The Family Tool

Five years after Margaret brought her biological daughter Alicia home from the orphanage, a message appears on Alicia's phone — sent by herself, five years in the past. Back then, Alicia was still at the orphanage, overjoyed at finally having a family. Now she kneels on the floor of that family's home, bruised and bleeding, while Margaret uses her as an example to discipline her younger sister, Hailey.

Margaret's love curdled into a method: whenever Hailey misbehaves, Alicia pays the price. A sign reading "THIEF" around her neck, a needle through her lip, hands tied to the school gates in the freezing rain — Alicia's body becomes a canvas of scars so that Hailey will obey. A neighbor praises Margaret's parenting; Margaret lifts her chin in pride.

Through the phone, Alicia begs her past self not to go home with Margaret, insisting she is not a daughter but a tool. The girl on the other end refuses to believe her. When Margaret catches Alicia with the phone, the punishment turns brutal, and Hailey can only watch.