Chapter 1

The hospital lights were too bright, they always were.

I lay there, another set of stitches, another round of painkillers making my head swim.

This time, it was for spilling coffee.

My mother, Brenda, hadn' t screamed, her eyes just went flat and cold, like she wished I hadn' t woken up.

I was nineteen.

I' d even done a secret DNA test last year, swiped her coffee cup from the trash.

It came back positive, she was my mother.

It didn' t make any sense, this hate.

I remembered Grandma Susan and Grandpa Joe, Mom' s parents.

They used to visit from their town, just an hour away.

At first, when they saw the bruises, they were horrified.

Grandma Susan would hug me tight, whispering, "Oh, Maya, honey."

Grandpa Joe would look at Brenda with angry eyes.

Then Mom showed them something on her phone, a video.

Just like that, they changed.

Grandma Susan pulled her hand away from me.

Grandpa Joe' s face went hard.

I heard him tell Brenda, his voice low and tight, "Get that girl out of your house, Brenda, or worse. Deal with it."

After that, they stopped visiting me, only calling to speak to Brenda, Ashley, or Olivia.

My older sisters, Ashley and Olivia, they never said anything.

Sometimes, when Mom was yelling, I' d see them in the doorway.

Ashley would just stare, blank.

Olivia might even have a little smirk.

They always sided with Mom, or just stayed silent, which was the same thing.

Only Dad, Richard, seemed to care.

He owned the biggest car dealership in town, everyone knew him, thought he was great.

He' d come home from his "auto shows" or "dealer conferences," see my latest injury, and his face would fill with sympathy.

He' d hug me, tell me Mom was just stressed.

He was my only hope, the only one who seemed normal in this crazy house.

But he was gone so much.