I glanced at my family. Rachel was standing there, laughing. My mother stood right next to her, holding her drink, not moving. My daughter was underwater. My dad had his arm crushing my throat.

I kicked backward into my dad’s legs so hard he lost balance for half a second. I tore myself out of his grip and threw myself into the pool.

Haley’s eyes were open, wide, panicked, searching for me. She was still conscious, but barely. I wrapped my arm around her chest and kicked us both up.

When I got her out of the water and held her, shaking, coughing, choking, trying to breathe, I looked back at them.

My sister smirked like she did something iconic. My dad fixed his shirt like nothing happened. My mother rolled her eyes and said, “Drama queen. Over one dip.”

Over one dip.

I held Haley tighter. That was the exact moment something shifted inside me. Something hard, something final. This wasn’t a family anymore. This was a threat.