Spring arrived like a quiet promise – sunlight filtering through the windows, the faint scent of flour from Helen's weekend baking classes, and the slow but certain shift in the family's rhythm.
Ashley could feel it: the foundation was stabilizing.
But her plans weren't just about survival. They were about freedom.
And for that, she needed two things: academic excellence and capital.
She continued studying with laser focus, poring over textbooks that she barely remembered understanding at seventeen. She was about to take the college entrance exams next year. She still planned to get to the same prestigious university, but this time, aiming to get in with a scholarship and make sure her mom won't need to spend a single cent for her to get a degree.
At night, she worked on memory exercises to pinpoint when and how to invest her savings. The date of the bitcoin boom hovered in her head like a blinking light – get in by 2010, sell half of it in 2017, the rest by 2021. She wouldn't touch stocks or risky crypto after that. Just real estate. Something stable. Something that would last.
Her allowance went into a small savings box she hid behind old books. Every coin. Every birthday bill. She has never even been this frugal in her past life, but she didn't care. She had a vision now, and it kept her going when the world tried to pull her back into the naivete of being a teenager.
She could no longer afford that luxury.
Arthur, meanwhile, was beginning to blossom.
With subtle nudging from Ashley, he signed up for an art contest at school. He won second place. Then first at the next one. His eyes sparkled when he talked about perspective, shading, and visual storytelling.
One evening, as Ashley was doing homework in the living room, Arthur sat beside her and flipped through a digital arts magazine.
"I think I want to try design," he said, voice casual but hopeful.
Ashley glanced over. "Like branding and stuff?"
"Yeah. Maybe animation, too."
She smiled. "You'd be amazing at that. You should look at schools with art-business tracks."
Arthur gave her a look. "Business?"
"You'll need to sell yourself someday. The art world won't do that for you."
He made a face. "Sounds boring."
"It's not boring when you get paid to draw dragons or cats or something for a tech company's new launch."
Arthur snorted. But she knew he listens to her.
And Anthea… her sweet little sister. She was still a child, thankfully. Her days were filled with drawing fairies in the margins of her notebooks and building elaborate tea parties for her stuffed animals. But Ashley could see the sharpness in her youngest sister's eyes, the innate brilliance waiting to be shaped.
In the old life, she had been a quiet overachiever – burdened by guilt, driven by gratitude, never quite free.
Now, Helen was present at every school event. Every piano recital. Every open house. She cheered loudly. Took pictures. Made cupcakes.
Helen clapped so hard for all of them that they barely felt their dad's quiet detachment.
Anthea basked in the attention, and Ashley felt a knot inside her chest loosen every time her baby sister laughed without fear.