My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 09

My Parents Deleted My Only Graduation Photo for My Bestie Chapter 09

Logan couldn’t change my mind.

The next day, my mom, my dad, and Julian caught a flight out and drove the rest of the way through the night.

My mom had been carsick the whole drive. She looked like hell.

But the first thing out of her mouth when they reached the institute wasn’t even about me.

“Did you talk to Audrey? Will she help Chloe?”

Logan didn’t answer.

Whatever fragile composure my mom had been clinging to shattered.

“We traveled all night to get here. The least she can do is see us.”

They tried to go straight inside, but the institute had strict security.

The guard asked them to sign in and give a reason for the visit.

My dad puffed up his chest. “We’re Audrey’s family.”

The guard checked the system for a moment, then looked up.

“Audrey doesn’t have any authorized visitors listed.”

My dad stared at him.

“I’m her father. I need permission to see my own daughter?”

The guard didn’t flinch.

“Sir, this is a federal research facility. No appointment, no clearance.”

That shut them down.

Before, all they had to do was call and I’d come running.

Now they’d traveled two thousand miles, and they couldn’t even get through the door without my approval.

Eventually, after my dad made enough of a scene, the guard called the project office.

A colleague came to find me.

“Audrey, there is a group at the front gates. They claim they’re your family.”

I didn’t want to see them. But they were making a scene at the entrance, and I wasn’t going to let them disrupt the institute.

I set my work down.

“Have security escort them to the visitor lobby.”

They were waiting in the sterile room when I walked in.

Julian was pacing, looking furious.

He’d probably never imagined that seeing his sister would mean filling out forms and waiting to be

let in.

The second my mom saw me, the tears started.

“Audrey.”

She stood up and reached for my hand.

I stepped back, cold and out of reach.

Her hand froze in midair. Her face crumbled.

All those years I’d reached for her, and she never took my

hand.

Now it was her turn to feel the empty air.

I glanced at the wall clock.

“I’ve got ten minutes. Then I need to get back to work.”

“Say what you came to say.”

My dad’s jaw tightened. He wasn’t used to being spoken to like a subordinate.

He swallowed his pride, pulled out his checkbook, quickly wrote out a massive sum, and slid the

check across the table.

“You’re out here by yourself. Living expenses add up. Take this.”

“I messed up. I know that. Whatever you need from now on, just ask.”

I didn’t touch it.

“I don’t need it.”

“I make more than enough on my own now.”

My dad’s mouth opened and closed, completely at a loss.

My mom wiped her eyes.

“I know I wasn’t fair to you. I know that now. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

“But Chloe is really struggling right now. She just started at Zenith, and if this first project goes

badly, she won’t get through probation…”

And there it was.

I stared at her, feeling absolutely nothing.

“So you traveled all this way just to ask me to save Chloe’s job.”

My mom went quiet. She didn’t need to answer. We both knew.

Julian snapped, jumping to his feet.

“Audrey, enough.”

“We grew up with Chloe. She’s practically family.”

“Why do you have to be so heartless?”

“She’s always been sensitive. You know she can’t handle pressure.

“You could help her right now. Why would you just stand there and let her fail?”

I met his furious glare without blinking.

“My whole life, whenever Chloe wanted something, I was the one expected to give it up.”

“If she cried, I was the one who had to apologize.”

“Whatever she pointed at, I had to hand over.”

“Now she’s drowning at her own job, and somehow it’s still my responsibility to save her?”

My dad lowered his voice, trying to play the authority card.

“Don’t forget, Audrey. You’re still part of this family.”

“If this project falls through, Chloe won’t be the only one who loses face. It’ll be me. Your mother. This entire family.”

I looked him dead in the eye.

“Then let it burn.”

My dad recoiled like I’d slapped him.

I kept my voice dead straight.

“In tomorrow’s meeting, I’m running the review strictly by the book.”

“If Zenith’s data qualifies, they pass. If it doesn’t, they fail. That’s all there is to it.”

I turned to leave. My mom’s voice caught me at the door.

“Audrey.”

Her voice was trembling, stripped of all its usual entitlement.

“Are you really never coming home?”

I didn’t even turn around.

“That house stopped being my home a long time ago.’