Chapter 2 - THE DOORBELL TOLL
The heavy oak front door of my mother's suburban home swung open to reveal a hallway filled with the warm, buttery scent of expensive vanilla candles.
I stood on the cold stone porch, the freezing rain soaking through my thin cardigan, my hands trembling as I clutched the handle of a single plastic suitcase.
My newborn daughter, Maya, breathed in tiny, shallow gasps against my chest, her small body wrapped in a faded green blanket we had salvaged from the apartment.
My mother, Eleanor, stood in the center of the foyer with her arms crossed tightly, her silk green blouse immaculate, her face completely unyielding.
"We aren't a charity, Chloe; you chose this destitute life with that mechanic, and now you have to carry the financial reality," she said coldly.
"If you want a room in this house for you and the baby, it will cost you two thousand dollars cash up front before I unlock the door."
I looked past her shoulder to where my younger brother, Julian, stood beside his wife, Vanessa, both of them holding crystal wineglasses.
Vanessa let out a small, patronizing laugh, her gold bracelets clinking loudly against her wrist as she adjusted her glittering cocktail dress.
"Some people just aren't built for a better lifestyle, Chloe; it’s truly pathetic how you let yourself fall this far," she sneered.
"I gave you everything I had when you were in debt, and you couldn't even bother to show up for Liam's funeral," I whispered.
May you like
"You're right, Mother; I chose him, and now I am choosing to leave every single one of you behind in the dark."
I turned away from the warm doorway, my worn shoes slipping on the wet stone steps as I walked back toward the street.
