The Thirteenth - Paperback

by Carmen Pagano (Author)

Some families pass down recipes. Some pass down jewelry. Carina's family passed down a number. Thirteen. In her family, thirteen is not a birthday. Not an age. And never a coincidence. Raised in a home ruled by emotional storms and shifting realities, Carina learns early that survival depends on silence...on stillness...on sensing danger before it speaks, but when she begins to question the story, she's been given about her mother, about herself, and about the curse they call number Thirteen, the fragile foundation of her world begins to crack. Because some legacies aren't inherited. They are imposed. And sometimes the most dangerous thing a child can do... is ASK why. The Thirteenth is a haunting psychological thriller about inherited trauma, fractured identity, and the quiet war inside a family where love and control look the same. Some families protect their secrets. Carina's family built a life around one. The number was never superstition. It was a warning.