Chapter 2After She Left, They Took My Home

Julia stood in front of me, waving her phone. On the screen was the text she'd already sent my dad, claiming I had a violent temper, that I'd pushed my little sister down, and that she was patiently trying to discipline me.

She'd planned all of it.

"You heard him? Your dad only believes me now. In this house, you'd better behave."

The next day, I was packed off to a boarding school.

Julia said it was to build my independence. Dad actually agreed.

After that, I was only allowed home on weekends.

Every time I came back, more of my things were missing. My mom's jewelry showed up around Julia's neck. The limited-edition bags Mom had bought me were being used by Jacey to carry her toys. I tried to fight back, but every time I did, Julia just punished me harder.

Dad was stuck in Europe for six straight months because of a major crisis at the branch office.

During those six months, Julia gave me a hundred dollars a month. She said she and Dad had discussed it. A high schooler didn't need that much money, and learning to budget now would help me in the long run.

But the boarding school she'd enrolled me in required us to pay for our own meals. A hundred dollars wasn't nearly enough. I called Dad to ask for more. He was always too busy to listen. Every time, he just said he'd given the money to Julia and told me to ask her.

So I learned to stretch every cent. No snacks. No new clothes. The cheapest meal plan at the cafeteria every single day. Even then, I was always running out.

One time I went hungry for two days. When I came home that weekend, I almost passed out on the way.

I called Dad again and told him the allowance was too small.

He got annoyed. "Emma, when did you learn to lie? Julia told me she enrolled you in the best boarding school. Room and board included. You shouldn't need any spending money. How is what I gave you not enough? Other kids get by just fine. Why can't you?"

Julia chimed in from the background. "Is Emma dating someone at school? That would explain the extra expenses. A girl needs to learn to be frugal. Your father and I are just looking out for you!"

I snapped. "Dad, my school doesn't include meals! I have to pay for food, and you only give me a hundred dollars. How is that supposed to be enough?! Jacey's at home every day and her pocket money alone is more than a hundred dollars a day. Who's actually your real daughter here?!"

The second Julia heard that, she started crying into the phone. "Peter, we agreed. This is all for Emma's own good. If this child won't trust me, and now you won't trust me either, then I just..."

When Dad heard Julia crying, he got furious. "Starting next month, your allowance drops to eighty dollars. If you keep spending recklessly and upsetting Julia, you'll get nothing at all."

"Be good at home. Do everything Julia says!"

With Dad gone, all I could do was make myself as invisible as possible. I stopped going home on weekends whenever I could get away with it.

Winter came. I didn't have a warm coat. On days I couldn't stay at school, I had no choice but to go back.

Today was the weekend, and Jacey's fourteenth birthday. Julia had turned the entire first floor of the villa into a pink fairy-tale castle. The champagne tower was two stories high. The place was packed.

I was stopped at the iron gate. The code had been changed. The security guard had been swapped out for one of Julia's distant relatives. School was closed for the holiday, and I had nowhere to go, but I couldn't get into my own home.

It was December. The temperature had dropped to fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. I was wearing nothing but a thin sweater, no coat, nothing. Freezing, I pounded on the iron gate, praying someone would let me in.

"Open the door! This is my house!"

Nobody answered.