Chapter 5

**Vivian’s POV**

I gripped the flash drive tightly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, just go," Chloe whispered. "If you don't leave now, your father will literally drag you to the engagement party and force you to apologize on live stream."

I changed into the uniform and followed Chloe out the back gate.

I didn't take a single thing Julian had ever bought me. I only took my ID, my mother’s sketchbooks, a few old clothes, and my acceptance letter.

Chloe's car was waiting at the corner of the street.

Seeing how pale I was, Chloe couldn't help but curse, "The Vance family and Julian are literally a pack of wolves—"

"Save your breath," I smiled softly. "They aren't worth the energy."

After dropping me off at a temporary motel, Chloe still didn't feel safe leaving me alone, so she insisted on staying the night.

We squeezed into the small bed, neither of us sleeping much.

Chloe cursed the Vance family until her throat was hoarse, then suddenly went quiet. "Vivian... are you scared?"

"Yes," I admitted.

I was scared of the unfamiliarity of Carmel. I was scared that my hand injury would affect my painting. I was scared that the Vance family and Julian wouldn't let me go, and I was scared that in some weak moment, I would soften because of some old memories.

Chloe rolled over and hugged me tightly. "Go anyway. Being scared is no reason to stay."

I nodded in the dark.

I finally had someone with whom I didn't have to pretend to be strong.

And because someone knew I was scared, I found the courage to take the next step.

First, I went to the university.

My rejected painting from the Hudson Spring Exhibition was piled in the corner of the storage room. The canvas had been splashed with black ink, the title *Spring Rain on Hudson Street* smeared into an ugly mess.

The storage manager looked apologetic. "Vivian, the administration ordered us to discard this."

I knelt down, touching the wooden frame with my uninjured hand.

"I’ll discard it myself."

I took the painting with me and handed the flash drive to a professor I trusted.

The professor’s face darkened after watching it. He asked if I wanted to release it immediately.

I shook my head. "Please keep a copy of the original for now. Once I leave New York, submit it to the board."

The professor looked at me. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am."

When I left the campus, the sun was just rising.

Sitting in the taxi, it was the first time I hadn't sent Julian a single text.

Outside the window, New York was slowly waking up. The streetlights faded into the distance, and I suddenly felt a weight lifting from my chest.

I wasn't unwanted.

I was just finally choosing to walk away.

I couldn't leave New York immediately, though.

The director of the Carmel Studio notified me that some paperwork required my physical presence at Columbia University's administration office, which would take at least two days.

Chloe almost lost her temper, but I remained calm.

"It's fine. It gives me time to tie up loose ends."

By the time I went back to campus to finish the paperwork, the wind had already begun to shift.

Since my professor had submitted the original video, the university had put my suspension on hold.

However, the anonymous school forums were still filled with hate, claiming I had bribed the professor to clear my name, or that I was using Julian's influence to get off the hook.

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