Then, after one long moment, you block your father.
When boarding begins, the agent smiles gently at you.
“Ms. Castaneda, you’re welcome to board.”
You walk down the jet bridge alone.
Not abandoned.
Alone.
There is a difference.
Your seat is everything you imagined.
Wide. Quiet. Soft. A blanket folded at the side. A small pillow. A glass of champagne offered before takeoff.
You choose water.
When the plane lifts into the sky, Los Angeles shrinking beneath you, you press your forehead to the window and cry silently.
Not because they are not with you.
Because the little girl inside you still wishes they had loved you enough not to make leaving feel like survival.
Somewhere over the Atlantic, you wake from the best sleep you have had in months.
For a moment, you forget.
Then your cheek throbs faintly, and memory returns.
You open your phone using the plane Wi-Fi.
Forty-seven missed messages from unknown numbers.
Aunts.
Cousins.
Family friends.
Daniela has been busy.
You open one message from your cousin Lucia.
Vale, what happened? Dani says you abandoned everyone at the airport and got your dad detained.
You stare at the words.
Then you send her one thing.
The video.
You did not know someone had recorded it until the gate agent quietly AirDropped it to you before you left.
The video is short.
Clear.
Your father threatening you.
Daniela demanding the seat.
Your mother pressuring you.
The slap.
The silence after.
Your voice saying, Cancel their tickets.
You send it to Lucia.
No explanation.
Ten minutes later, she replies.
Oh my God.
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