The Vitamin Pyramid Scheme

Elena's golden retriever, Buster, thumped his tail against her leg as she swallowed her morning vitamin D supplement. At 47, she'd learned the hard way that some things about aging you could control, and some you couldn't.

"He's been spying on you again," Marcus said, appearing in the kitchen doorway with that knowing smirk that made her simultaneously want to kiss him and slap him.

"The neighbors?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

Marcus nodded. "Saw him standing on their porch last night. Watching your window."

Three months ago, Elena would have called the police. Now, she just sighed and poured coffee. Being the whistleblower who exposed her company's pyramid scheme had cost her everything: her career, her savings, her sense of safety. But the worst part was the irony—she'd spent fifteen years selling vitamins promising health and prosperity to desperate people, only to realize she was the one who'd been swallowing the lies.

Marcus had been her private investigator during the lawsuit. They'd fallen into bed somewhere between depositions and death threats, something that felt like survival more than romance.

"I talked to the DA," Marcus said, pouring his own cup. "They're offering witness protection. New city, new name."

Elena looked at Buster, who'd fallen asleep at her feet. She'd adopted him after her divorce—both of them damaged, both needing someone who wouldn't leave.

"And leave everything?" she said. "My apartment, my... this?"

His hand found hers across the counter. "Not everything."

The vitamin bottle caught the morning light, casting small rainbows across the room. She'd spent years building a life on foundations that turned out to be made of sand. Maybe starting over wasn't losing everything. Maybe it was finally, for the first time, choosing what mattered.

"Okay," she said. "But Buster comes with us."