Chapter 4: Broken

I lost it. Completely.

I crossed the room with no thought in my head but getting to her.

In front of all those stunned faces, I held out my hand. My voice was ice.

"Give it back."

Vanessa's eyes flickered. Guilt, fast and sharp. She ducked behind Mom.

Dad glared at me. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I ignored him. My eyes stayed locked on Vanessa. I couldn't stop the red blurring my vision.

"I said, give it back!"

The raw, ragged edge in my voice set Vanessa off.

She covered the necklace with both hands.

"Why does Grandma give you a necklace and not me? That's not fair. I just want fairness."

My voice shook. A broken, bitter laugh tore out of me. "Fair?!"

"My whole life, whenever Mom and Dad got holiday cash gifts from relatives, there were only two envelopes. One for you. One for Derek. My whole life, this is the one thing I've ever gotten. And that's not fair?!"

Vanessa had no comeback. Her face flushed deep red. Tears pooled fast.

Derek strode over. He yanked the necklace off Vanessa's neck and hurled it to the floor.

Through my stunned, horrified gaze, the heart pendant snapped clean from the chain. Split in two. Broken.

Derek looked at me with pure disgust. His voice was flat. "There. It's broken. Now none of us have it. Happy now?"

Before my rage could even surface, Mom's slap landed.

"Enough!" Her palm cracked across my face.

I stumbled. Barely kept my feet.

I pressed a hand to my burning cheek and turned to stare at her. I couldn't believe it.

Mom's face was a mask of disappointment and coldness. But that fire in her eyes. That was fury. Fury that my question had cut deep.

She couldn't stand me looking at her like that. So she turned and dumped the rest of her rage on Grandma.

"Mom, that's enough! It's always you!"

Grandma stood there in the crowd, lips bloodless. Her frail body swayed. She looked like a child caught doing something wrong.

The pain in my body and heart nearly swallowed me whole.

It took a long moment to find my voice. When I did, it came out scraped raw.

"Grandma had nothing to do with this." My voice was so quiet I could barely hear it. "I was wrong. I thought I was part of this family. I won't make that mistake again."

Then I smiled at my parents.

The tears kept falling anyway. Sliding over the broken skin on my cheek where she'd hit me. A scalding burn.

I found a broom from one of the servers. I swept up every fragment of that necklace, carefully, piece by piece. I put them in a small cloth pouch.

While I did that, Dad was awkwardly telling Mom they were one seat short. Should they add another. Mom's voice sliced through the room, high and reckless.

"If there's one too many, tell her to get lost. She ruined a perfectly good day. She has the nerve to still be here?"

The stares of neighbors and friends pierced me like needles.

But this time, I didn't cry. I just got up, numb, clutching those broken pieces, and walked out. Numb.

Back at the house, I packed my things faster than I ever had.

I borrowed money from my academic advisor and bought the earliest ticket to Toronto I could find.

My advisor sounded worried. "Wren, is something going on? Do you want me to reach out to your family?"

I was at the airport by then, bag in hand. Her words landed. I let out a bitter laugh.

"No need. I don't have a family anymore."

The boarding announcement sounded. I held the pouch of broken necklace pieces tight to my chest and walked forward. Didn't look back once.