Chapter 1 - YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT ME
Diane Morgan grabbed Claire’s packed suitcase before Claire could reach the front door.
Then she swung it.
The hard side of the case struck Claire across the mouth.
Claire recoiled and covered her lips.
No blood.
Just shock.
Diane pointed toward the open door.
“GET OUT!”
Claire stared at her mother.
“Mom—”
Diane hurled the suitcase outside.
It crashed onto the porch.
Clothes spilled across the steps.
Claire ran after it.
“MOM! I HAVE NOTHING!”
Diane stepped into the doorway.
“That’s your problem!”
Claire dropped to her knees and shoved sweaters, jeans, and underwear back into the case with shaking hands.
“Please… don’t do this.”
Diane gripped the door.
“You’re twenty-four years old. You quit another job. You can’t pay rent. You can’t finish anything.”
“I didn’t quit. The café closed.”
“Excuses.”
“I just need a few weeks.”
Diane’s face hardened.
“You’re nothing without me.”
Then she slammed the door.
Claire stayed on the porch.
For almost a full minute, she did not move.
The house behind her was enormous.
Three stories.
White columns.
Gray stone.
The Morgan family home had been part of her life since childhood.
Her grandfather’s study.
Her father’s library.
The kitchen where Claire learned to bake.
The oak tree where her father tied a swing.
And now she was sitting outside it with one suitcase and eighty-seven dollars in checking.
Her phone buzzed.
A text from Diane.
DO NOT COME BACK TONIGHT.
Claire read it.
Then deleted it.
She dragged the suitcase toward the driveway.
A wheel broke.
She kept going.
At the bottom of the drive she turned once.
Diane stood behind the upstairs window.
Watching.
Claire waited for her mother to change her mind.
Diane closed the curtain.
Five years later, that was the moment Claire remembered most clearly.
Not the suitcase.
Not the insult.
May you like
The curtain.
The decision to watch her daughter leave and make sure she kept walking.
