Emma drove for hours, the Texas landscape blurring into a watercolor of open roads and endless skies. She pulled into a rest stop, her mind racing with possibilities and fears. The enormity of her decision slowly began to settle in, but so did a sense of unshackled freedom. She was no longer under Diane’s thumb, and the realization was both terrifying and exhilarating.
Emma spent the first night in her car, parked under a canopy of stars. She lay awake, thoughts swirling around her head like restless moths. She had always been a fighter, even if she hadn’t realized it until now. The same resolve that had driven her out of the house would guide her next steps.
