My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 03

My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 03

When we got home, my mom stopped me before I could reach my room.

“Pack up your room. Chloe’s moving in tomorrow.”

“She starts at Zenith next week, and the commute from her place is brutal. She’ll be staying here.”

I followed her gaze.

New bedding sat in the hallway beside a vanity that had just been delivered.

Everything was pink. Chloe’s favorite.

“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

My mom blinked, then pointed down the hall at the storage closet near the front door.

“Clear it out. A folding bed will fit in there. Chloe’s a guest. You can tough it out for a while.”

The room was crammed with old furniture. A cabinet covered half the window, and the corners of the walls were stained with mildew that no amount of bleach could kill.

When we were kids and Chloe slept over, I gave her my bed and slept in that same room.

My mom had stroked my hair and smiled.

“Our Audrey is always so good.”

I used to think that if I gave in enough times, I’d earn a little of her love.

It took me years to realize that giving in never earned me anything. It just taught them to expect it.

“I’m not sleeping in there.”

It was the first time I’d ever said no.

My mom’s face went cold.

“Chloe’s going to be working long hours. She needs a real bed.”

“You don’t even have a job yet. Why does it matter where you sleep?”

My voice came out quietly.

“This is my room.”

My mom gave a short laugh.

“Yours? Since when is anything in this house yours?”

“We put this roof over your head. Giving up one room won’t kill you.”

I looked at her.

“What if my job is better than Chloe’s?”

My mom frowned.

“Audrey, it’s one thing not to have much going for you. But making things up to compete with Chloe? That’s pathetic.”

I almost told her about the research institute right then.

But the words died before they left my mouth.

My dad cut in, annoyed.

“If you don’t want the storage room, then go sleep somewhere else. Nobody’s forcing you to stay.”

I looked at both of them and nodded.

“Okay.”

They thought I was just throwing a tantrum. My mom didn’t even tell me to stay.

She just reminded me to have the room empty before I left so Chloe could move in on time.

I found a cheap hostel nearby. Shared room. Six beds. Upper bunk. Thirty bucks a night.

Every time someone rolled over, the metal bunk frame rattled.

But the moment I lay down, I felt safer than I ever had in that house.

At least this bed was mine. I’d paid for it myself.

The next day, I went back to pack.

I opened my jewelry box. The gold locket my grandma had left me was gone.

My grandma was the only person in this family who had ever loved me.

When I was little and running a high fever, my mom was at Chloe’s dance recital. Grandma was the one who rushed me to the ER.

She told me once that I wasn’t immune to pain—I just never had anyone to cry to, so I learned how to hide it.

After she died, that locket was the only thing I had left of her.

I carried the empty box out to the living room.

“Mom, where’s my locket?”

My mom paused halfway through stripping the bed, her hands still on the sheets.

“That old necklace? How should I know where you left it?”

Before the words were even out of her mouth, a photo popped up in the family group chat.

My dad had arranged a dinner. He was introducing Chloe to the executives at Zenith.

In the photo, Chloe was wearing the new dress from yesterday. And around her neck was my grandmother’s gold locket.

I shoved the screen in my mom’s face.

Even caught, she didn’t flinch. She doubled down.

“Chloe’s meeting executives today. She needed a necklace, so I lent it to her.”

“You never wear it anyway. What’s the point of leaving it in a box?”

“Grandma left that to me.”

My mom clenched her jaw.

“I’m your mother. I don’t need your permission to borrow a necklace.”

“Besides, your grandma loved Chloe too. If she could see you throwing a fit over a necklace, she’d be ashamed of you.”

“No, she wouldn’t.”

Tears came before I could stop them. My voice shook.

“Grandma was the only person in this family who never forced me to give up what was mine for Chloe.”

I headed for the door. My mom stepped in front of it.

“The executives are still at dinner. If you show up there now, you’ll ruin Chloe’s big night!”

The door opened behind her.

Chloe walked in.

Her fingers went to the locket at her neck.

“Audrey Sterling, is this what you’re looking for?”

She unclasped the chain and held it out in her open palm.

“I had no idea this was from your grandma. Auntie told me it was a gift for starting my new job.”

I stepped toward her and held out my hand.

“Give it back.”

I was still two steps away when her fingers slipped.

The locket hit the tile floor, the delicate hinge snapping in two.

Chloe stepped back. She was already crying before I could say a word.

“I’m sorry. You lunged at me so fast, you scared me…”