Forty-two thousand dollars saved in secret.
That money was my freedom.
And my parents had decided freedom belonged to them instead.
At first, I reacted exactly how they expected. I cried in my room until my ribs hurt while my missed Rome flight disappeared from the tracking app on my phone.
Downstairs, my mother hummed while cooking dinner.
My father sharpened knives.
Harper talked about nursery decorations.
To them, life had returned to normal.
I was the engine that kept the family running.
Engines did not get to leave.
Then I checked my banking app.
Pending transfer: $15,000.
Destination: Harper Cook Baby Shower Fund.
My mother had accessed an old joint account from when I was sixteen and started siphoning my savings away.
That was the exact moment heartbreak turned into something colder.
The next morning, I canceled the transfer, shut the account down, moved every dollar into a new account under my name only, and went back home wearing my apron like nothing had changed.
Brenda smiled when she saw me.
She thought I had surrendered.
She had no idea I was preparing for war.
