Chapter 5: Breaking the Cycle

Tomorrow morning, the entertainment headlines will explode with news of Jason holding hands with a fan.

I pictured the inevitable fallout—her phone buzzing with notifications, her dreams shattering in real time. I braced myself, knowing the storm was coming, but this time, I was ready.

I took out my phone and called Derek: “I need to go on a business trip for a few days. Come pick up your daughter to stay with you.”

I made my voice brisk, businesslike, leaving no room for argument. I wasn’t asking; I was telling him to step up for once.

Derek stammered, “I’m really busy these days, the company has an important project…”

I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. The excuses never changed, only the details.

I snorted, “Then I’ll send her to her grandmother’s? Anyway, the old lady always says she misses her granddaughter.”

The threat was idle, but effective. I knew he’d move mountains to avoid a confrontation with his mother or his new wife.

He immediately got nervous on the other end. “No, no, I’ll come pick her up. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”

His panic was almost comical, his eagerness to please outweighing any real sense of responsibility. I almost felt sorry for him—almost.

The next day, just at dawn, as I was dragging my suitcase to go out, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly came from my daughter’s room.

The sound cut through the early morning quiet, startling the crows perched on the telephone wires. I paused in the foyer, my hand on the doorknob, letting the moment wash over me.

“Ah—!”

Her cry was raw, shattered. I closed my eyes, remembering the first time she’d called for me after a nightmare. This time, I didn’t answer.

I stopped in my tracks, the corners of my mouth unconsciously rising. What a wonderful sound.

I allowed myself a small, guilty smile. It wasn’t joy at her pain, but relief that the burden was no longer mine alone to carry.

In my previous life, this news completely broke her. She tore her acceptance letter to shreds and finally pushed me off the balcony.

The memory was a shadow that lingered, but this time, I was determined to step away before the darkness swallowed me whole.

In this life, I have to let her dad experience what I went through too.

I zipped my suitcase, heart thumping, and stepped into the dawn. For once, the world felt wide open—and this time, I wasn’t looking back.