Kevin joked about turning Sophia’s balcony into a streaming studio once his online career became successful.
Her mother repeatedly commented on how lonely it must be for an unmarried woman to live alone.
Her father complained about the mortgage, roof repairs, property taxes, and every other financial burden that somehow ended with Sophia being expected to help.
She had smiled through it.
That was the Sophia her family understood.
The daughter who made everything easier.
Their roles had been established when she was still a child.
Natalie was the treasure.
Sophia was the tool.
Natalie attended private school because she supposedly needed special attention.
Sophia went to public school because she was “smart enough to manage.”
Natalie received a new car at sixteen.
Sophia’s savings were taken to cover property taxes.
Natalie spent six weeks studying art in Europe.
Sophia gave up a scholarship to the University of Chicago after her father made a poor investment and fell behind on the mortgage.
That scholarship had been the first real opportunity that belonged only to her.
Architecture.
Chicago.
A future beyond the family that measured her value by how useful she could be.
One week before she was supposed to leave, her father sat her down at the dining table.
