Chapter 5: A New Life in Texas

The bus rolled into Texas just after sunrise. I stepped down with my suitcase, stiff from the long journey and too tired to think clearly. Around me, people hurried toward taxis and waiting cars, all of them seeming to know exactly where they belonged.

I checked the address printed on my college admission letter. The campus was still a bus ride away, and my savings were barely enough to cover the first few days. I took a breath, tightened my grip on my suitcase, and headed toward the station entrance.

My phone was still switched off. I knew Mom would have called again, and Rhys might have sent one of his cruel messages. For once, I didn't want either of their voices in my head.

At the campus office, a staff member checked my documents and gave me directions to the student residence. When she asked whether my family would be joining me, I paused before answering.

No,” I said. “I came alone.

The words sounded strange, but they were true. No one here knew the rumors about me. No one had heard Rhys call me a thief or watched my mother turn away when I needed her most.

That afternoon, I unpacked my few belongings in a small dorm room. The bed was narrow, the desk scratched, and the window looked out over a courtyard full of unfamiliar faces. It wasn't much, but the room was mine.

I placed my father's empty necklace box on the desk. Blair had taken the necklace, but I still remembered the warmth of my father's hand as he fastened it around my neck when I was younger. I promised myself I would not let the loss of that keepsake become another reason to give up.

Then I counted my money. After paying for transportation and basic supplies, there wasn't enough to last long. I needed work, and I needed it quickly.

The next morning, I visited the student employment office. The counselor explained that campus jobs were limited, but she gave me a list of places hiring part-time workers. I thanked her and began making calls before I had even left the building.

By late afternoon, I had an interview at a small café near campus. The manager asked about my experience, and I told her about the restaurant job I had lost. I didn't mention the Wells family or the accusations. I simply explained that I knew how to serve customers, work under pressure, and learn quickly.

She looked over my application. “Can you start tomorrow?”

For the first time in a long while, hope came without a warning attached. “Yes,” I answered. “I can.”

That evening, I switched on my phone. Dozens of missed calls and messages appeared on the screen. Most were from Mom. There were a few from Mr. Wells, and one from Blair.

I opened Mom's latest message.

“Where are you? You can't just disappear like this. Call me immediately.”

There was no apology. No question about whether I was safe. Just an order, as if I were still standing in the hallway of the Wells house, waiting for permission to breathe.

I typed a reply, then erased it. I tried again, but every sentence seemed to pull me back into the same old argument. At last, I wrote only: “I'm safe. I'm at college. I need some time, and I won't be coming home.”

My thumb hovered over the screen before I sent it. My hands shook, but I didn't take the message back.

Almost immediately, the phone rang. Mom's name filled the display. I let it ring until it stopped.

A new message arrived from Rhys.

“Enjoy playing independent. You'll come crawling back when you run out of money.”

I read it twice. The old fear rose in my chest, but this time it didn't control my hands. I blocked his number, set my phone aside, and opened my notebook to write down my work hours and expenses.

I had a long way to go. I would need to study hard, budget carefully, and find a way to pay for every semester. There would be lonely nights and days when I missed the mother I used to know.

But I had made it here by myself.

For the first time, my future belonged to me. And if Rhys ever regretted what he had done, that regret would have to find me in a life I built without him.