Subsidizing people who despised me.
I cancelled the recurring transfer.
Then the pool service.
Then the landscaping contract, effective after the required billing period.
Anything legally tied to maintaining my asset stayed in place until the sale.
Anything that existed solely to make their lives comfortable ended.
My hands were shaking when I finished.
Not from fear.
From the unfamiliar sensation of choosing myself.
“Mommy?”
I closed the laptop.
Maya stood behind me wearing her pink swimming goggles.
“When do we go to the airport?”
My heart cracked.
I crouched beside her.
“There’s been a little change.”
Her smile disappeared.
Grace came running over.
“Are the turtles okay?”
I nearly cried.
“The turtles are fine.”
“Then what changed?”
I pulled both girls against me.
“We’re going somewhere different.”
“Where?”
I smiled.
“Hawaii.”
Their screams probably frightened the neighbors.
Within two hours, I had booked three seats to Honolulu.
