The Game They Played, The Life I Lost Chapter 07

The Game They Played, The Life I Lost Chapter 07

Someone was there to pick me up outside the airport. My new coworker was warm and welcoming.

I felt reassured.

I stopped by the branch office to check in, then found a place to stay in an apartment that night.

When I opened the window, I could smell butter from the corner bakery down the street.

The breeze was gentle, carrying a fallen oak leaf.

Like a sign.

A new chapter of my life was officially beginning.

All in all, a good start.

In my first month, I took on a new project, pulled a few all-nighters, and delivered results my boss was happy with.

He took me out to dinner to celebrate.

In my second month, I met my neighbor next door. She was Chinese-American and invited me out a few times.

She was my first friend in this foreign country.

Here, no one deliberately ignored me.

Being needed and valued—that was something I’d rarely felt in my old life. Now I had it.

—

In my third month, I got a call from an unknown number.

My parents, thousands of miles away, sobbed on the other end, full of guilt.

Hearing their voices again, I felt almost nothing.

Mom spoke first.

“Tara, why did you go so far away? Don’t you want this family anymore?”

“How can you take care of yourself over there? I’m worried about you.”

But that night I sat alone in the woods, bleeding and freezing, no one was worried.

“No, I don’t want it. And I can take care of myself.”

Dad took the phone. A grown man, choking back tears.

“Tara, Dad saw the paternity test. I’m sorry.”

“We weren’t good parents. We didn’t do right by you. But there will always be a place for you in this family.”

“Serena moved out. No one will ignore you anymore.”

I let out a soft laugh.

I’d found out about it in college. My parents were locked in their room, arguing.

Their voices were hushed but sharp.

Dad said looking at me made his skin crawl.

—

Mom said she was tired and didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

It was nothing. A ghost. But they turned it into a chain that weighed me down for years.

Serena wasn’t innocent, but my parents were her accomplices.

This apology came twenty years too late.

“Whether she moves out is her business.”

“Whether I come back is mine.”

“You’ve spent years pretending not to see me. That’s fine. We never have to see each other again.”

My words hit them like a slap.

“Tara…”

“That’s not what we meant. Mom and Dad were wrong.”

My patience was running out.

“Long-distance calls are expensive, and I have work to do.”

The sound of fabric rustling came through the line. Ethan.

“Tara, wait!”

His voice was urgent.

I didn’t respond.

“Tara, are you doing okay over there?”

I flipped through my project notes.

—

“What do you want me to say? That I’m miserable?”

“Sorry to disappoint you. I’m doing great. I have a good job, and I sleep like a baby every night.”

“Ethan, my life is better without you.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t take it.

“Tara, that’s impossible!”

“I know you’re upset, but that’s between you and your parents. Don’t take it out on me. That’s not fair.”

“I’m innocent. I love you!”

My voice dripped with sarcasm.

“You love me? Who left me stranded on the side of the road the morning of my SATs and made me miss my first exam?”

“Who put a bear trap on the path I had to take that night, nearly killing me?”

“You’re not innocent.”

“Don’t make me sick, Ethan.”

I heard him fumbling for words, panicked.

“Tara, it’s not like that. I didn’t know things would—”

It was too loud.

I hung up.