Chapter 4

"Transferred it out? That was the education fund Dad left for me! It was supposed to pay for my future!"

"Enough! Stop bringing up your father!" Mom cut me off impatiently.

"Fiona is about to join Professor Wilson's lab. The students there either come from wealthy families or have every advantage in life. She can't show up wearing old clothes and carrying cheap things while everyone else has the best.

"These are necessary expenses. We're a little short on money right now, so I just borrowed yours for the time being. I'll pay you back when we have the money."

"What gave you the right to touch my education fund?" I finally lost control, my voice shaking with rage.

"Because I'm your mother!" Mom exploded too. She shot to her feet and pointed a finger at me.

"I raised you all these years. Don't I have the right to decide how a little of your money is used? Besides, your grades are excellent. Once school starts, you can apply for scholarships, financial aid, or even student loans.

"You'll figure something out. However, Fiona is different. She's never been as strong as you. She can't handle that kind of hardship."

She had taken my place. She had destroyed everything I had worked for. Now, she was cutting off the very last lifeline I had left.

I stopped arguing. My eyes locked on Mom's open handbag on the couch. My ID and the few hundred dollars I had left were inside. I rushed over and grabbed the bag, digging through it.

"Have you lost your mind?" Mom screamed and lunged at me, clamping both hands around my arm.

"Give me my ID! Give me my money back!" I shouted.

"You're really going to fight me over this little bit of money? I can't believe you've become like this." Mom glared at me.

The money had never been what she could not accept. What she could not accept was that, for the first time in my life, I had refused to obey her.

Blazing with anger, she shoved me with all her strength. "Get out of my way!"

I was completely unprepared. I lost my balance and was thrown backward.

A sickening crack echoed through the living room as my lower back slammed into a sharp corner of the coffee table, sending a jolt of pain shooting through my spine.

Within seconds, cold sweat soaked through the back of my shirt. I gasped with my mouth wide open, struggling to breathe. The pain was so intense that my body reacted on its own.

My stomach churned violently, and I began dry heaving uncontrollably.

Just then, a car horn sounded outside.

Fiona called from downstairs in her sweet, sugary voice. "Mom! Hurry up! We're going to be late! We can't be late for the meeting with Professor Wilson!"

Mom stood there, looking down at me as I lay on the floor, trembling in agony. For a split second, panic flashed across her face.

Only for a second, however. Then, it disappeared beneath cold indifference and annoyance. She straightened the wrinkles in her clothes that I had pulled out of place.

"It's just an ID. Do you really think having it is going to change anything?" She let out a mocking laugh, pulled my ID from her bag, and casually tossed it onto the floor.

"Stop acting so fragile. You just bumped into something. How serious could it possibly be?

"Put some ice on it or rub on a little pain cream. You'll be fine. I'm taking Fiona to school to finish her enrollment. When I get back tonight, we're going to have a serious talk about your attitude."

Without another glance at me, she turned around and walked out the front door.

The door slammed shut. I lay on the floor for more than ten minutes before I could finally move again.

Clenching my teeth until my jaw ached, I forced myself to endure the blinding pain that nearly made me pass out.

Using the edge of the coffee table for support, I slowly pulled myself to my feet. I bent over and picked up my ID from the floor, then I walked to the dining table.

I placed my old laptop on top of it. Beneath the laptop was an itemized ledger I had prepared long ago. Every dollar Mom had spent on my tuition, living expenses, and every other cost since high school had been carefully recorded. Down to the last cent.

On the final page were two lines.

[I will repay every cent, with interest. From this day forward, we owe each other nothing.]

I pulled my packed suitcase behind me without looking back at the house even once. Limping with every step, I walked out the front door and headed for the bus station, in the exact opposite direction from where Fiona was beginning her new life.