Chapter 1

Only ten days remain before I start my freshman year of college.

Unable to wait any longer, I ask in our family group chat, "We agreed to take a graduation trip to Stonby together. When are we leaving?"

An entire day passes without a single response.

Then, at 6:00 pm, my younger sister sends a message. "Concert tickets are on sale! Who wants to pay for mine?"

The group chat instantly comes alive, and my message disappears beneath the new replies.

Mom and Dad immediately send her 10,000 dollars for the tickets.

"Buy four tickets and bring your brother. The whole family can go together."

My younger brother immediately objects. "Who says I want to go to a concert? I want a new phone instead! Besides, I already went to Stonby with her when she got into high school. Why do I always have to do whatever she wants?"

I stare at his message in disbelief.

I've spent more than a month of my summer eagerly waiting for our trip, but they've already gone to Stonby without me.

"When did you go? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

The moment I send the message, it disappears above Mom and Dad's replies to my brother.

"Fine, we'll get you a new phone, but you're still going to the concert."

"The whole family belongs together. No one gets left behind."

Yet again, they forget that I'm part of the family, and my question goes completely ignored.

I watch it move farther up the screen until it disappears from view, and suddenly, I laugh. If they don't want me in their lives, I'm done trying to force my way in.

I buy a one-way ticket to Stonby and plan to head straight to college once the trip ends.

For the next several years, I never make the journey home again.

Chapter 1

Once the confirmation page showed that my ticket had gone through, I backed out of the interface and returned to the family group chat.

Only two minutes had passed, yet there were already more than 99 unread messages.

My younger sister, Avery Ashford, excitedly dropped a screenshot into the chat.

"Got them! Four tickets!" she wrote. "I don't care what anyone has going on that day. Clear your schedules because you're all coming to the concert with me."

Mom and Dad responded almost immediately.

"Reporting for duty! We've rescheduled everything and are officially at our princess' command."

Even my younger brother, Clarence Ashford, chimed in with a quick, "Count me in."

No matter who posted in that group, everyone else always responded except when it was me.

I thought about the message I'd sent the day before, which had sat unanswered for an entire day, and my gaze drifted to the group chat's name, "Welcome Home, Clary."

Mom and Dad had created it specifically for me three years ago, after they finally brought me home.

They told me that whenever I needed anything, I only had to send a text on the chat and everyone would be there to help.

Yet, when I asked for the Wi-Fi password, no one answered, and when I asked which bus I needed to take to my new school, no one answered that, either.

Their excuse was always that the four of them had been a family for so long that they were used to their routine. Suddenly adding another person meant they needed time to adjust.

But shouldn't I have been the one who needed time to adjust?

Three years had passed. And somehow, whenever they talked about family, there was no place for me. Even my name had been treated like an inconvenience.

When I enrolled in high school, the school registrar repeatedly reminded Mom and Dad that they needed to rush the paperwork to correct the name on my birth certificate.

Grandma couldn't read or write, so when my birth was originally registered, she'd simply given them the nickname everyone called me at home.

Mom and Dad didn't want to make the process complicated, so they pieced my new legal name together from Clarence and Avery's names.

Clary Ashford.

They might as well have left it alone.

While I was lost in thought, Clarence sent another message to the group. "KFC for dinner?"

Three "Count me in" replies appeared almost instantly.

The restaurant was on the street beside our neighborhood, less than a ten-minute walk away.

I rubbed my empty stomach and was just about to get up when a private message from Mom popped onto my screen.

"Your dad and I are taking Clarence and Avery out for fried chickens tonight. There's food in the fridge. Heat something up for yourself."

But when I opened the refrigerator, the only thing inside was a bowl of stew that had been sitting there for two days.

I took a picture and sent it to her. Half an hour passed without a response.

An hour later, I finally heard the front door open. They were back.

Clarence walked straight to his room without looking up from his new phone.

Meanwhile, Avery had shopping bags hanging from both arms and immediately disappeared into her bedroom to try on her new clothes.

I turned back toward the television and didn't move.

Mom glanced at me and frowned. "What's with you? Your brother and sister just came home, and you can't even say hi?"

My gaze dropped to the phone she'd casually placed on the coffee table, and my throat tightened.

"You didn't exactly say anything to me when all of you went to Stonby," I countered.

Mom's expression stiffened, and confusion flashed across her face before she turned toward Dad. "Didn't you tell her?"

Dad frowned as though he were trying to remember. "Didn't she come with us?"

My fingers tightened around my phone before slowly loosening again.

I'd spent more than a month of summer vacation waiting for that trip.

Every time I brought up the graduation vacation they'd promised me, Mom and Dad said work was too busy and told me to wait a little longer. So, I waited and waited until the trip was over and I realized I was the only person they'd forgotten.

I looked at Mom's phone, opened our chat, and sent her a sticker. Several seconds passed, yet her screen remained dark and completely silent.

Mom and Dad had priority alerts set up for both Clarence and Avery. Whenever either of them sent a message, their phones would keep ringing and vibrating until they checked it.

Mom waved me off impatiently. "So you missed one trip. Big deal. There'll be plenty of other chances."

At that, Dad immediately backed her up. "Clary, you're the oldest. Stop keeping score with Clarence and Avery over every little thing. You're old enough to know better than to make everything harder for us."

I stared at them. "I'm not keeping score," I said. "You promised me that graduation trip."

They'd told me that if I scored above the goal they'd set for me on my college entrance exams, the whole family would go together. All five of us would be on the trip, and no one would be left behind.

Mom bent down to pick up the jacket Avery had tossed onto the floor and carefully brushed it off without even looking at me.

"And what did you score?" she retorted.

The words caught in my throat.

The moment my results came out, I'd taken a screenshot and sent it to the group chat. Afraid they might miss it, I'd even privately messaged my parents.

At that moment, Dad glanced at me dismissively. "Cat got your tongue, huh? With grades like yours, the fact that none of us asked about your score was us trying to spare your feelings."

Chapter 2

I turned toward the wall covered in Avery's awards and certificates.

It was true that I'd once ranked dead last.

That had been on my first mock exam after I moved in with the Ashfords and transferred to a new school.

Everything was unfamiliar. The school, the environment, even the pace of the classes was completely different from what I'd been used to.

Before I'd had a chance to adjust, that first exam knocked me flat. At the parent-teacher conference, the disappointment in Mom and Dad's eyes became all the motivation I needed to start fighting my way up the rankings.

I thought that if I became as accomplished as Avery, maybe the things I said would finally matter to them.

Then one day, Clarence came home with a 30 on his math test and casually asked Mom and Dad to sign it.

That was when I finally understood that they could come up with a thousand excuses for ignoring someone, but every excuse was only there to hide the fact that I simply wasn't loved.

I didn't bother defending my exam score. Instead, I quietly returned to my cramped bedroom, which had been converted from a storage room, and started packing.

My train left the day after tomorrow. I hadn't been able to get a sleeper cabin, which meant I'd have to spend the entire 20-hour trip sitting upright.

The next day, I went out to buy sunscreen and a few other things I needed for the trip.

When I came home, Mom happened to be walking out of my room, and my suitcase had already been pushed onto the balcony.

"Good thing you already packed everything," she said. "That saved us a lot of trouble. Clary, you'll have to sleep on the couch for the next few days."

I stared at her in confusion. "Why?"

"Because I'm turning your room into a gaming room!"

Clarence happily poked his head out of his bedroom. "You're going to be living in the dorms once college starts anyway. It'd be a waste to leave the room sitting empty."

My fingers tightened around the plastic shopping bag in my hand, and my throat went dry.

"Then where am I supposed to sleep when I come home for breaks?"

Mom emerged with my comforter in her arms and tossed it onto the balcony with the rest of my belongings.

"If it's just a short break, you can sleep on the couch or use an air mattress. If you're home for longer, we'll book you a hotel nearby. Don't worry. It's not like we're going to leave you with nowhere to stay."

Once she'd said it, she visibly relaxed. It was as though she'd finally figured out what to do with a guest who had overstayed her welcome.

I bent down and picked up the college acceptance letter that had fallen onto the floor.

Before, it had only been another bargaining chip I could use to get their attention, but now it felt like the only lifeline I had left.

The doorbell rang behind me.

A delivery guy made several trips inside, stacking packages in the living room.

Dad called out excitedly, "Avery! Clarence! Come look. The framed pictures and photo albums are here!"

The largest package contained an enormous family portrait meant to hang on the wall.

Once again, I wasn't in it.

When I was little and still lived with Grandma, the Ashfords used to send us copies of their family portraits.

Every year, they picked their favorite picture, enlarged it, and hung it in the living room. And every year, they replaced it with a new one every year.

During my first year back, I heard them talking about taking another family portrait. I was so excited that I barely slept the night before.

The next day, however, they told me the photography package had already been booked, and there was no way to add another person, so I could be in the pictures the following year.

By the second year, I finally got to take the family pictures with them. But when the framed portrait and albums arrived, I still wasn't in any of them.

That was when I learned that after I'd left the studio that day, the four of them had taken an entirely separate set of pictures.

When it came time to choose which photos to print, they hadn't selected a single one that included me.

This year, I hadn't even known they'd gone for family pictures.

Mom noticed me staring silently at the new portrait and pulled out another photo before shoving it into my hand.

"Alright, don't sulk. You're in this one."

I looked down.

There were technically five people in the picture. But the four of them were dressed in coordinated outfits, while I stood awkwardly among them in my school uniform.

They had taken me from one of my class pictures and edited me into their family portrait.

I looked at the new portrait hanging on the wall, then back at the picture in my hand.

Suddenly, everything felt pointless.

I turned, walked into the kitchen, tore the picture into pieces, and threw it in the trash.

Chapter 3

After dinner, I had just picked up my comforter and was about to settle onto the couch when Avery suddenly stepped in front of me.

"One of my friends is coming over later, and she's staying for a couple of nights. What is she supposed to think if she sees you sleeping out here?"

I looked at her. "So what if she sees me? Why does it matter?"

Avery pursed her lips. "Who knows what people will say if word gets around? They'll probably start telling everyone you're being mistreated."

"So you're aware that this isn't fair to me," I retorted.

That shut her up.

She glared at me before turning around to get Mom and Dad involved.

The two of them came out moments later, and without even asking what had happened, they immediately scolded me.

"Avery's only trying to protect our reputation. Why do you have to turn everything into an argument?"

"Clary, are you part of this family or not?"

I'd spent three years being left out. Yet the moment they needed me to make a sacrifice and keep quiet about it, I was suddenly a part of the family.

I looked calmly at Avery. "Where is your friend going to sleep?"

"With me, obviously," she answered without hesitation.

"Then if I can't sleep on the couch, where am I supposed to go?"

Mom and Dad answered almost immediately, "We'll get you a hotel room."

As it turned out, that was where I stood with them. Even a guest mattered more than I did. But this time, I didn't want to argue.

"Fine," I said.

I went out to the balcony, gathered my suitcase and everything else I owned, then headed for the door.

My train left the following afternoon. Once I checked out of the hotel, I could head straight to the station. There would be no reason to come back here again.

Mom sent me the reservation information and glanced at my suitcase and backpack. "You're only staying there for a couple of nights. Why are you taking all your stuff?" she asked.

"It was cluttering up the balcony," I replied casually.

Mom and Dad looked like they were about to ask something else when Clarence came rushing out and pulled them away.

"The designer sent me two different layouts for the gaming room. Come help me decide which one looks better."

I watched the four of them crowd together around his phone, then turned and left.

The moment the front door closed behind me, I found myself thinking about three years ago.

Back then, I'd also been standing outside with a suitcase in tow and a backpack over my shoulders. Only then, I had been full of excitement about finally starting a new life with my family.

Now, all I wanted was to get as far away from them as possible.

The hotel was right outside our neighborhood.

The moment I unlocked my room and stepped inside, a musty smell hit me. I immediately opened the windows, but even after airing the place out for a long time, the odor refused to disappear.

The peeling paint and run-down room made me uneasy.

Then, I remembered all the warnings I'd seen online about hidden cameras in hotel rooms. Following one of the safety guides I'd seen before, I started checking the room.

To my horror, I found a hidden camera in the bathroom that was pointed directly at the shower. A chill ran down my spine, and the realization that someone might have been secretly watching the room left me terrified.

My hands started shaking, and I instinctively called my parents.

No one answered.

It wasn't until my third call that they finally picked up.

"Mom… it's not safe here. I found a hidden camera in the bathroom…"

The other end of the call was so noisy that I couldn't tell whether she'd heard me clearly.

I was about to repeat myself when Mom cut me off impatiently, "Then call the police. Avery's throwing a welcome party for her friend, and I'm really busy right now. Clary, you're not a little kid anymore. When something happens, you need to learn how to deal with it yourself."

With that, she ended the call.

I listened to the disconnect tone in my ear, and the last sliver of hope I'd still been holding onto finally vanished.

After taking a while to steady myself, I called 911.

I was too scared to stay inside the room, so I left immediately and waited in the hallway with the door open.

Those ten minutes felt endless.

Once the officers arrived, they examined the room and collected evidence. Then, they took me to the police station so I could give a formal statement.

By the time I'd finished the paperwork and was ready to leave, it was almost midnight.

I stared out at the darkness beyond the station, still shaken from the incident.

One of the officers noticed how tense I was and asked whether I needed a ride home. He said he could drop me off on his way, but I shook my head.

That place wasn't my home anymore.

"Officer, could you take me to the train station instead?" I asked.

Chapter 4

I spent the night sleeping in the train station's waiting area.

It was noisy, and the seats were hard and uncomfortable. Children cried, people snored, and the smell of instant noodles and takeout food drifted through the station.

Yet somehow, I managed to sleep soundly.

When I woke up, I ate some snacks.

There were only two hours left before my train departed.

I clicked on our family group chat. As always, there were more than 99 unread messages. And as always, every conversation was about something that had nothing to do with me.

But this time, I didn't scroll through everything I'd missed or search for an opportunity to join in on their conversation. Instead, I clicked on the group settings and left the chat for good.

Then, I pulled up Mom, Dad, Avery, and Clarence's contacts and blocked all four of them.

For the first time in three years, the weight that had been sitting on my chest finally lifted.

A woman sitting beside me smiled and struck up a conversation. "Heading out on vacation?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"You're from around here, right? How long are you going to be gone?"

"I'm not coming back."

Not ever.

…

Five days later, at the Ashford residence, Avery's friend had gone home, and Clarence's new gaming room was finished.

Mom straightened up the messy couch and said, "Alright, tell Clary she can come home now. She has somewhere to sleep again."

At that, Dad pulled out his phone and called me.

"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."

He paused for a moment before trying again, only to hear the same automated message.

Annoyed, Mom clicked on our chat and sent me a message.

"Clary Ashford, are you having so much fun out there that you've forgotten how to answer your phone?"

The moment she hit send, however, a red exclamation mark popped up.

Mom stared at the screen in disbelief before her shock turned to anger. "She blocked me!"

A smirk broke out across Clarence's face as he fanned the flames. "She's probably mad because Avery wouldn't let her sleep on the couch."

Avery rolled her eyes at him. "If she's mad, it's because you took over her room and pushed her out."

"I didn't take her room! Before she moved back here, that room was always meant to be mine. I just let her use it for a couple of years," he argued.

"Enough! Both of you, stop arguing!" Dad stepped between them before the bickering could get worse.

Then, he turned to Mom, clearly unconcerned. "Clary's always been sensible. She's not going to throw a tantrum over something this trivial. Besides, the hotel is right outside the neighborhood. Let's go over there and see what's going on."

The two of them headed out to look for me. But when they reached the hotel, they found police tape across the entrance and an official closure notice posted on the door.

Mom stood frozen for a moment before stopping Mildred Sanchez, the owner of the establishment next door.

"What happened to the hotel? Why is it closed?" Mom asked.

Mildred gave her a look. "The closure is the least of the owner's problems. He'll be lucky if he doesn't end up in prison."

"Haven't you heard?" she continued. "The guy installed hidden cameras in every room. Apparently, he was recording guests and selling the footage online. It's absolutely disgusting…"

Mom stopped hearing anything after that. Her body stiffened as she turned toward Dad.

Then, as if she remembered something, she stammered, "I think… Clary called me that night asking for help…"