Chapter 1 - The Midnight Escape
The highway stretched endlessly in front of me, illuminated only by my headlights and the faint glow of the dashboard.
I drove for six straight hours without turning on the radio or shedding a single tear.
My phone remained completely powered down on the passenger seat.
I had packed my entire life into two suitcases and walked out of the house I had financially supported while my family ate takeout without me.
When I finally crossed the state line into Illinois, the sun was just beginning to rise over the Chicago skyline.
I pulled into a cheap motel parking lot and finally turned my phone back on.
A flood of notifications immediately locked up the screen.
There were twelve texts from my mother, none of them asking if I was safe.
The most recent message read, "Stop sulking and pick up the groceries, Madison is hungry."
They had absolutely no idea that my bedroom was completely empty.
I dropped my old SIM card into the motel trash can and walked to a nearby electronics store to buy a new one.
I was finally free, ready to start my new job as a senior financial analyst at a prestigious downtown firm.
Before checking into a permanent apartment, I opened my banking app to transfer my personal savings into a brand new, private account.
I stared at the loading screen, waiting for my hard-earned balance of forty thousand dollars to appear.
The screen refreshed, and my heart completely stopped in my chest.
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My balance was exactly zero dollars.
At the very top of the transaction list, a pending transfer showed that someone had just initiated a total withdrawal to Madison's personal checking account.
