Chapter One
The envelope was the kind of thing you'd notice even if it slid quietly through your door in the dead of night. Thick, black, and edged with a faint silver trim, it carried no stamp, no return address—only a name scrawled in elegant handwriting.
Ethan Cole stared at his, turning it over in his hands as though it might dissolve. His apartment was littered with failed business plans, unopened bills, and takeout boxes. The envelope felt different. Important. Dangerous.
He opened it.
"Congratulations. You have been chosen. You are invited to participate in The Game. Victory will grant you wealth beyond imagination. Your life will change forever. Do you accept?"
Below the words was a date, a time, and an address: Blackwood Mansion.
Ethan exhaled a shaky laugh. "Wealth beyond imagination? Sounds like a scam."
But still, he folded the letter carefully and placed it on his desk. The words burned in his head long after he tried to ignore them.
---
Maya Torres received hers during a night shift at the hospital. It was slipped under her locker door, lying there among her worn sneakers. She frowned, reading the neat script.
Her first thought: prank. Her second: trap. But her third—the one she couldn't shake—was that she needed a change. The hospital walls, the grief in every corridor, the mistakes she carried… she couldn't keep drowning in it.
Her hands trembled as she tucked the invitation into her bag.
---
Dylan Price livestreamed when his arrived. He smirked into the camera as he held it up for his viewers.
"Yo, check this out. Secret VIP game invite. Looks badass, right? What if it's like… some millionaire esports thing? I'm in."
His chat exploded with laughing emojis and dares. Dylan ripped it open dramatically. His grin widened.
"A game of skill and fortune. Hell yeah, I'm going."
His viewers thought he was joking. He wasn't.
---
Sophia Reed found hers waiting on the marble counter of her law office. No one had seen who delivered it. She slit the envelope with a letter opener, reading in silence.
Her lips curved into the faintest smile.
"A game, hm? Interesting. Let's see who thinks they can beat me."
She slid the letter neatly into her briefcase, her expression unreadable.
---
Liam Brooks almost stepped on his. It was lying outside his dorm room door, out of place among pizza flyers and overdue notices.
He tore it open quickly, heart pounding. A "game"? Wealth? Escape from his pathetic reality? He stared at the elegant handwriting, unable to look away.
For once, someone was inviting him to something. Something that mattered.