Angela Casella

It's not every day you get asked to be a bridesmaid for the wedding of your ex and your ex-best friend. Call me lucky? My grandmother thinks I'm crazy for agreeing, but I can't let those so-and-sos know they've pummeled my self-worth . . . even if it's true.

My ex-fiancé was a gaslighting cheater, so I broke up with him and moved to a small mountain town for a fresh start. Now I'm working as an assistant to a professional rich woman while I launch my side business offering services for women who have been trampled on in bad breakups.

A few hours after losing my job, I get a call from a stranger who claims I've inherited property from my father. I assume it's a scam, because my dad is alive. Turns out my mother is the liar. I board a flight to my bio-dad's hometown, but the turbulence is so bad I worry we won't make it.

I figured being an extra for a local production would be a harmless distraction-a way for me to forget my charmed life is imploding. Sure, I'm the one who blew the whistle on my family business, but that doesn't make it any easier to sit around in the fallout.