CHAPTER SIXTEEN - THE SNEAKY SITUATION

    She would spend her evening researching environmental science, memorizing facts about New Jersey, and crafting a believable background for Nia Lopez. It would be exhausting, juggling this false identity on top of her already demanding job. But Nia was determined. She had come too far, risked too much, to let this opportunity slip away now. As she continued her cleaning rounds, Nia couldn't help but wonder what her grandmother would think of all this. Would she be disappointed in Nia for lying? Or would she understand the desperate measures Nia had taken to secure a better future? Nia pushed the thought aside. She couldn't afford to dwell on guilt or second-guessing now. She had made her choice, and now she had to live with it. For better or worse, she was Nia Lopez now, at least within these walls. The rest of her shift passed in a blur of cleaning and quiet anxiety. Nia's mind was already miles away, planning and preparing for the challenges that lay ahead. She knew that mai