His Abuse, Her Awakening

ner table with a heavy, deliberate thud,

mother and I have decided, you're the most capable one in th

symbol of trust, it felt like a trap. My older bro

al breadwinner is," he said, no

wasn't about trust, it was about making it ea

ke it, Chloe. It's easier for us this way, you know

daughter, the brilliant professional, but in their eyes, my succ

icked up the card, the pl

pay for groceries and things, I'll link it to my phone. You can jus

ughter, but I was just setting a boundary, creating a digital trail

asted less

when Liam and his wife, Sarah, showed up unannounced. They sat down at

e said, as casually as if

my fork.

, puffing out his chest. "It's a sure

artificial sweetness. "It's a fantastic o

g" businesses, all funded by my parents and, indirectly, by me. The

aid, my v

ell. "What do

$50,000 to spare for anot

it? You're a senior manager at a top firm! And what

You're hoarding the family's money, Chloe! We know they gave

nsion, which I carefully managed, was some huge fortune I was keeping from them. They ignored the fact that I w

to Liam with a pained expression. "Now, now, let's not

my voice rising. "Because he spends more th

y' voice on full display. "Chloe, that's enough. You

the same old bias, the same old dismissal of my hard w

dry eyes. "If we can't get this business off the ground, I don't know what will happen

ulation so blatant it was almost co

on't say that! Chloe, do you hear that? You could

pushed my chair

ness, or his marriage," I said, my voice shaki

lunged forward and grabbed my a

bitch! You're going to give me that mone

y, but his grip was like i

er cried out, but she ma

iam to back off, he looked at me. "Chloe, st

assaulting me. The unfairness of it all burned throug

ed marks on my skin. I didn't wait for a response. I grab

start the engine, my phone rang. It was my mother. I ignored it.

is to your brother? You're

assenger seat, my eyes sting

urity camera app on my phone, the one I had installed in my parents' livi

the sofa, while Sarah sobbed dramatically into h

ugh the phone's speaker. "She's just being difficult. She has

he bone. They weren't just biased, they were co

ccounts. I changed the password to their online banking and set a daily spendin

gain, another tex

amily is like this. You ha

They blamed me. After everything I had done

iet, cold clarity of a final decision being made. They had drawn the bat

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