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."

I looked at Mom's flushed face and hesitated.

Maybe... maybe last night was just impulsive.

Maybe the favoritism and all the hurt weren't really intentional.

In the end, I gave in.

***

At the hospital, Mom lay in bed groaning. "Everything hurts. This hurts, that hurts... Doctor, I want a full checkup."

The doctor wrote up the orders, and I spent the whole day running around the hospital—grabbing meds, dropping off samples, paying bills.

Mom kept demanding more tests. Head CT. Full-body bone scan. One after another.

I didn't complain. I just paid quietly every time.

Before long, my savings were almost drained.

On the third day, I finally asked, "Mom, do you really need all these tests?"

"What would you know!"

Her voice instantly shot up. "I'm this sick and you think I shouldn't get checked? Feeling bad about the money already? I raised you all these years. Do you know how much that cost—"

"I'll start cashing out the CD." I cut her off, exhausted. "It matures today."

Mom's face lit up immediately. "That's my girl. I knew you were a good daughter."

That night, I dragged myself back from the hospital cafeteria carrying dinner.

Right before I pushed open the ward door, I heard voices inside.

"Mom, she really started the withdrawal?"

Sophie's voice.

"She did. Twenty grand. Once it clears, that'll keep us going for a while."

I pressed myself against the door and held my breath.

"Once we get all the money, we'll say this hospital can't treat the illness and we need to go to a bigger city. Make her keep paying. Then after that, we block her."

"No rush." Mom sounded completely calm. "Keep her calm for a couple more days. Once all the money's in, we'll deal with the rest. She's softhearted. Easy to manipulate."

My hand shook on the doorknob.

So that was the truth.

I quietly stepped back and walked away.

I stood by the window at the end of the hallway for a long time.

The next day, relatives heard Mom was hospitalized and came to visit.

The room was packed. Fruit baskets and flower bouquets filled every corner.

Mom lay in bed dramatically talking about how hard she'd worked raising her two daughters.

Sophie stood beside her, carefully helping her drink water. The perfect mother-daughter scene.

Once everyone had gathered, I cleared my throat. "Since the whole family's here, tell me if this sounds fair."

The room went silent.

"I'm planning to buy a place in the city where I work. I'm six grand short on the down payment." I kept my voice calm. "Mom gave Sophie twenty thousand dollars for her future. So asking for six thousand as her daughter isn't too much, right?"

Mom's smile instantly froze.

The relatives exchanged looks. Someone quietly asked, "Twenty thousand? Since when?"

The cup in Sophie's hand jerked. Water splashed across the bed.

"Mom, what do you think?" I looked her straight in the eye. "Six grand isn't much for you, right? You love your daughters so much. You wouldn't play favorites, would you?"

Mom opened her mouth, her face going from red to pale.

She glanced around the room. Every relative was staring at her now—curious, suspicious, waiting.

"I..." Her voice came out strained. "I'm in the hospital right now. Where would I even get that kind of money—"

"No rush." I smiled. "I can wait until you're discharged. Or you can lend me six thousand from the twenty grand you gave Sophie. We're both your daughters. We should be treated the same, right?"