Just How Things Are (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798994325209)

Madison La Croix grew up in a world where every word mattered-and silence mattered even more.

Born into one of Newport's most powerful families, Madison is raised among wealth, expectations, and rules no one ever explains. Conversations are careful. Appearances are everything.

At Ashmore Academy and within the rarefied circles of Newport society, she begins to notice the small contradictions beneath the polished surface-friendships that shift with status,

kindness that hides quiet competition, and traditions that demand loyalty whether they deserve it or not.

As Madison grows older, the quiet truths begin to reveal themselves. Privilege carries expectations. Families carry secrets. And the world rarely works the way people want it to.

Most people prefer to pretend otherwise.

But Madison is beginning to understand just how things are.