"Kelvin! Come down, I bought something for you!"
My father's voice carried through the cracked walls, deep and sudden. For a second I froze — calls like that usually meant trouble. But there was something different in his tone this time, something almost… warm.
I jogged down the stairs, half expecting another chore, half bracing for my stepmom's glare. Instead, what I saw stopped me cold.
On the table sat a laptop — silver, scuffed, second-hand, but glowing like a miracle in the dim light of our sitting room.
My chest tightened. "Wow… Dad. I—I love it."
He smiled, that tired kind of smile that made you think he'd forgotten how but was relearning. "It's not the best brand," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "but I figured it's better than nothing."
"Better than nothing?" I laughed under my breath, eyes tracing every corner of the device. To me, it was everything — a door, a chance, a promise.
"So," I asked, still staring at the laptop like it might vanish, "are you going anywhere today?"
He chuckled. "Actually, no. I planned to take the four of us on a family trip. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Four of us. You're probably wondering who the fourth person is. That's my stepsister, Grace. She's nothing like her mother, Jessica — the storm in human form. Grace's presence is calm, quiet, almost kind. Where her mother spits venom, Grace offers small smiles, the kind that feel like bandages on invisible wounds.
I looked from the laptop to my dad, and for the first time in years, something inside me softened. Maybe this was the start of something new. Maybe things could change.
But somewhere in the shadows of the hallway, I saw her — Jessica, watching. Her lips curved in that cold, knowing way that said: enjoy it while it lasts.
And deep down, I knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Still, as my fingers brushed across the laptop's keys, something inside me clicked — a whisper, almost a promise:
Don't worry I will use you well.
> "This… this is where my story truly begins."