ep, but I heard the front door open and close with a defeated thud. I heard my mother

h' s voice, sharp and venomous

all Lily'

waiting for it. In their world,

nergy wouldn't have been focused on us from afar! She jinxed it! She probably performe

etely detached from realit

is voice hoarse with exhaustion and shame. It wa

that I have a gift and she's just... ordinary. She wants me to fail! She w

nsified. "Don't say that,

ah shrieked. "She is a sabo

you're in there! I know you can hear me! You think you're so smar

ve screamed back, defended myself, listed all the ways she was the one who was selfish and destructive. It woul

she couldn't penetrate. Her rage, denied its target, had nowhere t

ounding and muffled curses, she gave

ning my responsible choice to work, my financial prudence, into acts of malicious sabotage. And I knew my parents, desperate to

moved around the room with a rigid posture, her lips pressed into a thin, disappointed line. She placed a cup of coffee in

g it slowly. My detachment was a shield. Their coldness couldn'

ght had only fueled her fanaticism. She marched into the living r

too long. Dad, you're calling that 'We Buy Ugly Houses' company today. The one with the billboa

panies... they give you a fraction of the market

hundred thousand dollars is nothing compared to our lives! Ar

vings!" he shot back, a spark of his old self r

phecy was given to ME! The responsibility to save this family is MINE! And I need the resources to do it! You will

My mother looked at my father, her face pleading. She was terrified of Sara

ight went out of him completely. He l

arah' s hand. "Okay," h

ndemned man walking to his own execution. And