The 18th Time They Lost Me Chapter 05

The 18th Time They Lost Me Chapter 05

I shook my head, throat so tight the words barely came out. “I wasn’t… I just needed the 

signatures…” 

“Liar!” Silas ripped the form in half, then again, and let the pieces scatter across the floor. “You’re still playing the victim. I don’t want to see your face. Go home. Come back when you’ve figured out how to act right.” 

Mom had already turned away. She was fixing Maya’s hair clip. 

The last round of photos wrapped up. Silas slung an arm around Maya’s shoulders. “Alright, who’s hungry? Seafood?” 

Mom and Dad followed them out. Not one of them 

looked at me. 

I sat on the studio floor, staring at the shredded 

paper. 

The clerk’s words kept looping in my head. 

“Without those signatures, the application doesn’t 

go through. Your admission could be voided.” 

All I wanted was to go to college. Why was even 

that too much to ask? 

A voice came from behind me. “What if you 

registered with Crown Ridge Pack instead?” 

A young woman stood in the doorway, shifting her 

weight. “I… think I can help you.” 

Meanwhile, at the seafood restaurant. 

Silas posted a family photo. [Family of four. Life is good.] 

Elena Sterling sighed. “Quinn’s attitude is getting 

out of hand.” 

Silas scoffed. “She’s just being dramatic. Give it a 

couple days, she’ll get over it.” 

Maya bit down on her fork and smiled. She didn’t. 

say a thing. 

But Quinn never came home. Not that week. Not 

when college started. 

It wasn’t until Beta Julian Sterling couldn’t take it 

anymore that he drove out to King’s University in 

Crown Ridge to check the freshman registration 

office himself. 

“Hi, I’m looking for my daughter. Quinn. Has she 

checked in?” 

The admissions officer paused, something 

shifting behind his eyes. “Your… daughter?” 

Julian didn’t catch the tone. “She’s not officially 

registered with any pack. Is that going to be a 

problem for enrollment?” 

The admissions officer studied him for a moment, 

then swiveled the monitor around. “No problem at all. Quinn’s paperwork is fully processed. She’s 

registered under Crown Ridge Pack.” 

He stopped. Looked at Julian again. “But Quinn enrolled as an orphan. And you’re saying she’s your… daughter?”