When my son said with contempt, “Mom, pack your bags. You’re moving out today. You have one hour left,” I knew I was being abandoned.
The part that kept my spine straight was simple: they had no idea I’d already changed everything yesterday. I had just folded the last piece of laundry when Avery walked in, her steps sharp enough to cut the air. She didn’t look at me—she looked at the basket in my hands as if my touch contaminated it.
Then, without warning, she slammed her palm against the edge and sent the entire load crashing to the floor. Socks, shirts, towels scattered like debris after an explosion. She pointed at me with a cold, triumphant smile.
“Pack your bags. Today, you’re moving out. You have one hour, May.”
Before I could process her words, Luke stepped behind her, arms crossed, eyes flat and distant—nothing like the warm brown eyes his father had possessed.
“Where you’re going?” he said, letting out a low, dismissive snort. “A grave for leeches like you.”
My breath caught, but I stayed still. I had survived worse storms.
Yet his words carried something final, something practiced—something he’d wanted to say for a long time. Avery leaned closer, her voice dripping with contempt. “You’ve leeched off us long enough.
That old-person smell of yours sticks to everything. It’s depressing.”
“It’s depressing,” Luke echoed, as if proud to agree. “You make life slower for everyone.
Even the kids avoid you. You drag the whole house down with that limp.”
None of it was true, but lies told with confidence have a way of sounding real. Avery stepped around me, kicking one of Luke’s shirts out of her path.
“Honestly, May, you’re lucky we kept you this long. You cling like a barnacle.”
My hands trembled slightly, not from fear but from disbelief at how easily cruelty flowed from their mouths. Avery’s hatred for me had never come from anything I actually did.
It sprouted from places so petty I sometimes wondered if she simply needed an enemy and chose me because I was the easiest target. She’d never forgiven me for refusing to lend her money years ago when she wanted a flashy new car her credit couldn’t support. Another time, I’d gently suggested that posting suggestive videos of her daughter online might not be safe.
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