base, carrying the stench of burning metal.A single envelope slid out of the slot.Owen swallowed and reached for it with trembling fingers. He tore it open.As soon as he read the first line, his eyes widened."No. No, this is impossible! What kind of fortune is this?"He was shaking so violently he could barely hold the page."What does it say?" Dad demanded, pushing forward. "Is it a confirmation of your stock grant? Read it to me, Owen!"The greed on his face had already begun to twist into something ugly.Owen's lips had gone white. He could barely string a sentence together."Dad, it's not a confirmation! It's a liability notice. Thirty-five million dollars!""What? Thirty-five million?"Dad snatched the document and rushed under the fluorescent lights to read it.One glance drained the color from his face.It wasn't an executive appointment confirmation.It was a

Chapter 6

A phone began buzzing.Brielle startled so badly she nearly dropped her designer handbag. She fumbled inside it, pulled out her phone, and answered.A stern voice spoke from the dealership's legal department."Ms. Rowan, our credit-monitoring system has flagged your vehicle financing. The assets you pledged as security have been frozen in connection with a major financial dispute."Brielle went rigid."There is evidence that false financial information was submitted to obtain financing," the representative continued. "Our legal team has requested an emergency court order to preserve the relevant assets. Your BMW will be repossessed within ten minutes, and your accounts are subject to immediate freezes pending investigation.""What? You can't take my car! That's supposed to be part of my wedding fund! Hello? Are you listening?"The call ended.Her phone slipped from her fingers and struck the floor, shattering the screen.Ten minutes later, a yellow tow truck pulled up outside

Chapter 7

"We're family?"I looked Dad in the eye."Funny. Nobody mentioned family when the four of you were eating king crab and telling me to stay home with frozen dinners."I crossed to the coffee table, poured myself a glass of cold water, and took a slow sip."And Graham, do you really think you can yell your way out of a criminal investigation because you don't understand how technology works?"His jaw tightened."Corvane's infrastructure keeps continuous cloud backups. Every access request, every system change, every second of activity is logged."I set down the glass."Do you honestly believe you can talk me into taking the blame for thirty-five million dollars in damages when the records show exactly what happened?"He had no answer.Then, abruptly, he turned toward Mom."I want a divorce. Denise, we're filing first thing tomorrow morning."His voice had gone ice-cold."You and Owen brought this debt into the family. It's your problem. The apartment gets transferred into my

Chapter 8

The impact shook the cabinet.A framed family portrait toppled from the top shelf and shattered against the floor.It was the picture of the four of them, smiling without me. Broken glass lay across their faces, splitting the image into jagged pieces.I leaned against the storage-room doorway with my arms folded and watched my so-called family fight over their remaining cash in the middle of the night.All their talk about sons carrying on the family name. All that devotion and togetherness.Underneath it, they'd simply believed exploiting me would never cost them anything.Now there was a real price to pay, and their precious family bond had turned out to be paper-thin.The next morning, police sirens broke the quiet of the complex.Several dark company vehicles arrived behind the patrol cars. When officers knocked, they found the apartment in ruins.Dad and Mom were still fighting over a stack of bank statements. Owen sat trembling on the couch, scratches across his face. Br

Chapter 9

As the officers escorted Owen downstairs in handcuffs, cries rose from other apartments along the corridor.Our family wasn't the only one facing consequences.The neighbors who'd made wishes the night before were discovering what their supposed miracles had really cost.Mrs. Bell, who'd exchanged a handful of rotten vegetables for a luxury condo, learned that the developer had been laundering money for a criminal operation. The financing collapsed, a court seized the property, and every dollar she'd paid in processing fees disappeared.Mr. Porter's wife, Ruth, who had miraculously risen from her bed, hadn't been healed at all. The shock had given her one last burst of strength, the kind the dying sometimes get before the end. She died in pain later that night.The Wish Box hadn't changed anybody's fate for the better.It had magnified their darkest desires and let them destroy themselves chasing a shortcut.A month later, I sat in a cafe below our old apartment building, readin

Chapter 10

In its place stood a few potted plants and wooden chairs.The lobby had returned to its ordinary, peaceful self.Vivian stood beside the floor-to-ceiling windows in a simple white dress, tending a rosebush with a small watering can. Sunlight fell across her face. Her expression was serene.There was no trace of the cold, distant look I'd seen when she'd stood at the edge of the roof that night.I rolled my suitcase toward her and set a small box of tea pastries on the table."I'm leaving. My new position at headquarters starts soon, and I wanted to say goodbye. And thank you."She paused."Whatever that box really was," I continued, "it exposed the greed all around me. Without it, I might have spent years trying to understand my family before I finally found the courage to leave."She turned and smiled faintly."You don't need to thank me. All I did was put a metal donation box in the lobby for unwanted things."She set down her watering can."They were the ones who filled i

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