The Invisible Daughter Ruined Their Lavish Celebrations Chapter 09

The Invisible Daughter Ruined Their Lavish Celebrations Chapter 09

Time moved fast.

Winter break arrived before I knew it. I flew back to North Crest for the anniversary of my

grandma’s passing.

The wind was dry and bitter, the kind that stings your face.

I crouched in front of Grandma’s headstone and set a bouquet of white lilies at the base. My fingers

traced the cold stone.

“Grandma, I made the dean’s list. Got the top merit scholarship again. I’m doing really well. You

don’t have to worry about me.”

A twig snapped behind me.

I turned. My dad was standing a few steps back. He looked more worn down than the last time I’d

seen him, and there was more gray at his temples.

He rubbed his hands together, and when he spoke, his voice sounded careful, almost pleading.

“Elena, when did you get back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

I stayed where I was and looked up at him.

He shifted on his feet, eyes flicking away. It took him a while to get anything out. “If you’d told me, I

would’ve picked you up from the airport.”

I didn’t say anything.

He kept going. “I know I failed you. All those years.”

“I got wrapped up in your brother’s life and forgot about yours.”

“You turned out so incredible, and I missed all of it. Don’t hold that against me, okay? I’ll make it up

to you. I swear I will.”

Make it up to me.

The words landed with no weight at all.

I stood up and brushed off my knees.

“Don’t bother.”

“I don’t need you to make anything up to me. Just take care of the family you chose.”

His face went white. He reached for me, and I stepped to the side.

“Elena…”

His voice cracked. His eyes were wet.

I didn’t look back. I just kept walking.

Some things don’t get fixed just because you say you forgot.

I’d barely made it through the cemetery gates when a cab screeched to a stop in front of me.

My mom threw the door open and climbed out. Her makeup was flawless, but it couldn’t hide the dark circles under her eyes or the panic underneath.

She rushed toward me, reaching for my hand. I pulled away before I even thought about it.

Her voice wobbled. “Why are you pulling away from me?”

“You sell the house, disappear like that, run off to a school a thousand miles away. Do you have any

idea how worried I’ve been?”

I looked at her, and something about the whole thing felt unreal.

Worried.

When I was ten and she handed me off to Grandma, a woman barely getting by on her pension, she

wasn’t worried then.

Now that I was grown, a National Merit Scholar, with over a million dollars in the bank, now she

was worried.

“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Why do you have to make everything so hard?”

My mom’s voice climbed.

“We’re your parents! Doesn’t that mean anything anymore?”

“Chloe was right about you. You’re impossible. You’d rather destroy every bridge than let anyone in!”

Something cold turned over inside me.

Chloe. Of course she’d been talking to Chloe about me.

I turned my back on her and headed for another cab at the curb.

She kept going behind me.

Her coworkers had kept asking how she’d raised a National Merit Scholar. Local news stations

wanted interviews. She didn’t know what to tell anyone after I disappeared, and it was humiliating.

I reached the cab and opened the door.

My mom grabbed for my arm, but the cab door swung open from the inside. Julian was there.

He looked thinner. Pale against the winter gray.

“Elena.”

His voice was rough.

“I heard you were back. I figured you’d be here.”

“Can I talk to you? Just for a minute.”