Don't Open the Door Because I'm Already Dead

by Alexandra Reed

Elara Vance is a master of structural integrity, an insurance adjuster who knows exactly how much pressure a building can take before it collapses. But when she wakes up to a viral obituary detailing her own suicide, it’s her life that begins to buckle. The Oakhaven Gazette hasn’t just made a mistake; they’ve published a blueprint for her murder. Within hours, her bank accounts are drained to exactly $0.14—the date of the fire that destroyed her childhood—and her smart-home system locks her out, identifying her as a 'deceased' user. Elara has 24 hours to find out why her mentor, Julian Thorne, and her own father have scheduled her death to cover up a decades-old corporate massacre. To survive, she must stop adjusting the truth and start burning down the institutions that keep Oakhaven’s secrets. If she can't prove she's alive by dawn, the 'suicide' described in the paper will become an inevitable reality.