My grandfather bought me a brand-new white SUV for my twenty-fourth birthday.

Six months later.

The spring sun was shining bright over the city skyline as I pulled my white SUV into the reserved executive parking space bearing my new title: Amelia Vance — Senior Portfolio Analyst.

My promotion had been finalized three months prior, complete with a substantial salary increase and my own private office on the 18th floor overseeing the river.

I turned off the engine, picked up my leather briefcase, and stepped out into the crisp morning air.

My phone chimed in my hand with a banking notification.

I opened the screen.

Transfer received: $330.00 from Ava Vance. Note: Payment 6/3 - Thank you.

I smiled softly to myself. Ava was still working at the boutique. She had moved into a small shared apartment with a roommate, paid her own rent, and hadn't missed a single restitution payment in six months. She was learning, slowly but surely, what it meant to earn her own way.

Mom was living quietly in her small apartment, working as an administrative assistant at a local real estate office. We hadn't spoken since the meeting in Arthur Sterling’s office, and for the first time in my life, I felt zero guilt about the distance between us.

Some relationships are built on love; others are built on exploitation. Once you remove the exploitation, there is simply nothing left to hold onto.

I walked through the glass revolving doors of my corporate tower, greeting Arthur the security guard with a warm smile as I swiped my executive badge at the turnstile.

"Good morning, Ms. Vance!" Arthur called out cheerfully. "Beautiful day outside!"

"It certainly is, Arthur," I replied warmly. "It certainly is."

I stepped into the glass elevator, pressing the button for the 18th floor. As the elevator ascended rapidly toward the top of the tower, reflecting the golden sunlight across the city, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I was no longer the quiet girl who stood in the background letting others take her credit.

I was no longer the sister who yielded her rights to keep an artificial peace.