His Sister, His Choice: My Freedom

g, handcrafted wooden rocking horse. It was beautiful, a true piece of art, with a small,

xpression of love, a stark contrast to the toxicity of the

I had been dreading it, but I went for Mark' s sake, and for the sake of a fragi

horse in the living room, and it was

ng their own gift for Leo. They handed me a small, beau

ian said, smiling. "It' s not muc

thoughtfulness. "Thank y

from her armchair with a sou

ping her wine. "I' m sure that will pay for,

er attention to t

your parents didn' t spend too much on it, Sarah. It looks like somethin

et. My brother Br

rs carving that horse from a single piece of reclaimed cherry wood. It' s valued at over five thousand dollar

to get Leo something else, too." He pulled out a receipt from his pocket. "We also o

one to see. The number on it was signifi

looked at Brenda with a

Chloe said, her voice sweet but laced with steel. "So we didn' t expect a

nic in her face. She was being called out, her o

ds. "We... we were going to... we haven'

tagram. It looked like you had plenty of

Leo a gift. In her world of grand gestures and social status, she had show

she finally blurted out. "It

weak, obv

liation, quickly changed the subject. "Who wants more d

n her chair, silent and fuming, stripped of her-self-proclaimed superiority. The rest of the family ignored her, gathering around Leo and the