At a family dinner that weekend, my sister, our relatives, and I played a reverse version of "Never Have I Ever," where you bragged about stuff nobody else had done.

By the third round, everyone was getting into it.

Uncle Danny bragged about seeing the city at four in the morning. My cousin Kenny said he could play three instruments. I said I'd traveled to three countries for work.

Then it was Sophie's turn.

She lifted her chin, eyes lighting up. "I own a condo that's only in my name."

A beat later, she added, "Mom bought it for me. She didn't want my future in-laws looking down on me after I get married."

The table went dead quiet.

I looked at Mom on instinct. She lowered her head and messed with her apron, refusing to look at me.

My fingers curled tight. I folded down my first finger.

"Come on, keep going." My cousin Tessa tried to save the mood.

A few rounds later, it was Sophie's turn again.

"I have twenty grand in my account that Mom gave me separately. She said it's for my financial security."

Her voice was soft, but it hit me like a blade.

Our relatives kept looking between Mom and me.

I put a second finger down. My fingers went ice-cold.

Mom still wouldn't look up.

The game kept going, but the vibe was off now.

My heart slammed in my chest, every beat dull and heavy.

Then Sophie spoke again, a smug edge creeping into her voice. "When I turned sixteen, Mom secretly took me to the biggest theme park for the day. Just us. She didn't tell anybody."

Memories slammed into me.

That day was my senior-year practice exam. When I got home, Mom and Sophie were gone.

I called, and Mom said she'd taken Sophie to the library.

So I studied alone in the empty apartment until late that night. I even made them a late-night snack.

"Mom." My throat felt dry. "Didn't you say that day—"

"Oh, that was years ago." Mom suddenly raised her voice. "Elayne, come help bring out the dishes. Stop messing around."

I didn't move.

I looked at Sophie and laughed under my breath. Bitter. "You always knew."

"You always knew Mom favored you. She made me the good daughter. The perfect one. The one stuck carrying everybody's expectations and problems."

Sophie tilted her head. "Elayne, it's just a game. Don't take it so seriously."

"Is it?" My voice shook. "Growing up, you always said you couldn't stick with anything. That you weren't good at anything. Now I get it. You never had to be. You already had a safety net. You had Mom's favoritism. You had security handed to you."

"Elayne!" Mom snapped. "What kind of nonsense is that? Come help!"

I still didn't move.

I laughed again, sharp and bitter. "The paycheck you said you were managing for me was really going to Sophie, wasn't it? And me being the perfect, responsible daughter was just something you used to brag about in front of the family while I took care of her for you."

Mom's face turned red. "How can you say that? After everything I did for you? Paying for your education—"

"And Sophie only had to exist to get all your love."

The words finally came out. The ones I'd buried for years. The ones I couldn't even admit to myself before.

The whole dining room went silent.

Our relatives lowered their heads and pretended not to hear.

Sophie let out a small sigh and stood. "Elayne, you're taking this way too seriously. Mom loves you. She just shows it differently."

"How?" I shot back. "By demanding I be perfect while spoiling you nonstop?"

Mom finally snapped, face burning red. "Elayne Everett, did you really have to ruin dinner for everyone? Everything I do is for this family."

"No."

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."

"Easy for you to say." I turned to her, my voice shaking. "Then pay me back. Give me my ten grand."

The room went dead silent.

Then—

A slap cracked across my face.

My ears rang. My cheek burned.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Mom's face twisted with rage. "Maybe it's time I reminded you who runs this house."

She yanked out her phone and started furiously typing.

A second later, my phone blew up.

Messages flooded the family group chat.

Voice Message from Mom: "Everyone come look at this. Look at the kind of daughter I raised. She goes to the city for a few years and suddenly she thinks she's too good for her own family. She came home just to demand money from me. I spent a little of her money and now she wants me to pay it back. After everything I've done for her!"

Replies poured in right after, full of criticism and fake advice.

I sank onto the floor and covered my face.

Sophie crouched beside me, acting all concerned, and tried to help me up. I jerked my hand away.

"Don't touch me."

My voice was quiet, but they both heard it.

Mom stopped recording voice messages and stared at me like she couldn't believe what she'd heard.

Slowly, I stood up and dug my ID and bank card out of the trash bag.

This time, I didn't look back.

"Where are you going?" Mom's voice came from behind me, anger edged with panic.

I said nothing.

The night air felt even colder now. My cheek still burned.

I pulled out my phone and called the bank.

"Hi, I need to freeze my credit card immediately and remove the authorized user from my account."

***

Late that night, I lay on a plastic bench in the bus terminal, listening to the announcements echo overhead.

I opened my banking app and stared at the locked savings account.

Twenty grand.

Three more days until it unlocked.

Back then, I'd saved it for Mom to "manage."

Three years ago, she said she'd help me invest. Said I was bad with money and needed someone watching over it.

So I agreed. Opened a three-year CD and planned to hand it over once it matured.

I thought it would prove I was a good daughter. That maybe I was worth loving.

Now it was my only way out.

I didn't sleep at all.

At six in the morning, I bought the earliest ticket and left town.

The second I stepped out of the station, two cops stopped me.

"Are you Elayne Everett?" one asked. "Your mother reported you missing. She's really worried."

I almost laughed.

At the station, I heard Mom crying the second I walked in.

"Elayne, my daughter!" She rushed over and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Where did you go? I looked for you all night. I was so worried!"

Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were swollen and red like she hadn't slept once.

I stood there stiffly and let her hold me.

"Officer, thank you, thank you." She turned to the cops, tears running down her face. "Every mother loves her daughter. Elayne's my precious girl. We just had a little fight, and she got upset and ran off. I searched all night. I'm freezing. I feel so dizzy..."

Mid-sentence, she doubled over coughing.

Instinctively, I reached out to steady her, then froze the second I touched her arm.

"Mom, you're burning up."

"It's nothing." She waved it off and coughed again. "As long as you're safe... let's just go home..."

One of the officers frowned. "Ma'am, you should really go to the hospital."

Then he looked at me. "Ms. Everett, take care of your mother. Family problems should be worked out by talking."