Snow buried the road like a white graveyard, and my newborn’s cries were the only thing stopping me from collapsing into it. I had Lily wrapped inside my coat against my chest, but her tiny body still shook with every savage gust of wind.“Just a little farther,” I whispered, even though I had no idea where farther was anymore.Behind me, my parents’ mansion glowed warm and golden through the storm. Inside, my mother was probably pouring tea while my father checked the locks on the doors.An hour earlier, I had stood in their marble foyer with blood still drying beneath my hospital bracelet.“Dad, please,” I begged. “The baby’s freezing. Let me take the car.”My father’s mouth twisted coldly. “What car?”The Mercedes Grandpa bought me.”
My mother laughed softly, like I was foolish. “Sweetheart, we had to sell it. Bills don’t pay themselves.”But Grandpa sends money every month.”Her eyes sharpened instantly. “Not enough.”Then my sister Vanessa walked down the staircase wearing my cashmere coat, diamond earrings, and a smile polished sharp as glass.“Maybe if you hadn’t gotten pregnant by a man who disappeared, you wouldn’t be such a burden,” she said casually.I stared at the keys dangling from her hand. The silver Mercedes emblem swung from the ring.“That’s my car.”She closed her fist around the keys. “Was.”My father stepped between us. “Get out, Claire. We’re done cleaning up your mistakes.”So I walked away.Not because I was weak.Because my phone was dead, my stitches burned, and my daughter needed warmth more than I needed pride.
