As the moving truck carried away the last of my belongings, I felt a sense of liberation I’d never imagined. I knew that my family saw this as a victory, a way to push me out into the world. Little did they know, I was more prepared than they realized.
After driving away from the house, I headed towards my secret. The hidden apartment was something I’d stumbled upon by sheer luck a few months before my trip. An elderly friend of mine had offered it to me for a steal, content with just having someone trustworthy around to keep an eye on it. I’d paid a nominal rent for the past few months, using it as a temporary retreat when I wanted solitude from the chaotic family dynamics. Now, it would become my home.
