Chapter 5

Piper’s POV

I kept my voice low. "Mom, if you have something to say, let's step outside. Don't make a scene here."

"Step outside? Why the hell should I?" Brenda’s voice climbed an octave higher, piercing and shrill. "If you had the guts to humiliate us here, you shouldn't be afraid of people hearing the truth! I'm going to tell everyone exactly what kind of ungrateful wretch you really are!"

Spittle flew from her lips as her finger jabbed inches from my face. "You've been a headache since you were a child! Always competing with your sister, coveting everything she owns! Pure jealousy! And just last week, you stole family money! When we caught you, you didn't even apologize—you ran away to hide! Now you're working as a cashier just to make people think we starve you!"

The crowd of late-night shoppers thickened, whispering among the aisles.

That was precisely why I had tried to get her outside.

And making a public spectacle was precisely what she wanted.

Chloe finally stepped forward, looping her arm around Brenda’s, her head bowed meekly. "Mom, stop yelling at Piper. It’s all my fault. I don't need that necklace anymore—I'll just give it to her. Piper, if you were short on cash, you could have just asked me. Why did you have to steal from the family and work such a degrading job?"

The whispers instantly shifted against me.

"She looks decent, but she actually steals from her own family?"

"Fighting with her younger sister over jewelry... disgusting."

I stood behind the counter, my lips pressed into a tight, bloodless line.

Defending myself was pointless.

My stolen savings, my broken laptop, my stolen future—in their narrative, it would all be twisted into "jealousy against my sister."

In the eyes of these strangers, the girl crying crocodile tears was the victim.

Arthur walked in after parking the car. Without sparing me a glance, he pushed past the register straight toward the manager’s office.

The store manager walked out, looking startled.

"Are you the manager?" Arthur asked coldly. "I'm her father. My daughter stole thousands of dollars from us and ran away from home. We've been looking for her for days. Fire her right now so she can come home."

The manager frowned, opening his mouth to speak, but Arthur cut him off brutally.

"If you refuse, I’ll show up here every single day to cause a scene," Arthur said smoothly. "I'll make sure you can't run this business. Try me."

The manager looked at Arthur, then at Brenda and Chloe weeping dramatically, and finally at the gathered crowd. His expression soured completely.

He turned to me with a resigned sigh. "Piper, pack your things. As for your wages... let's just call it even, okay?"

Just like that, three days of grueling graveyard shifts vanished into thin air.

I didn't get a single dime.

I looked at the manager, but swallowed my protest.

"Get in the car," Arthur ordered, stepping in front of me. "If you dare step foot outside to work again, I will march straight to your dean's office tomorrow. I'll make sure the entire faculty knows what kind of thief they admitted."

That struck my fatal weakness.

My fellowship reinstatement hadn't been confirmed yet. If a scandal erupted at the university, I would be trapped forever.

I thought I could slowly save up and walk away.

Now I saw clearly: in this city, as long as they willed it, they could sever every lifeline I tried to build.

I couldn't risk the fellowship.

I couldn't afford that gamble.

Clenching the fabric of my shirt until my fingernails bruised my palms, I lowered my head and followed them out of the store.

I walked behind them, staring at their silhouettes. Lucas was walking beside Chloe, murmuring soft words of comfort. Chloe giggled through her tears and leaned against his shoulder.

Not once did anyone look back at me.

Back at the house, Arthur sank into the living room armchair and laid down the law: "When you finally reflect on your sins and apologize, this matter will be over. Until then, if you take one step out of this house, I’ll go straight to your school."

The door wasn't locked.

They brought food to my room, and no one guarded the door.

Yet I didn't dare leave.

The cage holding me was my own fear.

Over the next few days, the house was eerily silent. No one spoke to me.

I locked myself in my room, refusing to eat at the table, barely drinking water. I just sat on the edge of the bed, watching the sunlight bleed into darkness day after day.

One night, the gnawing hunger in my stomach turned into sharp, agonizing cramps. I curled into a ball, tossing and turning in the dark.

I remembered the day I was left on the side of the highway at seven years old. I had watched car after car pass by, none of them stopping for me.

Back then, I still believed the car would come back out of love.

Now I knew better. This family’s cruelty was permanent.

As the realization settled, a hollow laugh escaped my lips.

The sound bounced off the empty walls, chilling and bitter.