FREED

I woke up to the sound of that prick shouting my name outside my window, and instantly, the anger I had been harboring rushed through me like wildfire.

I threw my blanket aside and stormed downstairs, finally ready to say everything I had swallowed for years. I was tired of keeping quiet. Tired of being understanding. Tired of pretending things didn’t hurt.

And Eros was about to meet the new Athena.

The moment I stepped into the front yard, I found my devilishly annoying sister comforting him as if they weren’t equally guilty.

Typical.

“Eros, what are you doing here this early on a Sunday morning, screaming my name like a banshee in heat?” I snapped, folding my arms across my chest.

My eyes moved between both of them — the man I loved and the sister I spent my entire life protecting.

Now they just looked pathetic.

Well… Aria looked like a smug pathetic.

“Ena baby, please,” Eros begged as he stepped toward me. “Can we talk? I swear it was the alcohol.”

There it was.The same pathetic excuse cheating men had probably been using since the beginning of time.

He reached for my hand, but Aria immediately pulled him back and held his face dramatically like she was starring in some low-budget romance movie.

“What are you saying, baby?” she asked softly. “You told me I was better than her in bed.”

Wow. This was beyond pathetic.

What I couldn’t understand was how my own baby sister, the same girl I constantly dimmed myself for — could hate me this much.

I swallowed hard against the sudden sting in my chest.Growing up, I always let Aria shine. If she wanted attention, she got it. If she wanted praise, I stepped aside. I thought that was what good sisters did. Apparently, it only taught her how to take.

I turned to head back inside, deciding they were both beneath my energy, but Eros grabbed my wrist before I could leave.

“You better let go before I rearrange your cheating face,” I warned quietly.

The longer he held onto me, the worse my anger became.

“Athena, please—”

My fist connected with his face before he could finish.

Aria gasped and rushed toward him immediately. “You psychopath!” she screamed. “He only wanted forgiveness from your boring ass. No need to act like a man.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “Listen carefully, junior sis,” I said calmly, which somehow sounded more threatening than shouting. “If you say one more word to me, I might actually punch you too. Or maybe smack some sense into that whoring head of yours.”

Her eyes widened.

“You can keep my trashy ex,” I continued. “He fits your level perfectly.”

Without waiting for another word, I walked back into the house and headed upstairs.

The second my bedroom door shut behind me, the strength I had forced together began to crack.

I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the half-open suitcase on the floor.

Funny. Just yesterday, leaving for California felt exciting. A fresh start. A chance to finally become someone outside this house and outside everyone’s expectations. Now it just felt like escape.

I slowly folded my clothes into the suitcase, trying not to think about how everything had fallen apart so quickly.

My parents loved me. I knew they did.

But somehow, Aria’s opinions always mattered more than mine.

Ever since my mother lost the ability to have more children, Aria became the princess of the family — fragile, spoiled, untouchable.

And me?

I became the understanding daughter.

The easy daughter.The daughter expected to tolerate everything.

Ugh. Sometimes I genuinely believed Aria survived off annoying me.

“Atty, come downstairs for dinner!” Dad shouted from the kitchen, pulling me from my thoughts. I blinked in surprise, shocked at how much time had passed.

When I got downstairs, I found my father struggling with a roast pan near the oven, and despite everything weighing on me, I immediately rushed to help him.

“Dad, you didn’t have to go through all this stress,” I said softly.

After losing part of his memory years ago, my father developed a strange love for cooking. Since then, my mother had practically retired from the kitchen.

“Atty baby,” Mom said warmly as she wrapped her arms around me, “your father just wanted you to know how much you’ll be missed.”

My chest tightened painfully. Sometimes I hated that moments like this made leaving harder.

“Come sit,” Dad said proudly, adjusting his ridiculous Charlotte de Fraise apron. “The table is ready.”

A small laugh escaped me through the sadness.

“I’m really going to miss both of you.”

I walked into Dad’s arms and hugged him tightly.

“And we’ll miss you too, my goddess,” he murmured, kissing my forehead.

For a moment, things felt normal again.

Safe.

We sat around the table discussing California, my new job, and what life there would be like.

Then, like always—

“Ugh. I hate oven roast.”

Aria.

She dropped into her chair dramatically, instantly ruining the atmosphere.

I stared at her in disbelief.

Could this girl survive one day without making everything about herself?

“Ria,” I said carefully, “this is my send-off dinner. Please don’t make it about you.”

She immediately pouted and turned toward Mom with wide innocent eyes.

“Mommy, what am I supposed to eat then?”

And there it was again.

That treatment.

That babying.

“Oh baby Ari, should I go make you something el—”

The sharp sound of my cutlery hitting the plate interrupted Mom. I stood slowly.

“Listen here, you brat,” I said coldly. “If you don’t like what was prepared, then go into the kitchen and cook for yourself.”

Silence filled the dining room instantly.

Dad looked exhausted.

Mom looked torn.

And Aria looked offended, like she was somehow still the victim.

I suddenly lost every remaining bit of appetite.

“Mom, Dad…” I sighed softly. “I’m sorry. I just can’t do this tonight.”

Their expressions immediately softened.

I forced a smile.

“Thank you for loving me the best way you could,” I whispered. “I know I’ll miss you both.”

I hugged them one last time before heading upstairs.

The moment I closed my bedroom door behind me, I leaned against it heavily.

I hated how tonight ended.

But for the first time in a long time, I felt something dangerously close to freedom.

And tomorrow…

I was leaving this place with no regrets.