Chapter 2 - Crossing the Threshold**
By mid-afternoon, while Mark was away at his firm, Sarah helped Grace pack a single duffel bag with essential clothes, baby supplies, and legal documents. Every creak of the floorboard made Grace’s heart leap into her throat. Her physical recovery from the emergency C-section made every movement a slow, agonizing effort, but the adrenaline of choice pushed her forward. Sarah carried baby Leo safely in his carrier to the back seat of her sedan, parked discreetly down the block.
When Grace took her final step past the threshold of the house, she felt a strange mix of terror and liberation. She was leaving behind comfort, security, and financial stability, exchanging them for uncertainty and the terrifying freedom of the open road. As Sarah started the engine and pulled away toward the highway, Grace looked back one last time at the pristine suburban house. It had been her cage. Now, as the suburban streets faded into expansive rural fields, she took her first deep, unobstructed breath in years.
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