Guard the house while we’re gone. A week. Don’t break anything.

Another message arrived immediately.

Sorry I slapped you. But you provoked me. Always jealous, always ruining things.

I stared. His hands silenced me, now his words tried to rewrite history. Still my fault.

I smiled—not joyfully, but clearly.

Blocked. Deleted. Gone.

Phone pocketed, I boarded the plane. Didn’t look back.

I was done guarding a house that never was a home.

I was going back to the only place that ever truly was.

Home.