StoriaHot tags
Family Dysfunction
I Chose Me—And Left Them Behind
Sometimes, the only way to find home is to walk away from the one that broke you. When Ellie Brooks returns to her wealthy birth family after years in the shadows, she’s desperate for a place to belong—but all she finds is a perfect house built on cold shoulders and invisible walls. Her sister Savannah wears the crown, her brother Carter guards the door, and her parents are masters of polite indifference. This time, Ellie won’t beg for scraps of love. Instead, she claims the smallest room, hides her pain, and quietly plans her escape. But as family secrets unravel and old betrayals come roaring back, Ellie must choose: fight for the family that never wanted her, or finally fight for herself? If survival means walking away, can she leave the past—and their twisted love—behind for good?
The Middle Child No One Chose
They called me the family’s disappointment, the invisible middle child lost in the shadow of my golden siblings. Every dinner table dig and silent birthday taught me to shrink myself—until college, where I finally tasted freedom, hunger, and kindness. From hustling as a hostess to surviving betrayal and claiming my voice on stage, I learned what family truly means—and what it doesn’t. But when old wounds resurface and my parents come begging, will I finally break free or be pulled back into their web of guilt and regret? In a world that never wanted me to shine, what will I risk for my own place in the light?