They Wanted Me to Chaperone My Sister Abroad, So I Vanished Chapter 16

They Wanted Me to Chaperone My Sister Abroad, So I Vanished Chapter 16

Life at the classified base had settled into a quiet rhythm. I had no idea that the morning after the disastrous send-off party, Mom, Dad, and Owen had driven straight to UC Berkeley’s D.C. campus…

Naturally, they found no trace of me. My research fell under top-secret federal protocols, so staff couldn’t

release a single detail about my location.

No matter how many favors they called in or questions they pressed, every administrator only gave the same

blank reply: “No comment.”

They never stopped searching for me. I was the Miller family’s most accomplished daughter-they couldn’t accept losing me forever.

They even spread rumors to all their social and business circles, blaming Linda’s manipulative, jealous nature for the permanent rift between parents and elder daughter.

After Linda’s overseas study plans collapsed completely, Mom and Dad cut all funding for her foreign tuition, openly announcing the family fortune would be split evenly between Owen and me after their passing.

Linda enrolled back in senior year prep classes, but the crushing pressure of repeating high school shattered her mental health time and again. Her second SAT scores were just as catastrophic as the first.

Proud and stubborn, she refused to enroll in low-tier community colleges, forcing herself to sign up for a third year of tutoring and retakes.

While every one of her former classmates graduated from universities, Linda still held no legitimate college diploma after two full years of repeated study.

Eventually, she stopped attending classes entirely, holing up at home and living off her parents without lifting

a finger.

Mom and Dad finally cut her monthly allowance, triggering screaming, destructive tantrums around the

house.

She accused them of shallow favoritism, fixated solely on Bella’s success. Their chaotic household drama became a notorious joke among every family friend and business associate.

Julian told me all of this months later, when we were alone in the research lab.

He walked over carrying two glasses of cold lemonade, leaning against my lab bench and asking if I wanted to hear gossip.

I never expected the gossip to revolve around my fractured family, and my mouth fell open as he finished recounting everything. The whole story struck me as bitterly, darkly absurd.

Julian’s parents both held senior roles within the federal research system, closely affiliated with our

classified project-explaining how he’d learned every detail.

He admitted he’d asked his parents to dig up the whole story specifically because he knew I’d want to know

the full truth.

He set down my drink, a faint, cold edge softening his usual warm smile. “I can’t believe how you were

treated growing up.”

“No wonder everyone in high school suspected you struggled with depression. You had every gift imaginable, yet you never seemed happy… I’m sorry, that thought came out clumsy.”

He knocked his fist lightly against his temple in regret, but I only laughed softly and clinked my glass against

his, untroubled by the past.

I suspected I’d lived with untreated depression back then, trapped in that suffocating household with no one

to notice or care.

None of it mattered anymore.

Five full years had passed since I arrived at the northwest classified base. Three months prior, Julian- steady, earnest, unshakably loyal Julian-had formally confessed his feelings for me.

“I couldn’t hold it in any longer,” he’d said.

Once I accepted his confession, he’d broken down crying like a lonely, abandoned puppy.

“I spent years terrified you’d never open your heart to anyone. I waited and waited, unsure if you’d ever be ready to let someone in. Then that new junior researcher showed up, fresh out of high school, throwing himself at you nonstop. I couldn’t stand watching it happen.”

“Bella, you love me too-nothing in the world could make me happier.”

His shoulders shook with silent sobs, and I held him until his breathing steadied-the one confessing love

now comforting the one who’d offered it.

“My heart aches for everything you went through,” he whispered once he’d settled down. My dad always said

the second you start caring this deeply for a girl, you’re done for.”

A sharp, sweet ache bloomed in my chest, melting into endless soft warmth.

No one had ever loved me so openly, unapologetically, and fiercely before. My whole childhood, I’d only been

ordered to be fair, to yield, to be mature, to obey without complaint. I’d never dared believe a love this

passionate and genuine could be mine to keep.

The thick, frozen glacier locked deep in my heart finally melted away completely.

I’d already met Julian’s parents. His mother was a world-renowned lead academician at our research

institute.

“You’re extraordinary, Bella,” she’d told me the moment we met. “Julian spoke about you the day we first

enrolled here.”

“Watching you over these years, I’ve seen you’re not just an exceptional researcher-you’re kind, honest, and unwaveringly good. You’ve endured far too much hardship. Don’t ever hesitate to stand up to this rascal; he’s tough enough to handle any frustration you need to let out.”

She pulled me into a firm hug that smelled faintly of linen and soap. That single embrace unraveled every

wall I’d built around myself.

A mother’s gentle warmth-something I hadn’t truly felt since Linda was born and all attention shifted away

from me.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I whispered, wiping away quiet tears.

Julian immediately pulled silly faces to make me laugh again, his usual bright grin returning to his face.

Afternoon light angled through the lab windows. My work moved forward steadily, and something like a family was settling into place beside it.