In the affluent coastal town of Tidal Cove, secrets run deep as the ocean. Selene is just trying to rebuild her life, working as a caterer for the town’s elite. But when ambitious divorcée and reporter Lexi uncovers a cryptic note during a party, she strikes back at the rich and famous, determined to get her life back on track…

The ocean shimmered like a jeweled blanket under the fading sun, but all eyes on the shore were fixed on the Montgomery yacht. Docked just beyond the marina, its towering sails and sleek white hull announced that this was no ordinary party.

This was Tidal Cove’s elite at their finest, celebrating themselves.

I moved through the crowd with a tray of champagne, careful to keep my smile neutral. That was the rule.

“No seductive or suggestive smiles, do you understand? You lot are made to be… there. Not noticed. Just seen. But not seen, do you understand?” Madeline, my head chef, drawled on as she puffed on her cigarette when I had first started in the catering field.

It was a lesson that I never seemed to shake off.

I was young, and I needed money quickly; catering to the elite seemed like the best option.

Tonight, like every other event where I was hired to cater, I was invisible, just the help. And that suited me fine.

Until I heard his voice.

“Selene.”

Reginald leaned against the railing, his silver hair catching the golden light, his tailored navy blazer crisp and stylish, like himself. His smile was warm, but there was something disarming in the way he said my name.

It was like I mattered.

“Sir,” I said, smiling back.

“I told you, Selene, when you’re working my events, you’re supposed to call me Reginald or Reg. None of this ‘Sir’ business.”

“Sorry,” I said. “Force of habit. Before I went out on my own, we were trained to be… unseen. Or just seen enough.”

“You’ve been working too hard. Let me take that,” he said, reaching for the tray, but I shook my head, stepping back.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly. “It’s fine. I can manage.”

“Always so self-sufficient, Selene. Like the moon you’re named after, huh?” he chuckled.

I couldn’t tell if I was flattered by him or whether he just came across as slimy. But before I could respond, a woman approached. She was striking with sleek auburn hair, emerald-green eyes, and a dress that probably cost more than my rent for the year. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Reginald,” she purred, her voice as smooth as the champagne in my flutes.

She looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place her face. But then again, the rich in this town all seemed to have similar looks; there was only one doctor they allowed to alter their looks.

“What a marvelous party, darling,” she continued. “And who is this? She’s cute as a button!”

Her gaze flicked to me, assessing.

“This is Selene,” Reg said simply.

“Selene,” she repeated, extending her hand. “Alexandra. But everyone calls me Lexi. Alexandra was my grandmother.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said hesitantly, shaking her hand while I tightly held onto the tray with the other.

“Tell me, Selene,” Lexi said, tilting her head. “What’s it like working for someone as… accomplished as Reginald?”

I didn’t have to answer. Reg stiffened beside me, his mouth forming into a pout that looked unnatural on his face.

“Lexi,” he said, his tone cooling. “Are you here to enjoy the evening or to work?”

She smiled broadly.

“Why not both, Reg? You know how it is now, I’m single and unattached. I can actually work at events, not stay stuck onto Richard’s arm.”

I left them to their exchange and slipped below deck, eager to escape the tension. Lexi’s gaze had been too sharp, too knowing, like she’d been looking for something, and I wasn’t sure what.

Lexi wasn’t here for the champagne or the conversation. She’d heard whispers about Tidal Cove’s glittering surface hiding something darker. The glitz and glamor could only hide so much.

As a reporter, she lived for the whispers. But until tonight, they’d been just that.

Now, as she moved through the lounge below deck, she spotted it: a folded piece of paper lying atop the piano. Her heart raced as she picked it up.

The truth about Tidal Cove’s legacy is buried at the Montgomery estate. Seek the ledger.

She slipped the note into her clutch, her instincts buzzing. This wasn’t just a party; this was a story. For the first time since her divorce, she felt her spirits rise.

She needed to get back to being at the top of her field. She had won awards for her fearless journalism. And then what? She had married Richard and fallen into the trap of being yet another wealthy wallflower wife.

No. This story was going to bring her back.

Two days later, Lexi cornered me in the catering kitchen at another one of Reg’s endless galas.

“Do you think Reg is as noble as he seems?” she asked casually, leaning against the counter as I chopped coriander.

I frowned.

“I don’t gossip about my clients if that’s what you’re getting at. I worked hard to break out on my own, Lexi. My reputation for just cooking and catering without asking any questions is what got me here. I won’t talk ill of Reginald.”

“Of course not,” she said smoothly. “But don’t you ever wonder how someone like Reg gets to the top? You’ve worked with him, Selene. Surely, you’ve noticed… things.”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I offered her a goat’s cheese and fig tartlet and continued with my job.

But her words followed me long after she left.

Later that night, as I packed up, I overheard Reg talking in low tones with a man in a tailored suit. From where I was standing, I couldn’t see Reg, only the man, who looked nervous.

“This doesn’t leave the room,” Reg was saying between what sounded like long cigar drags. “We can’t afford loose ends right now. Do you understand?”

The man nodded, his expression grim.

“Consider it handled. This won’t get away. I won’t let it,” he said, suddenly bolder than he looked.

They walked into Reg’s library before I could hear more, but it was Lexi’s questions which nagged at me. What didn’t Reg want anyone to know?

When Lexi texted me the next day, asking to meet at the docks, I almost ignored her.

But curiosity, or maybe something deeper, got the better of me.

“I need your help,” she said the moment I arrived, standing up and slipping her phone into her bag.

“Help with what, Lexi?” I asked wearily.

“Getting into Reg’s estate. You have your ways in, don’t you? You’re like his designated caterer, aren’t you? He’s hiding something, something that could ruin this town if it gets out.”

“You’re asking me to betray him?”

I looked at her closely. Her hair was just as sleek as it had been on the evening we met, but her eyes were tired, like she had been spending too many nights poured over screens or reading through articles with tiny fonts. Her fingers were covered in ink, like she had been going through newspaper articles.

Was this the same woman I had met? She looked… unhinged. Like a crazed dog with a bone who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

“I’m asking you to stand up for yourself, Selene,” Lexi said, her voice hardening. “I’m not asking you to betray him. It’s about looking at the bigger picture. Don’t you get tired of being invisible? People like Reg, they stay untouchable because people like you let them.”

“What do you want?”

“A ledger. A journal. A planner. Ideally a laptop, but that would be password-protected. You’ll know it when you see it, Selene. Come on. Don’t be a wallflower while the world burns around you.”

Her words stung more than I cared to admit. I couldn’t say yes, but I didn’t say no either.

After meeting Selene, Lexi realized how much she needed her for her investigation. But Reg was good. When he wanted something, he would stick to it. And he would get his way.

Maybe he had promised Selene something. Or maybe his shameless flirting led her to believe that one day, he would make her visible. He could make her be seen in the world of elites.

But Lexi wanted Reg to be exposed. She needed it. The town did, too.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Lexi’s words replayed in my mind, but so did Reg’s charm. It was his laughter, and how he’d looked at me, like I mattered. Like I wasn’t invisible.

But then I remembered the way his voice had dropped when he spoke to that man.

“This doesn’t leave the room.”

Before I knew it, I had abandoned my cup of tea and made my way to his estate, sneaking through the darkened halls. I wasn’t breaking in exactly, I had a key. I catered for Reg so often that he knew I’d need to be in and out.

His study smelled of leather and cologne, the moonlight casting long shadows over the shelves.

There was only one locked drawer in the desk. It didn’t take much effort to pick the lock. The ledger.

Flipping through the pages, my stomach twisted. It looked like bribes, blackmail, and notes about shady land deals filled every line. Tidal Cove’s shining boardwalk, its top-rated schools, the glitzy marina, they’d all been built on lies.

I wasn’t sure exactly how damning the information would be. But I knew Lexi would make sense of it.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Reg said from the doorway.

I froze, the ledger trembling in my hands.

He stepped into the room, his face unreadable.

“What are you doing, Selene?”

“You lied,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. But something had changed. It was like a switch had flipped inside me.

“Everything you’ve built, it’s all a lie, isn’t it? Lexi was right.”

“It’s not that simple,” he said, his tone softening. “Do you think this town would even exist without those deals? Without me?”

“But at what cost?” I asked, tears welling in my eyes. “You ruined lives, Reg. It shows here that you’ve used people. You’ve taken their money… for what?”

“I saved this town!” he snapped. “The boardwalk, the schools, the hospital. None of it would exist without me. Sometimes, you have to make hard choices for the greater good, Selene. It’s just like making a deal with the devil. Someone has to lose.”

“Don’t pretend you did this for the town,” I said. “You did this for you.”

His shoulders sagged, but he said nothing.

“Go,” he said. “Just, go. I thought you were different, Selene.”

“Here,” I said when I walked into Lexi’s apartment.

Lexi had been sitting on the floor of her living room surrounded by stacks of paper.

I threw the ledger at her, “I don’t have anything else to say,” I added before walking out.

Finally, Lexi thought. I can expose the man who had taken Richard’s money. I can expose the man who had ruined my marriage and caused my ex-husband to flee town. But I guess I’ll never know who left that note on the piano.

The next morning, Lexi’s exposé hit the news.

The Montgomery Empire: Built on Lies and Despair.

Tidal Cove erupted. Reg’s business partners abandoned him, and his name became a curse in the town he once ruled.

Lexi didn’t escape unscathed either. Some residents praised her courage, but others accused her of exploiting the town for her own gain. Caught in the middle, I found myself standing in a packed town hall, staring at Lexi while people asked her questions.

“The truth hurts,” she said. “But it’s the only way forward. We can’t cling to the past if we want a future worth fighting for.”

The room fell silent.

In the weeks that followed, the tides began to shift in Tidal Cove. Reg stepped down from his leadership roles, quietly selling off his business, but not before he sent a huge amount of money straight into my bank account.

One day, he came into my café, which is what I had expanded my catering business into. He looked smaller and different in his casual clothing.

“I wanted to say thank you,” he said. “When everything is sold, I’m going to leave. I think I’d like to disappear into the city somewhere. Go reinvent myself.

“I didn’t do it for you,” I replied. “And you should get out. I agree, Reg.”

Lexi left town, her story a national sensation. Whether she regretted the fallout, I’d never know. I also never figured out why she was so hell-bent on her discovery. There were rumors that it had to do with her ex-husband, but that’s speculation…

As for me, I stayed. My little catering business became a hub for the community, and the café became a place where people came not just for food, but for connection.

Look, despite how perfect the town was, and how wealthy the people were, Tidal Cove was changing. For the first time, I felt like I belonged, not as part of the elite, but as someone who used her autonomy for good.

Sometimes, tearing down the walls is the only way to see the horizon.

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My Stepmom Returned My Prom Dress to the Store Just a Day Before the Dance — the Reason Left Me Speechless

The night before prom, Gia is ready to lay out her clothes and have an easy night. But as she opens her closet to take out her dress, she finds it missing. Later, she discovers that her stepmother, Cindy, had returned the dress to the store… What on earth could be the reason?

My mom died when I was ten.

It was sudden, like the world had just stopped spinning. One minute, she was tucking me into bed, and the next, she was gone.

“I’ll always be with you, Gia,” she said one day as she tucked me in, her hands shaking wildly. “Whether I’m right next to you or not, I’ll always be here. Do you understand?”

I remember nodding sleepily as she kissed my cheek.

Losing her crushed my dad and me in ways I still can’t put into words. We were just completely… lost.