I wiped my tears dry and made my way to a run-down apartment building. Aunt Harriet had been waiting for me for a long time.
I had nothing left now. Nothing except the aunt who loved me most in this world. She was the only one who had ever truly cared for me, the only one who had ever stood up for me, from the time I was small.
She steadied me with trembling hands as I stepped through the door. "Libby, your hands are freezing. I already made you a cup of your favorite hot cocoa. Drink it while it's warm."
Aunt Harriet was the only family member who had ever been good to me. A car accident years ago had left her paralyzed from the waist down, confined to a wheelchair ever since.
She warmed my icy hands in hers while I sipped the cocoa and poured out everything that had happened.
Her eyes glistened when she heard it all. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. They don't cherish you, but I do."
I buried my face in her lap and let my whole body go slack. She was the only thing tying me to this place. Every good memory from my childhood had her in it.