Back then, he was only a department chief, and I was scraping by with a high school diploma, bouncing between manual labor jobs.

I could barely afford meals. I ended up at the hospital every other day.

That afternoon, I was crouched in a hallway with an IV drip in my arm when he walked over in his white coat and stood there, looking down at me for a long time.

"Norma?"

I looked up and recognized him instantly. The golden boy of our class, the one who'd been inseparable from Eunice Summers, the prettiest girl in school. The perfect couple everyone envied.

Then he started being kind to me.

He helped me register for appointments, brought me food, and on his night shifts, he'd come find me just to talk.

He told me Eunice had gone abroad to study. They'd broken up ages ago.

He said he thought about me sometimes over the years. Said he couldn't believe how much I'd changed since school.

Under that relentless pursuit, I said yes.

I thought God had finally looked my way, that all the suffering I'd endured was about to be repaid in full.

I never imagined it was just another wound, carefully planned long before it was inflicted.

Eunice nestled against his shoulder, her smile soft and poised.

"Norma, the baby's two years old now. We can give him a better life."

"You wouldn't want little Tommy growing up in hardship, would you?"

My legs buckled. I collapsed to the floor, too hollowed out to even cry.

Jean sidled over, eager to twist the knife. "Norma, dear, my son has a doctorate. Young, brilliant, a real catch. You didn't actually think he could fall for someone like you?"

She stared down at me from above.

"Every penny our Nelson earned after the wedding went to Tommy."

"There's forty thousand in savings. We'll split it with you. Twenty thousand. Consider it compensation for carrying the Sanchez heir."

Twenty thousand dollars. That was the price they put on three years of my life and the child I nearly died bringing into this world.

Nelson dusted off his pants and stood up.

"Mom, stop wasting your breath. Just take Tommy. I'll wire the money to her account."

I scrambled to my feet and threw myself in front of the bedroom door, arms spread wide, bracing against the frame.

"Nobody goes in there!"

But I was no match for three of them.

Jean let out a cold snort and grabbed at my hands, prying my fingers loose.

Nelson seized my wrist and hauled me aside like I weighed nothing, flinging me to the ground.

The back of my skull cracked against the corner of the wall. Stars exploded across my vision.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," he said.

Jean shoved the door open. From inside came Tommy's wailing: "Mama! Mama!"

His tiny hands were clenched around the bedsheets, his face beet-red, his screams so raw they barely sounded human.

Eunice followed Jean in and bent down, reaching for his face. "Shh, Tommy, don't cry. Mama's here. Mama's right here."

Tommy recoiled from her touch, straining toward me with both arms outstretched, choking on sobs so violent they turned guttural.

He couldn't breathe.

I shoved Eunice aside, dropped to my knees, and scooped him into my arms.

His whole body trembled against me, his face buried in the crook of my neck. The screaming dissolved into hiccups, and it took a long time before he could catch his breath.

Nelson was a doctor. Even he couldn't stand to watch anymore. "That's enough. Not today."

Jean whipped around to glare at him. "Not today?"

"A child this young, reacting this violently, could have a medical episode."

"Once the divorce goes through, the court will give us custody anyway. One more day won't matter."

The three of them turned and left. The door shut behind them.

I sat on the floor holding Tommy, shaking from head to toe, drowning in the relief of having survived something I barely understood.

I knew I couldn't just sit there and wait for the next blow.

I didn't sleep that night. I packed our bags and gathered every document I could find.

When the sky was still gray with the first hint of dawn, I lifted Tommy from the bed, still fast asleep, and crept toward the front door, ready to slip out of Southport for good.

My hand had just touched the doorknob when the doorbell rang.

I flinched so hard my whole body seized, and I pulled Tommy tighter against my chest.

Through the peephole, a man stood in the hallway.

"Who is it?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Testing center. Ms. Swanson? Your results are in."

I desperately needed a job. Only with a steady income would I have the leverage to fight Nelson for Tommy.

But who would watch Tommy?

After turning it over and over, the only option was to go back to my parents' place in Northfield.

On the train, I counted my savings three times.

Everything I'd scraped together over the years from odd jobs, plus whatever I'd managed to set aside from the living allowance Nelson gave me, came to just over fifty thousand dollars.

I didn't tell my parents the truth. I just said Nelson and I had gotten into a fight and I needed to stay for a while.

I slapped the cash on the table and told them it was payment for watching Tommy.

They were his grandparents. Even if they weren't the most attentive, they wouldn't let anything happen to him.

Mom took the money. Her expression softened a little.

Dad cleared out a corner of my brother Dale Swanson's gaming room and set up a folding cot.

And just like that, Tommy and I moved in.

I'd entered the workforce young, at least. I was a hard worker and didn't complain, and I found a sales job quickly.

I hustled around the clock, took clients out for drinks, schmoozing and networking, and within a month I'd passed my probation period.

Then one night, Dale stayed up gaming until three in the morning.

Tommy woke up crying multiple times. By the end, his little voice was raw and hoarse.

I tested the waters. "Could you keep it down a little?"

He didn't even turn around, headphones clamped over his ears. "Get lost."

I ripped the headphones off his head.

He shot to his feet. He was half a head taller than me, jabbing his finger in my face.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Norma? Your man kicked you to the curb so you come back here to push me around?"

"I asked you to keep it down. The baby needs to sleep."

"The baby, the baby. Your little bastard's got nothing to do with me."

"Norma, what kind of woman would anyone want you to be? Honestly, can't blame your husband for throwing you out."

He could say whatever he wanted about me. I could take it. But I would not let him talk about Tommy that way.

I grabbed the cup off the desk and hurled it at him.

He dodged. The cup exploded against the wall, shards scattering across the floor.

Mom and Dad came rushing in.

Mom shoved me back. "Have you lost your mind, Norma? That's your brother!"

"He called Tommy a bastard."

"So what if he said a few things?"

"You're living under someone else's roof and you can't even keep the peace? Who are you trying to impress with this drama?"

Living under someone else's roof.

The mortgage on this house had been paid off with my bride price money.

And I didn't even have a room to call my own.

Tommy's cries rose from the cot. I turned to go to him. Behind me, Mom muttered under her breath.

"If it weren't for the money, who'd bother looking after you two?"

I picked Tommy up, and something inside me broke into a laugh.

So what if Nelson bullied me?

Someone like me, someone even her own family bullied.

Of course no one would take me seriously. Of course everyone would want to step on me.

The next day after work, Mom was suspiciously pleasant.

"Norma, sweetie, I want to talk to you about something."

I looked at her warily.

"You know your brother's grades. There's no way he's getting into a real university. Private colleges are expensive, thirty or forty thousand a year."

"You're making good money now. Why don't you cover Dale's tuition?"

I set down my chopsticks. "He can't get in, he can go get a job. That's exactly what you told me to do, isn't it?"

Mom's face darkened.

"You're a girl. What's the point of all that education?"

"Your brother's different. If he doesn't even have a college degree, no woman will marry him."

A girl. Pointless...

Nelson's voice detonated in my head without warning.

"You never even went to college. Every single day I spent with you was torture."

Before the SATs, my grades had been in the top ten of my class.

But I was allergic to shellfish, and my mother, just because my brother loved them, had made me shrimp-stuffed ravioli for dinner.

The shrimp had been minced so fine that I'd eaten several before I realized something was wrong.

By then, it was too late.

I ended up in the hospital and missed the SATs. My mother said my body was useless and I'd wasted their money.

I begged them through tears to let me retake the exam the following year. They refused, no matter how hard I pleaded.

"It's better you didn't pass. All these years we've fed you and clothed you. Time to get a job and start paying your share."

And now, when it came to my brother, they'd move heaven and earth to make sure he got an education.

"I'm not paying for it. My money is for Tommy."

My mother shot to her feet.

"What's that supposed to mean, Norma? You're living under my roof, eating my food, and you won't even help your brother out?"

"I already gave you money."

"That pittance?"

"Letting you stay here for a few months was more than generous. How much longer do you plan on mooching off me?"

"If you won't pay up, then get out! Go back to your in-laws in Southport!"

After all these years, I'd long stopped expecting anything from this family.

I looked at her, and suddenly I didn't want to say another word.

"Fine."

The next day I went out and found a place. Six months' rent wiped out most of my savings.

But I couldn't stop smiling. A real smile, from deep inside. Tommy and I finally had a home of our own.

When I got off work that evening, I went back to pick Tommy up.

The house was eerily quiet.

"Where's Tommy?"

My mother sat on the couch peeling garlic, not even bothering to look up.

"His daddy came for him. I handed him over."