Chapter 2

I shoved my bedroom door open and yanked my black duffel bag from the top of the closet.

The room reeked of invasion.

My National Physics Olympiad gold medal had been ripped off the wall, replaced by one of Aria’s nonsensical finger paintings.

My advanced textbooks had been shoved into a corner to make room for her sprawling makeup collection.

I packed light: a few changes of clothes, my laptop, and the external hard drive holding all my core data.

"Quinn..."

The door creaked open.

Aria stood in the doorway, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"Please don't be mad at Mom and Dad. I know you're still carrying the guilt from eight years ago. If you really want that recommendation so badly, I can beg them to give it back to you. "

"I don't mind suffering a little more..."

I zipped up my bag and shot her a deadpan look.

"Are you done?" I couldn't even muster the energy to fake an expression. "There's no audience here. You can drop the act."

"I'm not acting, sis. How could you say that—"

"Quinn, watch how you speak to your sister!"

Carter stormed into the room from behind Aria, throwing himself in front of her like some valiant knight in shining armor, glaring at me furiously.

"Aria was out on the streets for eight years! While she was starving, you were sitting here enjoying the best education money could buy!"

"All they asked was for you to give up your spot to make it up to her. Did you really have to humiliate Mom and Dad in front of the entire county?"

I stared at Carter’s self-righteous face, a wave of nausea rolling through my stomach.

Eight years ago, on that exact afternoon, it was fifteen-year-old Carter who ditched Aria on a park bench so he could go hook up with his cheerleader crush.

By the time I rushed over from the library, the bench was empty.

When our parents rushed back in a frenzy, Carter literally wet his pants and hid in his room, trembling like a leaf.

No matter how I tried to explain, they wouldn't listen.

Eventually, I was gaslit into believing it WAS my fault.

As a ten-year-old, I stood in the middle of the living room and took the brunt of their fury and blame for him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't watch her."

From that day on, I was the sinner of the Gallagher family.

I grew up drowning in cold stares and verbal abuse, fighting tooth and nail to be number one, to be absolutely perfect, just to earn a shred of a smile from them.

Meanwhile, the real culprit—Carter—sat back comfortably, soaking up our parents' unconditional love. And when Aria finally came back, he used me as a stepping stone to play the "doting big brother."

"Carter," I said flatly.

He froze, his eyes darting away guiltily.

"Do you ever have nightmares when you go to sleep?" I locked eyes with him. "Was the wind cold on that park bench eight years ago?"

All the color drained from Carter's face. His lips trembled, but no words came out.

I didn't waste another breath on him. Grabbing my bag, I headed for the door.

As I brushed past Aria, she instinctively shrank back.

"Take the Stanford spot and put on a good show," I whispered as I passed. "Try not to crash and burn too quickly."

At the bottom of the stairs, my parents were standing in the middle of the foyer, looking absolutely livid. The guests had all been cleared out, leaving the place a total wreck.

"If you dare step out of this house today, the Gallaghers will cut you off completely! Not a single cent!" Dad pointed a finger at my face, his roar practically rattling the crystal chandelier.

"Your tuition, your credit cards, your car—I'm cutting it all off! Let's see how long a selfish brat like you can keep this attitude up!"

Mom sneered from beside him. "Let her go. Once she starts starving, she'll come crawling back to beg Aria for forgiveness."

I stopped in my tracks.

There was no hysterical screaming, no tearful accusations. Not because I didn't dare, but because they simply weren't worth it anymore.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Ferrari key fob, along with two black Amex cards.

I tossed them onto the marble console table.

"You don't need to cut me off," I said, my eyes completely devoid of warmth. "I'm dropping you."

Before they could even process what happened, I pushed open the front doors and walked out.