Chapter 1

The smart home security feed played on my phone screen, a silent movie of betrayal.

Ethan, my fiancé, was with Chloe, my stepsister, in the house we were supposed to share.

Their movements were clear, undeniable.

I tapped the record button, my hand surprisingly steady.

The grand Charleston wedding was just days away.

My stomach twisted, but my mind was cold, clear.

I needed to call Mom.

Eleanor Chen, my mother, a tech CEO in Austin, always knew what to do.

The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Ava, honey, what's wrong? You sound strange."

Her voice, usually warm, was sharp with concern.

I told her everything, the words tumbling out, flat and emotionless.

The video, Chloe, Ethan, our house.

Silence stretched across the line.

Then, "Ava, listen to me. Pack a bag. I'm booking you a flight to Austin, one way."

"But the wedding, Mom..."

"There is no wedding, sweetheart. Not for you, not with him."

Her tone was iron, absolute.

"I have a position for you here, a good one. You can start over. You're strong, Ava. You'll get through this."

Tears I hadn't realized I was holding back started to fall.

Hot, silent tears, blurring the phone screen.

"He... he chose her," I whispered.

"Then he's a fool, Ava. A damned fool. And you, my daughter, deserve so much better."

Eleanor continued, "My past with your father, with her mother... it taught me about walking away from poison. This is your time to walk."

The words resonated, a painful echo of her own history.

After we hung up, I sank to the floor of my small Charleston apartment, the one I was supposed to leave so soon.

The sobs came then, wracking my body.

Deep, gut-wrenching sobs for a decade lost, for a future shattered.

But beneath the grief, a tiny, hard kernel of resolve began to form.

Eleanor was right. I would walk.