"M, honey, your father and I have already picked out a few good matches for you. These men are sessful,e from wealthy families-marrying any of them, you''d be set for life."


    Gaye slid a handful of photographs across the table.


    M barely nced at them. The youngest of the bunch looked well past thirty, his hair slicked back, a chunky gold chain gleaming against his neck-every inch the stereotype of a nouveau riche braggart.


    "Set for life?” she echoed, voice dry.


    "More like you''re the ones cashing in," M shot back, her gaze cool and detached. "How much did these men offer you? What favors did you get? Is that why you''re so eager to sell me off?"


    She didn''t even bother with anger anymore. It was almost funny-her parents'' willingness to sell their daughter out couldn''t have been more obvious.


    "Insolent girl! Is that any way to speak to your parents?" her uncle barked, his tone sharp and angry.


    M shot him a cold, steely look. The blood-streaked porcin shard twisting between her fingers said enough. He fell silent.


    Gaye, face flushed with rage, jabbed a finger at her. "You''re quitting school anding home with us today! Big city life has made you wild, heartless!"


    "I''m not going back. And I''m not getting married," M said tly.


    "You don''t get to decide!" Gaye fumed.


    Simon, who''d been quietly watching the entire exchange, finally spoke up, his face set in stern lines. "If you refuse toe home, your mother will be outside your school tomorrow-on her knees, holding a sign, letting the whole world see what an ungrateful daughter you are. Abandoning your parents, driving them to such extremes-is this what a daughter does?"


    "That''s right!" Gaye chimed in, voice shrill. "If you don''t listen, we''ll put you on the news-let everyone see how you treat your own family! Since when do children get to livefortably while their parents suffer?"


    Each word was a dagger, sharp and deliberate.


    M stared at the faces twisted with anger before her. It felt like she was watching some kind of grotesque y-one she''d seen performed countless times over thest eighteen years.


    Now, as the curtain rose again, the anger and bitterness she once felt had faded, reced by a cold detachment. She felt as if she were hovering outside herself, watching the absurdity unfold with grim amusement.


    Never before had she felt so-


    Calm.


    She lifted her hand and mmed it down on the table-once, twice, three times. The harsh sound echoed through the room, like a war drum announcing battle, each blow more forceful than thest.


    The porcin shard sliced open her palm. Blood smeared across the wood, bright and vivid.


    A stunned hush fell.


    A few droplets sttered onto their faces. Gaye shrieked, staring at her like she was insane.


    But M''s expression didn''t change. She pressed her bleeding hand firmly against the table, her gaze as icy as her voice:


    "One month."


    "If I see any of you on campus in the next month, all bets are off. I''ll burn every bridge, and you''ll regret ever trying to control me."


    Without another word, M stood and walked out.


    No one dared move to stop her.


    Blood pooled at the edge of the table, a crimson stain that burned in everyone''s eyes.


    ...


    M left the private dining room and found the restaurant owner. She quietly paid for the broken ss and the bloodstained table.


    The owner spotted her bleeding hand and quickly handed her a clean towel, urging her to get to a hospital and insisting she didn''t owe a cent. M pressed the cash into his hand anyway before wrapping her numb hand in the towel and stepping outside.


    She needed time.


    Time to think-to find a way to end this, once and for all.


    This was herst year at Northpoint University. Her future was bright, full of promise. She wouldn''t let them ruin it.


    She needed a solution. Something permanent. Something that would sever these toxic ties for good, so her family could never use her again.


    But how?


    ...


    She''d barely stepped out the door when she froze.


    Her younger brother, Hugo Suthend, was waiting outside, crouched on the


    curb. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. He stood and hurried over, holding out a candied apple.


    "Hey, sis. It''s sweet," he said, hopeful.


    Smack.


    M pped the candy to the ground, her face twisted with contempt. "Hugo, don''t try to y nice. You know exactly why I''m in this mess, don''t you?"


    This forced marriage, every desperate escape-none of it would have happened if not for him. Her parents had always squeezed every drop of value out of her for Hugo''s sake, for his future.


    The better his life got, the worse hers became.


    She''d been born first-healthy, strong. Hugo cameter, frail and sickly, always falling ill, sometimes seizing so badly he''d lose consciousness.


    Her parents resented her for "stealing" his strength, convinced she was some sort of curse. They''d kept her hungry, pped her if she so much as nced at meat on the table.


    At home, her only rule was silence. If she coughed or made noise, at best she''d get yelled at. If her parents were in a foul mood, they''d beat her-once, they''d even smashed a heavy wooden chair over her, the stains on it growing darker, deeper with her blood, year after year.


    She didn''t have a room of her own. Where she slept depended on her parents'' mood. If they were especially angry, she''d spend the night on her knees in the hallway.