Chapter 4

At six the next morning, an alert from my laptop woke me.

The first email in my inbox was from the Caledonia Global Scholars Program.

[FULL SCHOLARSHIP OFFER - RESPONSE REQUIRED BY MIDNIGHT]

The original recipient had withdrawn for personal reasons, and I was next on the finalist list. The scholarship would cover my remaining tuition, campus housing, a living stipend, and one round-trip international flight.

At the bottom of the email was a requirement: all new scholars had to attend early orientation in Edinburgh.

The date was August 18.

Seven days away.

I read the message twice before clicking Accept Funding. When the confirmation page appeared, I didn't cry. I leaned back in my chair and let out a slow breath.

It had taken Mom ten minutes to empty an account I had spent four years building.

But the road I had spent those same four years preparing had finally opened all the way.

That morning, I opened an account no one else could access, directed the stipend there, and froze my credit. My passport, visa, and admission documents were already locked in my bookstore locker. Mom knew nothing about them.

For the next seven days, my family kept punishing me.

There was no place for me at the table, and the family group chat ignored me. Mom removed me from Lily's travel folder. Ethan made sure I heard him say that some people had to leave home before they understood real life.

They thought the silent treatment would scare me.

Instead, it gave me perfect cover.

I worked as usual, donated unwanted clothes, and sold my old textbooks online. Everything going to Scotland fit into a carry-on and backpack: clothes, my laptop, medication, lab notes, and the medal no one had noticed.

The basement emptied a little more every day, but no one came downstairs to see.

On the fourth day, Lily knocked twice and spoke before I could answer. "My travel adapter is ready for pickup. Can you grab it after work? Mom is still mad at you, and I'm trying to give you a chance to smooth things over."

"I can't."

There was a pause outside the door, followed by a soft sigh. "I've done everything I can to defend you. If you're determined to shut yourself out of this family, there's nothing else I can do."

She walked away without opening the door or checking what I was doing.

On the sixth day, the scholarship office sent my ticket: a nonstop flight from Boston Logan to Edinburgh, departing at 12:40 p.m.

On the seventh morning, Mom and Dad took Lily to a family brunch before her trip. Ethan and Ryan went with them. Before leaving, Mom dropped a bakery claim slip on the kitchen island and told me to pick up Lily's custom travel cake that afternoon.

"Have it back by six," she said without looking at me. "Whatever problem you have with me, don't ruin your sister's send-off."

The door closed, and the house went still.

I looked around the basement one last time. The bed was made, the shelves bare, and only pushpin holes remained on the walls. The room had held every feeling I wasn't allowed to let inconvenience anyone else, along with every application I finished in secret.

I didn't leave a note.

They had never asked where I was going. They didn't need a last-minute answer now.

At nine, I loaded my bags into a rideshare to the airport. The white Bennett house faded in the rearview mirror, and I didn't turn around.

My phone began vibrating as soon as I cleared security.

[Mom: The bakery just confirmed they close at six.]

[Ethan: Don't start with the attitude again. Today is about Lily.]

[Lily: If you don't want to help, you can just say so. I don't want everyone fighting because of me.]

The last message came from Ryan.

[Ryan: We'll talk when Lily gets back. You really crossed a line this time.]

The gate agent announced boarding. I blocked every number, shut off my phone, and walked onto the jet bridge.

At six, they would return expecting Lily's cake, my apology, and the daughter who always came back whenever they punished her.

By then, I would be somewhere over the Atlantic.

And I would never need their permission again.