Chapter 5

Olivia ignored Daniel's question, giving her friend Sarah a small, sad smile. "Thank you for this, Sarah. I'll transfer you money for his expenses. Please take good care of him."

"Of course, Olivia," Sarah said, looking worriedly between Olivia and the two angry men. "Call me if you need anything." She gave Olivia a quick hug and hurried away, leaving Olivia to face her brother and friend alone.

"I asked you a question," Daniel said, his voice sharp and demanding. "Why did you give your cat away?"

Olivia finally turned to face them, her expression calm and detached. "I'm leaving," she said simply. "He can't stay here by himself."

The statement hung in the air, stunning them into silence.

"Leaving? What do you mean, leaving?" Ethan asked, taking a step forward. "Where are you going?"

"You told me to leave," Olivia said, her gaze fixed on Daniel. "A few weeks ago, during that argument about Clara's birthday party. You said if I couldn't learn to get along with her, maybe I should just move out." She paused, letting the memory sink in. "I'm just taking your suggestion."

Daniel's face paled. He clearly remembered saying it, a cruel remark thrown out in a moment of anger. He hadn't meant it. Or maybe he had. It didn't matter now.

"That's not... I didn't mean it like that," he stammered. "Clara was just upset. You know how sensitive she is."

"Yes, very sensitive," Ethan chimed in, rushing to Clara' s defense. "You need to be more understanding, Liv. We're a family. You can't just run away when things get tough. We should all just try to get along."

The absurdity of his words was almost laughable. They were asking her to make peace after they had systematically stripped her of everything she cared about. She felt a profound sense of exhaustion.

"Right," she said, her voice flat. "Family."

She turned and walked past them, heading up the stairs to her room. She didn't have the energy to argue anymore. It was time to erase herself from this house, just as they had erased her from their hearts.

Her room was a museum of a life that was no longer hers. Photos of her, Daniel, and Ethan were on the walls-laughing at the beach, making faces at the camera, celebrating birthdays. Every object held a memory, a shared story. There were matching mugs they had bought on a trip, a collection of concert tickets from shows they had attended, a shelf of books they had all read and discussed.

She remembered a silly habit they used to have: whenever one of them bought something, they'd often buy three, so they could all have one. It was a symbol of their unity, a physical representation of their "all for one" pact. Looking at the paired and tripled items now just made her feel sick.

With a grim sense of purpose, she began to pack. She pulled a large trash bag from her closet and started sweeping items off her shelves and into the bag. The mugs, the books, the souvenirs-all of it went in. She didn't want any of it. The memories were too painful.

She moved to the photos on the wall, pulling them down one by one. She paused at a picture of the three of them as teenagers, arms slung around each other, grinning widely. For a moment, a pang of sorrow hit her, but it was quickly replaced by a cold emptiness. She tossed it into the bag with the rest.

Within an hour, her room was bare. The walls were empty, the shelves clear. The only things left were her clothes, packed neatly in a suitcase, and the trash bags filled with her past. The room looked like a sterile, impersonal hotel room. It was as if she had never lived there at all.

Just as she was zipping up the last bag, Daniel and Ethan burst into the room. They stopped short, their eyes widening in shock at the stark emptiness.

"What have you done?" Daniel breathed, his gaze falling on the trash bag full of photos. He rushed over and tore it open, pulling out the picture of them as teenagers. His face was a mask of disbelief and anger.

"You're throwing these away? Are you insane?" he yelled, holding up the photo. "Do these memories mean nothing to you?"