Chapter 5

I stared at the envelope, my throat tight. "So you're admitting the money was mine?"

Dad frowned. "Now's not the time for that. I'll give you the money, but you need to go out there and apologize to your mother and Hannah."

I froze. The faint trace of warmth I had just felt turned ice cold in an instant.

"I'm the one who has to apologize?"

My question only made his expression worse. "Who else? This whole mess is because of you. Your mother hasn't been able to eat for days because of how upset she is, and Hannah keeps crying and saying she never should have accepted the reward.

"Would it kill you to make this easy? Just go out there, say something nice, and apologize, and we can all move on."

My fingers went numb from how hard I was clenching them. "It was my money that was taken. Why should I be the one apologizing?"

Dad let out a sigh and looked at me like I was the biggest disappointment of his life. "Claire, what happened to you? What matters more, money or this family being happy?

"Your mother only took the money to cheer Hannah up. Hannah had just come home from the hospital. She was already in a fragile state, and you blew up in front of everyone. How do you think that made her feel?"

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it, and somewhere in the middle of laughing, the tears started falling.

"What about me? Did any of you stop to wonder if something might happen to me locked in my room for days without eating or drinking? Did any of you think about what it felt like to have the money I worked so hard to save taken from me?"

Dad looked away, but his voice only got harder. "Stop acting like you're the victim here. Everyone in this family deals with things. But the second you throw a fit, your mother's upset, Hannah's scared, your brother's angry, and a perfectly fine household gets turned upside down."

Hearing that, I finally understood. He wasn't here to make things right or because he felt bad for me. He was holding my own money hostage to make me bow my head, and on top of that, I was supposed to be grateful and apologize.

I took a deep breath and reached for the envelope.

Dad's expression softened slightly, thinking I had finally given in. "That's more like it. Go say something nice to your mother and apologize to Hannah, and this whole thing is over."

Before he could finish, I grabbed the envelope and threw it out of the room. "Take the money. I'm never apologizing."

Dad's face went dark. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't find words. In the end, he just slammed the door behind him and left.

The room went quiet again. I lay on my bed and let the tears roll down in silence.

Then, my phone screen lit up. It was a notification from my bank that 800 dollars had been deposited. It was my scholarship money.

I stared at the number, and something sparked back to life. With that money, I could leave without waiting another day or apologizing to anyone.

I didn't hesitate. I booked the next bus to Alderton, grabbed the suitcase I had already packed, and walked out of the house I had lived in for nearly 20 years.

…

That evening, Mom, Dad, and Drew came home from shopping with Hannah. Hannah was holding an armful of new things and asked quietly, "Mom, Claire hasn't come out of her room in three days. Do you think something's wrong?"

Mom's expression flickered, but she walked to my bedroom door and knocked twice. "Claire, that's enough. How long are you planning to keep this up?"

There was no answer.

Her patience ran out immediately. She pushed the door open, and the next second, she froze in the doorway and spun around, shouting.