When my dad told us to pack and leave, I thought he was bluffing. He wasn’t.

My dad was charming to outsiders — witty, well-dressed — but at home, he was cold and cruel. My mom, Caroline, always tried to keep things together, but years of neglect and infidelity wore her down. One night, I overheard him on the phone, laughing: “Someone’s gotta do the laundry, right?” That was the moment things began to unravel.

When Mom finally stood up to him, he scoffed. “You wouldn’t last two days without me.” I stepped in, furious: “You don’t deserve her. Or me.” After that, we barely spoke.

Then one dinner, he said coldly, “You have a month. Pack and get out. This house is mine.” Technically, it was Grandpa’s — who was ill and dying. Only Mom cared for him.

Three weeks later, Grandpa passed.

At the reading of his will, Dad strutted in, expecting praise. Instead, the lawyer read: “The house goes to Lena — because she has more decency at 15 than her father had at 40.”

Dad exploded, but the deed had already been transferred.

That night, Mom filed for divorce. “Emotional abuse and abandonment,” she typed. A week later, we gave him 24 hours to leave — and this time, he did.

Eight years on, the house is ours. I’m in college. Mom’s at peace. We planted roses in the yard — Grandpa’s favorite.

Every time I walk through that door, I thank him… for giving us more than a house. He gave us freedom.