One-Way Ticket Out of the Alpha’s Pack Chapter 05

One-Way Ticket Out of the Alpha’s Pack Chapter 05

“How do you know?”

“Because she didn’t miss the train.” Nick pauses. “She never planned to come back.”

Brandon’s face changes instantly.

And behind those doors, my figure never appears.

Brandon doesn’t accept that I’m not coming back until the station closes.

The last train’s passengers are long gone.

The cleaning crew has started mopping the floors, and the station announcements remind anyone still inside to leave.

He stands alone at the empty arrival gate and calls my number one more time.

The same automated message answers.

Still unwilling to give up, he turns around and walks to the ticket counter.

After checking the booking, the attendant tells him the ticket was canceled the night before.

That means when he called to question me, I had already decided not to go home.

I wasn’t throwing a last-minute tantrum.

I didn’t miss my train.

I knew they were waiting for me, and I still chose to stay at school.

Brandon sends one message to the family group chat: [Eva didn’t come back.]

Mom calls almost immediately.

“What do you mean she didn’t come home? Did she seriously hide somewhere just to spite us?”

My older brother, Dylan, sends a message in the group.

“Tell her to stop this. The whole family is waiting for her at dinner. What the hell is she trying to prove?”

Anthony calls my number directly.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Every call gets the same result.

That’s when Mom finally starts to panic, “What if something happened to her?”

Dad’s face darkens, “Call the school first.”

But when they search through the family contacts, none of them even knows my academic advisor’s name.

They can’t even clearly remember my college or major.

I’m an S-Rank Warrior, and the day I receive my acceptance letter from the prestigious Royal Fang, they’re too busy celebrating Victoria.

She’s a C-Rank Warrior.

She only gets into one expensive private college, but it’s the first thing worth celebrating after she comes home.

Mom and Dad book a restaurant.

My brothers prepare gifts.

Brandon even makes a video welcoming her home.

As for my acceptance letter, Mom only posts a screenshot on social media with the caption:

“Both my girls are starting a new chapter.”

After that, none of them even asks when I’m moving into my dorm.

Dad can only pull up the Royal Fang website and start making one call after another.

After being transferred several times, they finally reach the school’s duty office.

The staff member verifies their identities before answering in a polite, distant tone.

“Eva Wilson is safe. She has arranged year-round campus housing and has a normal schedule for classes and work during the breaks.”

Mom freezes, “Year-round housing? She isn’t coming home for winter break?”

“That’s what she requested.”

Dylan grabs the phone.

“She’s my sister. Why wasn’t her family notified about something this important?”

There’s a brief silence.

“Mr. Wilson, Ms. Wilson is an adult. She has the right to decide where she spends her breaks. And she listed someone other than a family member as her emergency contact.”

The living room falls completely silent.

Mom immediately asks, “Who did she list?”

“I’m sorry. That’s protected student information.”

The call ends. No one says another word.

The Thanksgiving dinner is already set on the table.

Dylan’s favorite roasted fish sits in the center.

Anthony’s favorite ribs are placed on the left.

Victoria’s favorite seafood and desserts take up most of the table.

The only thing I like, vegetable chicken soup, is missing because no one remembers to buy the ingredients.

It has been replaced with pumpkin soup.

The fold-out couch in the storage room is already made up too.

There’s only a thin mattress and a light blanket.

They turned the bedroom I lived in for eighteen years into a music room, yet somehow expected me to drag my suitcase home and sleep in a windowless storage room.

Victoria stands beside the piano and asks carefully, “Do you think Eva isn’t coming back because of the room?”

Dylan immediately answers, “She isn’t that petty.”

But the moment the words leave his mouth, he falls silent.

It isn’t just the bedroom.

There’s the tuition money they took. The living expenses they suddenly stopped sending.

The ten-hour train ride. The two suitcases I carried up six floors by myself.

And the fact that not one of them asked how my first day at college went.

Mom suddenly stands. “We’re going to her school. TONIGHT.”

Brandon grabs his car keys, “I’m coming with you.”

But by the time they arrive at Royal Fang, it’s already the next afternoon.

I’ve just finished my volunteer shift at the student center and am eating lunch in the campus dining hall when Professor Parker calls me.

“Eva, your family is here. Do you want to see them?”

My hand stops halfway to my mouth, the sandwich still in it.

“If I refuse, will it cause any problems with the school?”

“Not at all. You have every right to say no.”

I look out the window at the students walking across campus.

For the first time, I realize that I really do have the right to say no.

“Then I don’t want to see them.”

In the office, Mom waits for half an hour.

All she gets is one sentence from Professor Parker.

“Eva Wilson doesn’t want to meet with you.”

He pauses, his tone still polite, “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”