Chapter 6
The guest room barely fit the bed, and the mattress springs squeaked every time one of us moved, but it didn’t matter.
It was safe.
Ella curled between me and Steven that night, finally falling asleep after hours of whispering, “You’re here, right? You’re not leaving.”
I promised her I wasn’t.
Over and over until she finally believed me.
The next day, Paula made tea, and we sat around her small kitchen table.
The sunlight came in through lace curtains, and for a moment, it almost felt normal.
Almost.
Ella drew pictures with Paula’s old crayons while we talked.
Paula shook her head.
“I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. Your parents, they’ve always believed they know best.”
“Best,” I said dryly. “Best would have been keeping their mouth shut.”
Steven reached across the table, his hand covering mine.
“She’s safe now. That’s what matters.”
I nodded, but in my chest, I was already making decisions because safe wasn’t enough.
Not anymore.
That afternoon, I opened my laptop.
For years, I’d kept the money flowing.
Monthly transfers to my parents to cover part of their mortgage, payments for utilities, little extras for Briana’s kids when she whined about how hard things were.
It had become routine, automatic.
But now, staring at the numbers on my screen, all I felt was rage.
I clicked through each account and shut them down.
No more mortgage help, no more utility payments, no more cash for Briana.
It took less than 15 minutes.
15 minutes to end years of obligation, guilt, and habit.
Steven leaned against the doorframe, watching me.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t need to.
He just nodded once, solid and sure.
It was my choice, my line in the sand.
And it felt good.
That night, as I lay awake with Ella’s small hand curled into mine, I made another decision.
They would never see her again.
Not my parents, not Briana, not anyone who thought it was acceptable to abandon her on a stranger’s doorstep.
I didn’t need a courtroom or a shouting match.
I didn’t even need to announce it.
I just knew they were out of her life.
And I thought that was the end of it.
But what I didn’t know, not yet, was how quickly their lives were about to unravel.
The first call came three days after we got back home.
I was folding laundry, the ordinary kind of chore that feels like it belongs to another life now, when my phone lit up with Briana’s name.
I should have let it go to voicemail, but curiosity won.
I swiped.
“Hello.”
Her voice came through sharp, ragged.
“What did you do?”
I froze.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been suspended, Dana.”
“Suspended?”
“You called my school, didn’t you? You told them I abandoned Ella.”
For a second, I couldn’t even find words.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb,” she snapped. “The principal called me in. Said there were complaints. Said parents were talking. That I’m a risk around kids. I know it was you.”
May you like
I sat down slowly, pressing the phone to my ear.
Suspended.
