“Where you told him to be! You’re the one who set the rules. You’re the one who kept him away!”
“I kept him away to protect you.”
“You kept him away to protect yourself.”
The words hung in the air.
Fiona’s face went white.
“Pack your things,” she said, very quietly. “We’re leaving.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
“And that’s my answer.” Stella felt tears burning her eyes but refused to let them fall. “I’m not going. I’m not packing. I’m staying here, with my family, whether you like it or not.”
“Then I’ll make you.”
“How? Drag me onto the plane? Call the police?” Stella’s voice shook. “I’m sixteen. Soon enough, I’ll be eighteen and none of this will matter anyway. So what’s your plan, Mum? Force me back to Sydney, watch me count the days until I can leave again?”
Fiona had no answer for that.
They stood in silence, the air between them thickand ruined. Stella’s chest heaved. Fiona stood rigid by the window.
“You don’t get it,” Stella said, her voice cracking. “You never got it. I’m not doing thistoyou. I’m doing itforme. For the first time in my life, I’m choosing something. And you can’t stand it.”
She didn’t wait for a response.
She walked past her mother, through the door, into the bright afternoon. The sunshine felt wrong—too cheerful, too warm for what had just happened inside.
She sat on the porch bench, knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around herself. The bougainvillea blazed purple against the fence. Somewhere down the street, a dog barked.
She could hear her mother inside. Not moving. Not following.
Good.
After a few minutes, Stella stood and walked to the garden wall. Further from the door. Further from whatever was happening in that living room.
She pulled out her phone. Typed with shaking hands.
Can you come get me? I don’t want to drive.
Tyler’s response was immediate.
On my way.
She sat on the wall and waited, the ocean glittering in the distance.
We’re leaving, her mother had said. Pack your things.
But Stella had no intention of packing anything.
This was her home now.
And she was going to fight for it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
