In the slush-streaked dusk of Montréal, Anäis Vigneault steps into Caspian Harrow's flat, Onyx at her side and Sophie's absence heavy in the air. Sophie?protégé, rival, and perhaps more?vanished without a word, leaving behind only her notebook: swollen, ink-battered pages filled with poems that accuse and betray.

Caspian guards the notebook, daring Anäis to win it back over a Scrabble board that becomes more than a game. Each tile strikes like a confession, each word a wound. CRAVE, TROPHIES, MISSING?letters cut as deep as Sophie"s absence. Between moves, envy and desire surface, forcing Anäis to confront what was shared, what was stolen, and what remains unsaid.

As the board clears, the notebook waits?its final word spelling out a truth neither Anäis nor Caspian can avoid. When Anäis's phone buzzes with Sophie's name, the game is no longer about points, but about loyalty, betrayal, and the choices that bind them all.

The Rack is the first in the Anäis Vigneault series?a literary, atmospheric tale of obsession, art, and the words we play like weapons.