Chalk Crowns

By Jolie Bagley

Rae Torres returns to her apartment complex after a lost summer-shaken, medicated, and freshly involuntarily committed, a move her charming husband Donovan orchestrated while calling his "no-rules" love freedom. Behind the blinds it's control: therapy cut off, money tightened, and new "friends" drifting through their home as anonymous texts and late-night photos needle Rae's sanity.

But this courtyard watches back. Monique-the neighbor who believes Rae-quietly rallies support. Calvin, a sharp-eyed teen, starts time-stamping comings and goings. And the silent corner-unit neighbor, Keller-retired FBI-slips Rae envelopes of photographs and points her to a forgotten blue-door camera.

When Rae finds Donovan's handwritten ledger-cash to multiple lovers, rent for secret apartments, balances that don't match the life she's been sold-the pattern snaps into focus. The mole feeding Donovan their plans is unmasked as "friend" Michelle. A simmering summer erupts into a public showdown on the pavement; police separate the crowd; the next morning Rae, Keller, and attorney Ava Merritt walk into court with receipts. She secures an emergency protective order, exclusive possession of the home, and preservation/freezing of Donovan's funds tied to his accounts and LLCs-while civil claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation land on the betrayers' doorsteps.

With her father at her side and her daughter Scarlette sketching small chalk crowns on the concrete, Rae flips the power dynamic. She's no longer begging to be believed-she's building a case. The fence is up. And predators test fences.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FP67TQXR
• ISBN13: 9798262394289
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"