Chapter 4

The memory of my parents' whispered conversation sent a fresh wave of nausea through me. My academic achievements were now completely ignored.

The screen flickered. a new scene unfolded, years later. I was a teenager, my hands rough, my body aching. The clatter and roar of a factory floor filled the air. My parents had pulled me out of my advanced placement classes, claiming they couldn't afford the "extra burden" of my education.

"Karsyn needs her tuition paid," Fronie had declared. "You need to contribute, Elodie. It's your duty."

I started saving every spare penny, a secret cache hidden beneath a loose floorboard. Then, I got sick. A bout of pneumonia forced me to miss work. The money I usually sent home was late.

The memory shifted, violently. My parents burst into the factory. Don grabbed my arm. "Where's the money, you ungrateful wretch?!"

My hidden stash slipped from my pocket. Don's eyes widened with a terrifying greed. "You've been hoarding money from us, you little thief?!"

He began to hit me, his open palm cracking against my cheek again and again. Fronie stomped on a pile of my precious books, tearing the pages. "Filling your head with nonsense instead of focusing on your family!"

"No! Please!" I begged.

Don grabbed a handful of paper, my precious sketches, and tore them into confetti. "This is what you get for being selfish!"