{"product_id":"alpha-9781941098127","title":"Alpha","description":"The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just \"VRI Inc.,\" and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing...except a single word, on the notes line: \"You.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJust those three letters. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIf you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eI did. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: \"belong.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. \"To me.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnd then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"It's time to pay your debt.\"Would you have gotten in? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eI did. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seth Clarke","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50641477599506,"sku":"9781941098127","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_570fa941-1276-495b-b881-58156fb5e267.jpg?v=1733018771","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/alpha-9781941098127","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}