All Chapters of I Walked Away to Find My Own Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The next morning, Mom suddenly changed her tune."Bartley isn't completely off the table."My hand paused on the mop.The night before, my sister Faye Radford had slept in my bed, clutching my hand and insisting she could only fall asleep to the sound of my breathing. I had sat at the edge of the bed the entire night, and the moment the sun came up, I was dragged out of it to do chores.Still, when I heard those words, a flicker of hope stirred in my chest."Really?" I held my breath and looked at Mom."Of course. Faye goes with you. She will live with you. Rent a bigger place with bedrooms next to each other, and no locking the doors."I looked at Faye. She sat in her pajamas, sipping milk without a care in the world, her cheeks rosy."What would she even do in Bartley?"Mom frowned. "She is this sick and you want to force her to work? She cannot be without you. Wherever you go, she goes."Dad chimed in. "I looked into it. Designers worked often work long hours and travel

The camera hung over my head, so I had to change clothes under the covers.I did not sleep that entire night.The next morning, Faye came to me and held out her hand. "I want to install a sharing app on your phone. You were on it all night, and I'm worried you're keeping secrets from me."She looked at me with wide, helpless eyes. "It makes me anxious."I held my phone behind my back. "No."The living room went silent. Everyone stared at me.Mom frowned. "It is just a phone. What could you possibly need to hide?""It is my privacy," I said firmly.Dad scoffed. "Privacy? We are family. Since when do we need privacy from each other? If you were not always trying to ditch Faye, she would not be this insecure."Kellan tried a softer approach. "You two are sisters. Why draw such hard lines? I will make it up to you later, I promise."I looked at all of them and felt something inside me go hollow."When is later?" I asked.He froze."When she gets better? When she does not need

The next morning, Faye did not call for me the way she usually did. She reached for her phone first and pulled up the camera feed from my room.On the screen, the blanket was bunched up in the shape of a person. My phone sat on the pillow beside it, and the location tracker confirmed I was still in bed.She watched for a moment and smiled with satisfaction.Mom placed an omelet on her plate. "Your sister is not up yet?"Faye shook her head. "Not yet. She was probably worn out yesterday. Let her sleep in."Mom looked almost relieved. "She promised you herself last night that she would stay by your side. Once you are both in Bartley, be good to her. Do not give her a hard time."Faye nodded absently. She did not think I had any fight left in me. My documents were in her hands, surveillance software was on my phone, and a tracker was under my skin. With all of that in place, she smiled again, fully content.She was certain I would never live a better life than hers, and that I woul

When the plane landed, the wound on my arm was hot to the touch. It had throbbed the entire flight, but when I stepped onto the ground at the airport in Lavenne, I felt lighter than I ever had.I bought a new phone and contacted the firm. The person who came to pick me up was Nadia Faulkner, the judge from the design competition 6 months earlier.She noticed the blood seeping through my bandage and frowned. "Hospital first. Work can wait until tomorrow."I refused out of instinct. "It is fine. I can go straight to the office."She gave me a look, her disapproval clear. "You can't build your future if you don't take care of yourself first."I managed a small smile. Something warm spread through my chest.After the hospital, she drove me to the apartment the firm had arranged. "Need me to help you carry your bags in?"I shook my head. "I have got it."She nodded and handed me the key. "Be at the office by ten tomorrow morning. If you are tired, you can take another day."After s

Mom stayed in Lavenne for seven days. Every morning, she came to wait outside the firm. Sometimes she brought breakfast. Sometimes she brought old photos of me as a child.She kept saying she would make it up to me, that she would give back everything that should have been mine.On the seventh day, I finally told her to stop. "I do not need any of that. Go home, and please do not come back."Mom's eyes were red. She asked me carefully, "Will you ever come home?"I shook my head."Alina, are you saying you do not want us anymore? You do not want this family?"I looked at her, and a memory came back from a long time ago. The first time I gave up the top prep school for Faye, I cried under my covers the entire night.Mom sat beside me and said, "You are the older sister. Your sister needs you. This family needs you."Every time after that, it was the same thing. I was the older sister. My grades were better. I would have other chances.Over and over, she pushed me to give in and