Athena stood frozen, watching her father's rigid shoulders, waiting for him to turn around, to see her, to realize this was all wrong. But he remained facing away, dismissing her as completely as if she'd never existed.
The study door opened behind her. Victoria stood there, her expression a mask of sympathy that didn't reach her eyes.
"Come along, dear," she said softly, for anyone who might be listening. "Let's get you packed."
Athena walked past her in a daze, climbing the stairs to her bedroom on autopilot. Stephanie watched from the landing, arms crossed, smile triumphant.
"This is what happens," Stephanie said sweetly, "when you forget your place. You were never really part of this family, Athena. You were just... temporary."
Athena ignored her and locked her bedroom door, then stood in the center of the room she'd lived in for eighteen years, trying to breathe through the crushing weight on her chest.
They'd won. Victoria and Stephanie had won. Her father had disowned her, her inheritance was gone, and she had nowhere to go and no one to turn to.
No....not no one.
With shaking hands, Athena pulled out her phone and dialed the only person she trusted. It rang three times before a warm, familiar voice answered.
"Athena? Girl, where have you been? I tried calling you last night...."
"Tiang Li," Athena interrupted, her voice cracking. "I need help."
There was a pause, then: "Where are you?"
"Home. But not for long. My father..." She couldn't finish. The tears she'd been holding back finally broke free, hot and bitter.
"I'm coming," Tiang Li said immediately. "Don't move. Don't talk to anyone. I'm coming right now."
The call ended. Athena sank onto her bed, surrounded by all the belongings of a life that was already slipping away. Photos of her mother smiled at her from the nightstand...beautiful, kind, gone too soon. What would she think of this moment? Would she blame Athena for being weak, for falling into their trap?
Or would she recognize the setup for what it was?
Athena picked up her mother's photograph, holding it close. "I'm sorry, Mama," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
A knock at the door made her look up. "Miss Athena?" The housekeeper's voice was thick with emotion. "I've been told to... to help you pack."
Mrs. Liu had worked for the Chen family for twenty years. She'd held Athena as a baby, comforted her when her mother died, snuck her extra desserts when Victoria wasn't looking.
Athena opened the door. Mrs. Liu's eyes were red-rimmed, her weathered face creased with sympathy.
"Oh, child," she breathed, pulling Athena into a fierce hug. "What have they done to you?"
The kindness broke something in Athena. She clung to the older woman, sobbing into her shoulder like the lost child she felt like.
"I didn't do it," she gasped. "Mrs. Liu, I swear I didn't..."
"I know," Mrs. Liu said firmly, pulling back to cup Athena's face in her hands. "I know you, child. I know your heart. But sometimes knowing the truth doesn't change what happens."
"What am I going to do?"
"You're going to survive," Mrs. Liu said fiercely. "You're going to leave this poisonous house, and you're going to build a life they can't touch. Your mother was the strongest woman I ever knew. That strength lives in you too."
Athena wanted to believe her. But standing in her childhood bedroom, packing her life into suitcases while her family celebrated her downfall downstairs, strength felt like a foreign concept.
Still, she packed. Her clothes, her mother's jewelry, her medical textbooks, the acceptance letter to Shanghai Medical University that she'd been so proud of just yesterday. Everything that mattered fit into three suitcases....a tragically small summary of eighteen years.
Tiang Li arrived an hour later, storming past Victoria with all the fury of a protective sister. She took one look at Athena's tear-stained face and swore viciously.
"I'm going to kill them," she announced. "All of them. Starting with that snake Stephanie."
"Don't," Athena said tiredly. "It's done."
"It's not done. We can fight this. We can...."
"There's nothing to fight." Athena handed her one of the suitcases. "He's made up his mind. They all have."
Tiang Li's expression shifted from anger to devastation. "Athena..."
"Please," Athena whispered. "Just help me get out of here."
They carried the suitcases down the grand staircase together. Victoria and Stephanie watched from the parlor doorway, their satisfaction barely concealed. Alexander remained shut in his study, not even bothering to say goodbye.
At the front door, Mrs. Liu pressed an envelope into Athena's hands. "It's not much," she whispered. "But it's all I have saved. Please, take it."
"I can't...."
"Take it," Mrs. Liu insisted, her eyes fierce. "And promise me you'll be alright."
Athena couldn't promise that. But she nodded anyway, tucking the envelope into her purse.
The door closed behind her with a finality that echoed in her bones. Athena stood on the front steps of the Chen mansion....no, not her mansion anymore, just a house belonging to people who'd never truly been family...and felt the last threads of her old life snap.
"Come on," Tiang Li said gently, guiding her toward her car. "You're staying with me. No arguments."
They drove away in silence. Athena watched the mansion shrink in the side mirror until it disappeared completely, swallowed by Shanghai's endless sprawl.
She didn't know it yet, but she'd never see the inside of that house again.
And in six weeks, she would discover she was pregnant.