A System's Cruel Joke

small, sad smile. "Thank you for this, Sarah. I'll transfe

two angry men. "Call me if you need anything." She gave Olivia a quick h

aid, his voice sharp and demanding

ession calm and detached. "I'm leaving," she

in the air, stunnin

ing?" Ethan asked, taking a step

ument about Clara's birthday party. You said if I couldn't learn to get along with her, maybe I

a cruel remark thrown out in a moment of anger. He h

that," he stammered. "Clara was just

You need to be more understanding, Liv. We're a family. You can't just

her to make peace after they had systematically stripped her of ev

aid, her voice

She didn't have the energy to argue anymore. It was time to erase he

, making faces at the camera, celebrating birthdays. Every object held a memory, a shared story. There were matching mugs they ha

n buy three, so they could all have one. It was a symbol of their unity, a physical representation

loset and started sweeping items off her shelves and into the bag. The mugs, the books,

ee of them as teenagers, arms slung around each other, grinning widely. For a moment, a pang of sorro

t were her clothes, packed neatly in a suitcase, and the trash bags filled with her past. The r

d Ethan burst into the room. They stopped short, t

ag full of photos. He rushed over and tore it open, pulling out the pi

sane?" he yelled, holding up the photo.