ENTANGLED

"I HATE YOU!" Sophia's scream tore through the house like a siren as she hurled her phone against the wall. It exploded into fragments, mirroring the wreckage of everything she'd once held dear.

Ethan filled her doorway, fury etched into every line of his face. "Go ahead! Take your anger out on me! But you're done with Kent, that's not up for debate!"

"You can't control my life!" Sophia snatched the framed photo from her dresser, the one of her and Ethan at Christmas, when they'd still been a family, and sent it crashing to the floor. Glass scattered like her shattered hopes. "I'm not your prisoner!"

"You're living under my roof!" Ethan stepped through the debris, closing the distance between them. "Mom and Dad trusted me to protect you, and I won't let some thirty-year-old predator destroy everything you could become!"

"Kent isn't a predator, you maniac!" Sophia shoved hard against Ethan's chest, her hands trembling with rage. "And even if he were, I'd rather take my chances with him than rot away here with you!"

Ethan caught her wrists, his grip firm but careful. "You don't mean that."

"GET OFF ME!" Sophia wrenched free, her eyes wild with desperation. "You're just jealous because someone actually wants me around!"

"Wants you?" Ethan's laugh was bitter as winter wind. "He's thirty, Sophia! What does a grown man want with a nineteen-year-old? Think!"

"Maybe he wants someone who doesn't make him feel worthless every single day!" Sophia's voice cracked as tears carved paths down her cheeks. "Unlike you, who treats me like I'm some kind of burden you can't wait to get rid of!"

The accusation hung between them like a blade. Ethan's face drained of color, then flushed crimson.

"A burden?" His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "I sacrificed everything for you, Sophia. I turned down my dream job in Seattle. I ended things with Rachel because she couldn't handle having a teenager around. I've spent four years of my life making sure you had everything you needed."

"I never asked for any of that!" Sophia screamed, her voice breaking. "I never begged you to give up your precious life! You did it to play the martyr, not because you actually give a damn about me!"

Ethan stared at her as if she'd physically struck him. For a heartbeat, the room held nothing but Sophia's ragged breathing and the echo of her cruel words.

"Fine," Ethan said finally. His voice had turned arctic, empty of all warmth. "You want to throw away everything I've sacrificed? Be my guest. But when Kent breaks your heart and leaves you with nothing, don't expect me to pick up the pieces."

He turned toward the door with military precision.

"Where are you going?" Sophia called after him, suddenly terrified by the deadly calm in his voice.

Ethan paused without looking back. "To pack your things. You're so desperate to be an adult? Congratulations. You can figure out where adults live."

The door slammed