Shattered Birthday, Silent Empire

On the night my mother cancelled my eighteenth birthday because my sister didn’t “feel special enough,” something inside me died so quietly it almost sounded like relief. While Vanessa wailed over a delayed sponsorship, I packed my life into two black garbage bags, walked out into the freezing rain, and vanished. One year later, when they finally saw what I’d built without them, their world began to crum… Continues…