Earnestine Ramsey has made invisibility an art form. In a family of thirteen, in a Kansas City high school built for legacies, she's just the "scholarship girl" in a thrift-store blazer-quiet, forgettable, safe. But behind the hoodie and the silence is a code-writing prodigy building something that could upend the rules of power and access forever. Her creation-CipherCore-is a platform that finds raw talent where no one else looks and matches it with investors who play fair. It's secret, dangerous, and worth millions. All it needs to launch is funding...and maybe a partner reckless enough to help. Enter Carl Thornburgh, star quarterback, heir to a legal empire, and the last person she should trust. As basement builds turn into a stealth startup, Earnestine finds herself in the crosshairs of Amber DeLacroix, the queen of Bishop Miege's social hierarchy with a grudge sharp enough to draw blood. Between sabotage, family pressures, and a tech world hungry to claim her work, Earnestine must decide how long she can stay in the shadows before someone else writes her ending.
