The last thing I felt in my hand was my phone being ripped away, my daughter’s nails scraping my skin as she snatched it and smashed it against the floor, glass exploding like a warning. She glared at me with cold disgust and said, slow and sharp, “You won’t need this anymore. I’ll decide what’s best for you.”

Linda stepped back toward the waiting car. She hesitated once, hand on the door, then looked at Megan one last time.

“You were right about one thing,” she said. “I don’t need that phone anymore.”

Megan blinked, confused.

Linda’s mouth twitched in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I found something better.”

Her own choices.

She got in the car, closed the door, and didn’t look back as it pulled away. Megan watched until the taillights disappeared at the end of the street, the house behind her no longer hers, the life ahead of her narrowed and uncertain.

Linda, miles down the highway, turned her new phone face down on the seat beside her and let the road stretch out. She had no idea what waited in North Carolina—only that, for the first time in a long time, whatever came next would be hers to decide.