Chapter 2

I picked up my phone and opened my inbox.

The latest email was from the competition committee. It stated that my submission had been disqualified from this year's competition for containing non-competition elements, which violated both the integrity of the artwork and the anonymous judging rules.

I held the screen up in front of Madelyn. The smile on her face slowly froze, and then her eyes reddened.

"Seriously?" she said, sniffling as she put on a more wounded look. "Those judges have no sense of humor. How was I supposed to know they'd be that uptight?"

She continued, "I just wanted you to relax a little. You've been so tense over this competition. How am I supposed to stand by and watch you run yourself ragged? Grace, could you stop looking at me like that? Worst case, I'll pay you back for the entry fee."

Raymond stepped forward and shielded her behind him, like he had done countless times before. Whenever she cried, I was automatically expected to back down.

"Grace," he said firmly. "Madelyn didn't mean any harm. She might have handled things badly, but she meant well."

I looked at him. "I lost my chance to compete."

"Try again next year," Raymond said with a frown. "You're talented. Does waiting one more year really hurt you that badly? Do you seriously have to make such a scene?"

From behind Raymond, Madelyn murmured, "I already said I'd pay you back."

Suddenly, the room felt suffocatingly small. It was too cramped for their unapologetic self-righteousness, and far too small for the last shred of dignity I was trying to preserve.

I didn't look up. I just started taking screenshots of everything, including the refund notification, the chat logs, and the committee's rejection.

Raymond's expression darkened even further when he saw what I was doing.

"What are you taking screenshots for?" he demanded. "Are you planning to put us on trial?"

I said nothing. I slipped my phone into my pocket, walked to the door, and removed my spare key from Raymond's keychain.

He reflexively held onto the ring.

"Grace," he said.

I yanked it loose, and the key fell into my palm.

"You make me sick," I told him.

Madelyn's face was wet with tears, and she stared at me like I had just slapped her.

The last trace of patience vanished from Raymond's face. "If you walk out that door, don't expect me to ask you to return."

I pulled the door open and wheeled my suitcase outside. Just before it closed behind me, I heard Madelyn ask through tears, "Isn't she taking this way too far?"

Raymond didn't answer immediately.

As the elevator doors came together, a text from him popped up on my screen.

"Come back when you've calmed down."

…

When the cab stopped outside the terminal, I got out and grabbed my suitcase from the trunk. The driver offered to help, but I shook my head.

I brought my phone to my ear, replaying the voice message from Professor Eloise Walter.

"Grace, the opening in Isvind is still yours if you want it. Let me know, and I'll have the studio send the invitation letter tonight."

I pressed the voice message button and said, "Professor Walter, I've made my decision."

After sending the message, I forwarded her the committee's disqualification email from the Mirage Awards.

She replied almost immediately, telling me, "Come here first. Losing that competition isn't the end of the world. You're still here, and that's what matters."

Those words hit me harder than I expected, and I felt my throat tighten.

I thought back to college, when my parents divorced and left me behind with all their debt. Madelyn had split her living expenses with me and stayed by my side through the darkest months of my life.

Later, when I had a panic attack and nearly collapsed on a rooftop, Raymond carried me to the hospital on his back and stayed awake beside my bed all night.

I wasn't an ungrateful person. That was why I had spent years convincing myself that they never meant any harm, and that we were just so close they had stopped seeing where the boundaries were.

But today, I finally realized that the kindness they had once offered me didn't entitle them to keep hurting me.

While waiting in line to check in, I removed Raymond from our shared account and turned off our location sharing.

His call came through almost immediately, and I picked up.

"You disabled the shared account?" he asked coldly. "Grace, are you really going to split everything down to the last cent?"

"Yes," I replied.

There was a brief silence, and then Madelyn's voice came through. "Grace, you didn't actually go to the airport, did you? Who are you trying to scare? Raymond isn't even mad at you anymore."

I heard a soft noise on the other end, as if Raymond had pulled the phone away briefly before speaking into the receiver again.

"Where are you?" he asked. "I'll come and get you. I'll ask around and see if there's still an appeal process available."

"Don't bother," I said.

"What do you mean, 'don't bother'?" he snapped, losing his patience. "The hotel in Palmaris is non-refundable. If you don't go, there's no point in either of us going."

Madelyn muttered right next to him, "It's not like it's completely pointless… We'd just have no one to take our photos."

I handed my passport to the airline agent. She checked my documents, smiled, and gave me my boarding pass.

"Have a pleasant flight," she said cheerfully.

I took it and said into the phone, "I have to go now. I'm hanging up."

Raymond finally lost his temper. "Grace Winsor, does everything have to revolve around your feelings? Madelyn's already crying over this. What more do you want?"

I looked down at the destination printed on my boarding pass and said, "I want to be as far away from both of you as possible."

Then I ended the call.

When I checked my social media, the first thing I saw was a selfie Madelyn had posted ten minutes earlier. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was holding a snorkeling mask.

Her caption read, "I tried so hard to surprise someone, and all I got was my kindness thrown back at me. Honestly, people without a sense of humor are impossible to deal with."

In just a few minutes, the comments were filled with messages of comfort from her followers. Raymond's comment stood out the most.

"Don't cry. Let's just enjoy our trip in Palmaris. She's stubborn, but she'll come around in a few days and apologize."

I didn't bother responding. I just muted both of them and moved on.

Just as I was about to put my phone away, a notification from the airline flashed across the screen. Due to polar jet stream conditions, my flight to Northgate had been delayed. Boarding wouldn't begin for another four hours.