Chapter 2 A Clean Break

• Cody remained glued to his game, not even looking up. "I said you’d be better off dead, you fat cow," he muttered.
• I turned to Amber and asked, "Is that what you think too?"
• Amber shot me a glare before retreating to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
• Cody continued playing on the couch until his phone battery died. He got up to find his charger, walking past me as if I didn’t exist. Meanwhile, Amber briefly emerged to use the bathroom, then hurried back to her room to chat with friends about celebrities.
• These are my children, no, they won’t be my children anymore.
• I got up from the floor, went to my bedroom, and opened the saved footage from the living room camera. I downloaded the clip of what just happened onto my phone to remind myself never to look back. Then, I pulled out a suitcase and began packing.
• The last time Larry hit me, he got down on his knees and begged for my forgiveness.
• I wanted a divorce, but I had been a stay-at-home mom for thirteen years. With no financial independence and an unwillingness to part with either of my children, I convinced myself to endure it and carry on.
• But things only got worse. Larry began staying out all night.
• I kept telling myself to be patient. I planned to wait until the kids went to boarding school in high school, then find a job and save enough money to secure custody of them. But now, I knew giving even one more ounce of effort to this family was a betrayal of myself.
• Once packed, my luggage was pitifully small.
• After having kids, my body changed, and I gained a lot of weight. I hadn’t bought new clothes in years, spending all my time cooking, cleaning, and driving the kids around. I didn’t see the point in dressing up, nothing looked good on me anymore. Besides, money was tight. Larry only gave me four hundred twenty dollars a month for household expenses, which barely covered groceries, meals, and pocket money for the kids.
• I downloaded a job-hunting app and started looking for work. Scrolling through the listings, I noticed there was a high demand for delivery drivers. I contacted a recruiter, who told me the job paid daily with no withheld wages, plus a four hundred twenty dollars bonus for new hires after five months. They said a diligent worker could earn over one thousand dollars a month. If I had an electric scooter, I could start the next day.
• I opened a drawer and took out a gold necklace Larry had given me when we got married. It was my only piece of jewelry after all these years. I figured it might fetch around two hundred eighty dollars. Adding that to my meager four-figure savings, I could manage for at least a month.
• Tomorrow, I would buy a second-hand electric scooter, rent a single room, and leave this house for good. The thought of starting over felt like a weight lifting off my shoulders.
• From the fridge, I took out the durian and cherries that Amber loved. They were luxuries I could never bring myself to eat. This time, I ate them all in one go.
• The next morning, I picked up my suitcase and walked out the door.
• Amber, with a face mask on, approached me and asked why I hadn’t made breakfast.
• Cody yelled for me to clean his sneakers.
• I let out a cold laugh, thinking, your mom is dead. You’re calling the wrong person.
• First, I went to the jewelry shop and sold the necklace for three hundred twenty-two dollars. Then, I found a small single room with a rent of seventy dollars a month.