Abbie Thomss

Simone "Simmy" James never had it easy. When her father's drug operation, one of the biggest on the East Coast, was dismantled, Simone lost both of her parents to the system - her father to a life sentence, and her mother to a 25-year sentence. Gone were the days of luxury cars, high-end clothes, and jewelry that Simmy had grown used to. Forced to live in overcrowded conditions in her grandmother's house, Simmy has to learn how to make money any way she can, and her cousin Jayla is happy to show her the art of high-end boosting. Things run smoothly for a while, until Jayla is arrested.

A year and a half into our marriage, I found out my husband had been having an affair with a 19-year-old for six months. I filed for divorce and left. Two weeks later I met a man, and we fell madly in love. It was a fairy-tale romance for a month and a half, and he convinced me to join him on a romantic month-long vacation in Italy. Forty-eight hours before we were supposed to get on a plane, he told me he needed to go by himself. I was devastated. So, I had a decision to make. Either stay home and be heartbroken, or go travel Europe for a month by myself.