They Wanted Me to Chaperone My Sister Abroad, So I Vanished Chapter 08

They Wanted Me to Chaperone My Sister Abroad, So I Vanished Chapter 08

Linda’s question snapped them all to attention: Bella still hadn’t returned from the restroom.

Any reasonable person’s first instinct would’ve been panic-wondering if she’d collapsed or hurt herself in the bathroom. Instead, Owen pressed his palm to his forehead, annoyance thick in his voice.

“Why does she always pull this stunt when everything matters most?”

Linda’s face softened with manufactured concern. “Don’t talk about her like that, Owen. She’s probably just feeling sick. I’ll go look for her.”

Marcus set Linda’s bag down and stepped forward to stop her. “Stay put, don’t wander off. I’ll check the

restrooms.”

But Marcus returned alone minutes later, his expression unusually grim. “I asked the janitor to check every stall for me-there’s no sign of her anywhere.”

Only then did real alarm set in. “What on earth is Bella thinking?!”

Owen clicked his tongue in frustration. “She has zero sense of priority. What if this ruins Linda’s chance to

start school overseas?”

The minutes ticked away. Bella and Linda’s names blared over the airport intercom in repeated boarding reminders, yet Bella stayed missing without a trace.

Her phone went straight to voicemail, and every text they sent vanished into silence with no reply.

As the plane’s final boarding call neared, Linda broke down into genuine panic. “How am I supposed to live and study overseas without Bella to take care of me?”

Dad made an abrupt decision. “We’re going home. Bella can’t hide forever-she’ll have to come back

eventually.”

Back at the house, Linda stared at her mountain of packed luggage spread across the living room floor, sinking onto the sofa on the verge of tears. She never imagined her endlessly compliant, docile sister would vanish right at the critical last minute.

Everyone had spent hours rehearsing harsh lectures, ready to scold Bella thoroughly once she walked through the door.

But night fell, streetlights flickered on outside, and the doorbell never rang once.

Three full days dragged by, the deadline for Linda’s overseas enrollment fast approaching, and Bella still

hadn’t returned.

That’s when it hit them: Bella had never intended to board the plane and move abroad with Linda at all.

Owen ground his teeth, barely holding back his rage. “Has Bella lost her mind? If she didn’t want to go overseas, she could’ve just said so! We planned everything for nothing, and she bails last second?”

Linda’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t be harsh on her, Owen. Bella was supposed to give up her domestic university spot just to keep me company overseas…”

“She agreed to this voluntarily!”

Owen pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to leave a bright red mark. “She barely hit 1200-the bare minimum for state school! This overseas spot was Linda’s gift, and she can’t even be grateful?”

Marcus shook his head in clear disapproval. “Exactly. We’re family-we didn’t even ask her to thank Linda, yet she pulls a stunt that leaves all of us scrambling to fix this mess.”

“Fine, let’s see what mediocre college she gets into with a score barely over the minimum cutoff, without Linda’s overseas plan to fall back on. If she’s foolish enough to drop out and work minimum wage jobs instead, I’ll disown her as my sister.”

Owen’s temper boiled over completely, and he dialed Ms. Bennett’s phone without hesitation.

Five minutes before the call came through, Ms. Bennett had received the reassuring messages from Bella.

[Ms. Bennett, I’ve officially enrolled. My exceptional SAT scores earned me special early acceptance into a classified research program, and I’ve arrived at the secure research campus.]

[For confidentiality reasons, I won’t be able to leave the facility for a long stretch, and all personal cell phones will be confiscated-so I won’t be able to message you again for quite some time.]

[Don’t worry about me; I’m safe, and no one will ever get to control my life anymore. They’ll never find where I

am.]

Ms. Bennett hadn’t even finished typing her reply when Owen’s incoming call popped up on her screen.

She thought back to every heart-wrenching story Bella had shared, realizing only after graduation why her star student had always been quiet, timid, and afraid to speak up. A bitter smirk tugged at her lips.

“Hello, Mr. Miller. How can I help you?”

“Sorry to disturb you so late. I was hoping you could tell me which university Bella enrolled in?”

Ms. Bennett’s tone stayed calm and even. “She’s attending UC Berkeley.”

“What?!” Owen’s shocked shout echoed loud through the speakerphone, making him jump to his feet. “She

only hit the minimum 1200 cutoff-there’s no way she qualifies for a top school like that!”

Ms. Bennett feigned genuine surprise. “Minimum cutoff? You don’t know? Bella got 1580 on her SAT. She outperformed 99% of every student who sat for the exam.”

A thud sounded through the speaker-then silence.

Owen’s phone slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor, but no one moved to pick it up. Dead silence

swallowed the Miller household, every family member staring at one another in stunned, helpless confusion.

1580?

How could that possibly be true?