My father barred me from entering my own medical school graduation ceremony because my stepmother wanted her daughter to use my ticket.

the dining table, meticulously painting her nails a blood-red crimson. She didn’t bother to look up. With a pointed, manicured finger, she shoved a towering stack of grease-stained porcelain plates toward the edge of the table.

“Clean those up before you go to sleep. Haley has a very important brand partnership shoot tomorrow morning, and we cannot continue reading …