The Family That Never Saved Me a Seat at the Table, I’m Not Saving a Spot for Either Chapter 07

The Family That Never Saved Me a Seat at the Table, I’m Not Saving a Spot for Either Chapter 07

The moment I knew the game had truly broken out of its niche was when my parents showed up in front of

They hadn’t asked if I was okay. Hadn’t asked how I’d survived in a strange city with no financial support.

They just looked at me, exhausted. “How long are you going to keep this up?”

I didn’t answer. I tried to walk past them.

Dad blocked my path, fury barely contained. “You made that thing, didn’t you? If it weren’t for your brother, we wouldn’t have known you were out here running your mouth.”

I laughed. Not a soft laugh, but a wild, unhinged one.

“Running my mouth?” Tears filled my eyes, the years of hurt spilling over. “What did I say that wasn’t true? The leftovers-was that a lie?”

Mom started crying. “Even if it’s true, you can’t just put it out there! Do you have any idea what the neighbors and our coworkers think of us now?”

Dad looked away in disgust.

I stood there, stunned by the absurdity. Even if it was true, I wasn’t supposed to say it.

Family shame isn’t meant to be aired. But if they knew it was shameful, they still did it. And if they did it, why were they so afraid of people knowing?

I stared at Mom coldly. “So I was supposed to just swallow it all? Shove it down and play the good daughter for the sake of family peace?”

“But what about you two? Didn’t you both get screwed over by your own parents?”

Dad always said being the oldest meant you took the hit. So he gave things up. He looked after everyone else. So he made sure Ethan never had to.

And Mom–Mom always said being the youngest girl meant nobody wanted you around. She were just in the way. So she made damn sure Clara never felt that. Clara got everything. Whatever she wanted.

And Ethan and Clara, they were sharp. They could read a room, knew exactly who was at the bottom of the food chain.

So they teamed up against me. Dumped the grunt work on me, knowing Mom and Dad would never call them

out.

I became this perfect family’s sacrifice. No one cared. No one worried.

They didn’t save me food because they wanted me to eat-they needed someone to wash the dishes.

My words hit them like a freight train.

The look in their eyes shifted not just blame or resentment anymore, but something like a grim recognition.

Like I’d flipped a switch and they realized the one most like them wasn’t Ethan or Clara.

It was the middle daughter they’d ignored all along.

Mom’s voice went hoarse. She reached for me. “Harper…”

I sidestepped her. “Do me one favor. Do it for yourself, if that helps. Just leave me alone. That’s all I want from you.”

My parents froze. They’d never imagined I could hate them this much.

They never wanted their own kids to repeat their pain, so they thought they were doing it differently-being fair, being better than their own parents.

But they’d still broken one of their children. They’d put me through exactly what they’d suffered.

And they’d been naïve enough to believe they were good, even-handed parents.

My words tore that pretty illusion apart.

I looked at them standing there, frozen, and my heart didn’t ache for this family anymore. Just numbness.

Whatever Dad saw in my face, it landed. His shoulders dropped. He looked at me like he was finally seeing me for the first time-and didn’t recognize what was standing there.

In the end, they didn’t say anything else. They fled home like they were escaping. They didn’t push me to delete the game anymore.

But I never expected Ethan and Clara to find a way to contact me.