My childhood was a gilded cage, crafted with the belief that I would never need to venture beyond the comforts of home.Beauty and domestic grace were my destined roles, or so I thought. But at the tender age of ten, tragedy struck: my mother passed away, and my father's battle with alcoholism deepened. Our family's slow descent into chaos became a rapid plunge, leaving me adrift, bouncing between temporary homes and uncertain futures.In the shadows of a crumbling factory town, I witnessed firsthand the gritty struggle for survival. Friends turned to the neon glow of strip clubs for income; my first love was lured into the underworld of the mob. Amidst this, I grappled with the suffocating grip of clinical depression, a battle that ultimately led me to confront and reshape my reality.In an era when the world of finance was a fortress of male dominance, I found myself an unlikely warrior at its gates. Haunted by my father's legacy, I was drawn to men who mirrored his struggles, yet I carved a path of my own at Fidelity Investments. There, amidst a sea of college-educated professionals, I stood alone without a degree, yet emerged as a skilled stock analyst.Love, too, found its way to me, blossoming in the most unexpected of places.My story is one of transformation, from a life preordained to one passionately earned.Literary Titan Book Award Winner Read more