He Brought Me Home, But Never Made Me Family Chapter 09

He Brought Me Home, But Never Made Me Family Chapter 09

Three days before orientation, Mom and Tyler went with me to buy school supplies and daily necessities.

We saw Adrian standing outside the few apartment.

Tyler stepped forward, blocking us.

“What are you doing here? You’re not welcome.”

Adrian’s eyes were bloodshot.

He stared straight at me.

Dark circles sat under his eyes, and he looked like he had not slept in days.

“Move. I need to talk to my sister.”

Tyler’s temper exploded.

He punched Adrian in the face.

“What kind of brother are you? Are you even listed on her residency record? Did you ever let her call you brother in public? Did you ever live under the same roof?”

“What have you ever done for her? What gives you the right to call yourself her brother?”

Adrian, clearly sleep-deprived, stumbled and fell to the ground.

Tyler wanted to hit him again, but Mom and I stopped him.

I patted his shoulder.

“Calm down. I’ll handle it.”

Tyler’s eyes were red, and his body shook with rage.

“What’s left to say? You still want to go back with him?”

I smiled.

“Don’t be silly. I’m not that stupid.”

He wiped his eyes, snorted, and turned away.

Mom sighed and pulled him back.

Adrian slowly got up from the ground.

He leaned against the wall, shaking.

He pulled out a statement approving the transfer of my residency to Hawthorne Institute.

“Thandled the residency. You don’t have to stay tied to them.”

“I told you to wait. I said would fix it. Why couldn’t you trust me just one more time?”

I looked at the document that had come far too late.

A dull ache hit my chest.

Then I laughed.

“The date on this is brand new. Must have been easy to arrange, huh?”

His face went white.

“I… cash flow was tight at the time, so…’

All the explanations I had once wanted to hear.

All the reasons that could have proven I was not just something he tossed aside.

They all turned into a joke in front of this piece of paper.

I cut him off.

“So cash flow was tight, but you could still transfer Isla a condo deed and throw her that huge send-off

brunch.”

Adrian met my eyes, and his legs buckled.

All the color drained from his face.

“It was my fault. I just thought you would have everything later. If I didn’t make it up to her now, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“I failed you. This was my first time dealing with something like this. I didn’t know how, Willa. I really didn’t. I never meant to make you feel unwanted.”

“Are you really going to give up on the family we finally got back because of one condo and one graduation dinner? I waited thirteen years for you.”

He looked at me, nearly breaking.

But that look no longer moved me.

It was just the look of a man who knew he was wrong but still wanted to drag me back with guilt.

I laughed softly.

“That was never a family. We never had a home. We never truly reunited.”

“You say you simply failed. But all these years, you never asked what I liked. What you gave me was either the same stuff Isla liked or things I hated.”

“You always said afterward that if I didn’t like it, you’d get me something else. Ask yourself, would you treat

Isla that way? You remember everything she likes like it’s engraved in your brain.”

“But you never did that for me. You kept me in an outside apartment, never let me meet Mom and Dad’s

relatives or family friends, and sent the people Ista didn’t want to see over to sit through my graduation

dinner with me.”

“You said you’d stay with me but snuck out in the middle of the night to comfort her.”

“You’re the one who said you only brought me home to fulfill our parents’ last wish. You said you would send me to the West Coast office or set me up with someone appropriate so I could leave.”

“You also said that in your heart, Isla was the only daughter.”