paper of her new prescription in her hand. The sky above Manhattan was painted in bruised shades of

he walked straight to the subway station, swiped her

Her mind kept replaying the scene in the clinic. The feeling of Corbin's thumb wiping away her tears. The dark, raspy sound o

hattan faded into the grimy, brick-faced reality of Queens, the euph

had no savings. And

were littered with trash, and the streetlights flickered ominously. She stopped in front of

ine cleaner and frying onions hit her instantly. The living

e was aggressively chopping a chicken carcass on a plastic cutt

turn around. "It's extortion! And you're late. Did that idiot boss of yours make you st

her bag, apologize, and

d to the doorway of the kitchen and stood there, her arms hang

voice was quiet, but s

r stopped

t. The only sound was the o

olding the heavy knife. Her eyes were wide,

a's voice was a dangerou

. "I quit. I walked out. I'm

, unadulterated rage. She slammed the cleaver down

tance between them, and grabbed Hope by the shoulders. Her acrylic nails dug painfully into Hope's skin through her t

er. Her own anger finally ignited. "I had a kidney infection today! I co

a ceramic dinner plate off the counter, and hurled it at the floor. It

You think you're so smart? You think you can just walk away when things get hard? You are exactly like

was a physical blow. It wa

. She collapsed into one of the cheap dining chairs, burying her fac

"I scrubbed toilets so you could go to college! I sacrificed my ent

ears, this exact performance had worked. It had kept Hope chained

nd. No one can take your dignity fr

. The guilt vanished, replaced

r me," Hope said, he

sed. She looked up

you won," Hope said, hitting the absolute, ugly tr

wordless scream of fury and pushed herse

edroom. It was barely larger than a closet, with no windows. She stepped i

deadbolt into plac

"Open this door! Don't you dare walk away from

he slid down to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest. She clamped her hands ove

as broke. She was trapped in a hostile house. But as she sat there in the dark, her c