ca's

en the previous night returned in pieces: my father's angry voice, my mother's accusations, James laughing, and the faces of strangers watching me being thrown out of my own famil

mile "Was th

whole city seems to

mpany. Beneath it were photographs from the anniversary celebration. One showed my father pointing at me another captured the moment I turned away from the crowd. Som

y gossip," Kianna replied. "They don't n

u need," she said "You don't hav

eep depend

ending on me yo

cted to my family's finances access denied I tried again, thinking it was a temporary problem. The same message appeared my family had blocked my access to the accounts and car

cked the notifications. "Y

y account and the

e. You can look for a job, and I'l

nt their mo

ide make things harder

my shoulder I spent the next hour trying to make a list of what I needed: clothes, identification, somewhere to work, and enough money to manage on my own. The list looked simple, but every item reminded me of how much of my life had been tied to the

have start

y would love you there's no

make employers hesitate. I could not afford to wait for my family to change their minds I needed to begin somewhere, even if the first ste

is

y Wil

guests while my family publicly accused me. I had noticed his expression,

th you somew

hy

eve you did what your

ed him humiliate me why sho

en sooner," he admi

hy didn

roup. The information released last night affects us too I've been

d around the pho

eared online. The way the evidence was presented

npacking the groceries and was listeni

e used your name to hide wh

ved throug

s looking into it, and I've f

mily investigate m

nnected to us and because I have reason

ne who was supposed to protect me had turned against me witho

on. There are details I don't

she gave a small, cauti

e with someone if you want. I

and a time. I read it twice, then placed the phone on the table Ki

But I need to know why someone w

wanted to show me, or whether his family could be trusted but if someone had used my name to betray Hayes Group, I would find out who had done it I knew I