Chapter 4Faraway Wilds

Mom immediately lashed out.

"What do you mean, your money? You live under my roof and eat my food. And now you're acting like I wronged you for taking some money? I raised you for nothing."

That wasn't the same thing.

If our family had really been struggling financially, I would've handed over every dollar without hesitation.

But Mom had taken it for something Maddison didn't need.

I raised my voice. "Taking someone else's money without asking is stealing. What you did was illegal."

Tyler shot to his feet so fast his chair scraped across the floor. "Watch your mouth, Ashley! What do you mean, stealing? That's our mother you're talking about!"

Brandon frowned, his voice full of the same familiar lecture he'd given me a hundred times before. "Ashley, you're overreacting. Who talks about stealing when it's family? Mrs. Sullivan probably just thought it wasn't safe for a teenage girl to keep that much cash lying around.

"Besides, Maddie got into Crestview. As her sister, it's only right that you celebrate her achievement with a gift."

But that money was mine. Birthday money, Christmas money, and cash gifts from relatives over the years. I'd spent eighteen years saving it, carefully putting away every dollar and never letting myself spend recklessly.

I never bought the pretty dresses I wanted or any snacks. I couldn't even bring myself to order a drink most of the time.

"Give it back." I stared at Mom, my eyes burning. "Give me my money back."

Mom looked away guiltily but only for a moment. Soon enough, indignation replaced it. "It's already gone! The jewelry store doesn't take returns once you've left! And with scores like yours, what right do you have to keep that money anyway?"

Maddison tugged gently on Mom's sleeve, her eyes red. "Mom, please don't fight with Ashley because of me… Maybe we should pawn the bracelet. I can cover the rest with my own savings."

She said she would give it back, but her hands clutched the bracelet tightly against her wrist, reluctant to let go.

Mom immediately stepped protectively in front of her.

"Ashley, you've really gotten out of control. Go back to your room and think about what you've done. You're not coming out until I say so."

Tyler stepped forward and grabbed my arm.

"No! I didn't do anything wrong!" I struggled as hard as I could, but it wasn't enough. Not against a grown man.

The bedroom door slammed shut behind me. I slid slowly down the door until I was sitting on the floor.

Through the wood, I could hear them comforting each other.

They said Mom hadn't done anything wrong and that Maddison was innocent.

I was the selfish one, the one who ruined everything.

But Maddison had ten times more money than I did. Maybe a hundred times more.

So why did they have to hide it from me? Why did they have to force me to sacrifice for her?

I curled into myself and cried until my chest hurt.

For the next week, everyone ignored me as punishment for my behavior. Nobody called me for meals or invited me when they went out.

They thought it would break me and that eventually I'd apologize first.

But I'd spent eighteen years being ignored. I was already used to it.

With a few weeks left before college started, I found a part-time job nearby.

No one cared what time I left the house or when I came home. And no one noticed that I was quietly erasing myself from the house one piece at a time.

My high school textbooks and notebooks all went to the recycling center.

The gifts Brandon had given me over the years, along with all the study notes he'd made for me, were donated to students in remote rural communities.

When my acceptance letter finally arrived, I took one last look around the house.

When I was eight years old, I'd been forced to give up my bedroom and move into the tiny storage room, all because Maddison needed her own music room.

The walls of our house had always been covered with Maddison's awards and certificates. Mine had been folded and shoved under a table leg to keep it from wobbling.

I'd stopped wanting to stay here a long time ago.

With the few belongings I still owned, I called an Uber and headed for the train station.

My phone kept ringing on the way there. They were probably calling to ask where I was, trying to get me to come to Maddison's graduation party at the Grand Regency Hotel.

I didn't answer a single call.

That party had only ever been meant for one person: Maddison Sullivan.

I didn't want to stand in the corner as the awkward background character while relatives took turns praising her.

And then for someone to remember me at the very end and say, "Ashley got into college, too. That's nice."

I blocked every single one of them. Then I boarded the train south.

This time, I was leaving for good.