I was discharged from the hospital. My parents called, “We’re at the shopping mall preparing for your sister’s birthday.

The unspoken rule of my entire life.

Not when Tessa missed my graduation. Not when my parents used money meant for me to fund her engagement party. Not when I drove myself to urgent care with an infection because my mother was helping her shop.

Every family has patterns.

Ours was carved deep.

My father took the phone. “Call a taxi, Maren. Don’t turn this into a scene.”