Chapter 2

I swallowed hard and forced the tears back.

Weirdly enough, once the words were out, the stabbing ache in my chest started fading.

"Everything you do is for Sophie. I'm just the extra."

I shoved my chair back and stood, fists clenched at my sides.

"Where are you going?" Mom yelled after me.

I didn't answer. I headed straight for the door.

Right before I stepped out, I looked back once.

Sophie was rubbing Mom's back softly, comforting her. The two of them looked like their own little world.

Cold air smacked into my face. I took a deep breath, my lungs burning.

***

I didn't know how long I walked before my phone buzzed with a bank notification.

I froze.

[Credit card charge: $9,875.00. Available credit: $0.34.]

Mom was an authorized user on my credit card. She usually maxed it out halfway through the month, so I'd linked the payments to my checking account.

So every time she ran up the card, the money came straight out of my paycheck.

Now she'd maxed out the entire limit in one shot.

And just like that, I had nothing.

Cold wind cut across my face. That was when I realized I really had nowhere to go.

A hotel? Needed money.

Friends? I didn't really have any left in this town.

Growing up, all I ever did was study and be "the perfect kid other parents compared their kids to."

In the end, I turned around and walked back.

When I unlocked the apartment door, the place was empty.

Dirty plates and utensils were still scattered across the table. I flipped on the light and headed to my room.

The second I pushed the door open, I froze.

The room was packed with junk—old boxes, busted furniture, stacks of ancient magazines.

Black trash bags sat piled in the corner.

I looked inside and froze.

My books. Photo frames. Clothes.

They'd packed up my stuff like trash.

Pain twisted in my chest. I grabbed the doorframe to keep steady.

Then I started pulling everything out.

The trophy I won in college. The keepsake from my first project at work. The poetry collection I'd loved for years.

***

At one in the morning, Mom and Sophie came in loaded with shopping bags.

The second Mom saw me in the living room, her smile vanished.

"You're still here?" Sarcasm dripped from every word. "You just had to ruin dinner for everybody?"

Behind her, Sophie tugged on her sleeve. "Mom, don't talk to Elayne like that..."

"Am I wrong?" Mom slammed the bags onto the floor. "Do you know how much I sacrificed raising you? And this is how you repay me? Humiliating me in front of the whole family like some spoiled brat."

I swallowed hard and held back my tears. "Did you buy those with my money?"

Mom's face twisted, then she snapped. "Your money? Where do you think that money came from? If I hadn't raised you and paid for school, would you even have this job? What's wrong with a mother spending a little of her daughter's money? Is that illegal?"

"Ten thousand dollars." I held up my phone. "In one night. Ten grand. Money I saved over three years."

Mom scoffed. "Saved? You wear designer clothes and work in some fancy office, and now you wanna lecture me about money? Your sister spent her whole life giving things up for you. Now she doesn't even know what to do with her life. That's your fault."

For a second, I couldn't even speak.

Sophie's voice stayed soft and sweet. "Elayne, money can always be earned again. But Mom being happy matters more than money. As long as she's happy, I'll do anything. It's just money."