My parents demanded I hand over the $30,000 I’d saved for college so my sister could get an apartment. When I refused, my mom screamed, “Drop out, give your savings to your sister, and stay home to clean!”

“I have to go,” I said.

“Wait,” Donna pleaded. “We can start over.”

“Families don’t demand their children abandon their future,” I replied.

Rick’s voice sharpened. “Don’t come back when you need help.”

“I won’t.”

I turned toward the doors.

Behind me, Brooke called, “You’re really not going to help me?”

“No,” I said. “I’m going to help myself.”

As I stepped inside, the lobby’s quiet professionalism surrounded me like armor. I could still feel their stunned gazes on my back.

They hadn’t come to apologize.

They came to calculate.

And for the first time in my life, I was no longer available for purchase.