Four Ballots. Four Names. My Family Chose To Trade Me Away Chapter 04

Four Ballots. Four Names. My Family Chose To Trade Me Away Chapter 04

The host walked over, sympathy laced with mockery in his voice.

“Miss Holloway, it looks like your family has made their choice. How does that make you feel?”

All eyes in the studio, along with countless live cameras, were locked onto me.

They were waiting for me to cry, to break down, to put on a tragic performance of being abandoned.

I looked down at the Family Exchange and Severance Agreement.

Picked up the pen and signed without hesitation.

I dropped the pen, turned, and dragged out the beat-up old Samsonite suitcase I’d packed earlier.

Piper yelped. “Oh no! Mom’s bracelet is gone—the one she just gave me!”

Seraphina shot a nasty look at my bag. “Wren must’ve stolen it! She was lurking around Piper’s vanity earlier. She’s always been a thief!”

Celeste’s face twisted. She lunged and yanked my suitcase, slamming it to the floor.

The zipper on the suitcase was already broken, and with that impact, it burst open completely.

My few worn clothes and my most precious leather journal scattered everywhere.

“Wren, you shameless brat—stealing from a guest!” Dorian stomped his foot on my journal, grinding dirt into the pages.

Piper put on a show of being distressed. “Celeste, maybe she just made a mistake…”

“Don’t make excuses! No thief in this house!” Harrison’s face was dark as iron. “Open your stuff. Let her search.”

I stood frozen, staring at my journal, which was crushed under Dorian’s shoe and covered in dirty footprints.

Inside that journal, every single line was a record of the wishes I had silently made for this family, and the years of my life I had sacrificed.

And in that moment, whatever love I had left died completely.

Then Piper’s assistant whispered, “Piper, I think it’s in your bag’s side pocket.”

Piper opened her designer bag and pulled out the gold bracelet. She gave an airy shrug.

“Oops, my bad. I put it there after washing my hands. Sorry, sis.”

The truth came out, but nobody apologized.

Not one.

I didn’t cry. I just bent down and picked up the torn pages, one by one.

Harrison pulled a stack of cash from his wallet and tossed it onto the scattered clothes.

“Here. Fifty thousand. Take it and get lost. And don’t ever call yourself a Blake again.”

I stepped over the money, dragged my broken suitcase, and walked out into the night.

As the door swung shut, the system spoke in my head.

[Host has severed ties with the Blake family. Endowment is being reclaimed. Lifespan restoration initiated.]