My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 02

My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 02

Ethan probably hadn’t expected me actually to leave. He caught up with me downstairs and grabbed my suitcase, stopping me.

“How long are you going to keep this up? It’s not even a big deal. Do you really have to make such a scene?”

Not a big deal.

A group chat they’d hidden from me for five years was not a big deal.

More than two hundred scheduled overtime shifts were not a big deal.

The year I was suffering from postpartum depression, they had used that chat to discuss who would take my place. That was not a big deal.

I looked up at him and suddenly found his face unfamiliar.

For five years, whenever I fought with my family, he had taken their side. He told me to be more generous, more understanding, and stop keeping score.

I used to make excuses for him. He loved me, so of course he loved my family too. He just wanted me to get along with them.

Today, I finally saw the truth. It wasn’t that.

Just like them, he believed deep down that I was the one in the wrong.

From beginning to end, I was the only outsider.

I didn’t argue with him.

I pulled out my phone, found the divorce papers I’d saved long ago, and sent them to him. “They’re on your phone. Sign them.”

He froze. “What?”

I ignored him, opened a cab door, and went home.

Ethan came back an hour later.

There was a faint trace of perfume on him.

I sat at the dining table. The divorce papers lay in front of him.

“Sign them.”

He glanced at the papers, his brow drawing together.

“You ran home without eating because of a group chat?”

He tugged at his tie. “We admitted we were wrong about the chat. We’ll delete it. Are you happy now?”

I let out a short laugh.

The lock clicked, and Sophie walked in holding Leo’s hand.

Her face went pale when she saw me.

“Sorry, Sis. I didn’t know you were home.”

Leo pulled free and ran ahead.

“Mom, don’t blame Aunt Sophie. She stood in for Mom and Dad at my parent-teacher conference on Monday. I invited her to dinner today because my teacher said we should show gratitude.”

My brows drew together.

“Last Monday’s parent-teacher conference?”

Leo said proudly.

“Yeah. You had overtime, remember? Uncle Ryan and Grandma went too. Good thing Aunt Sophie was there, or everyone would’ve laughed at me for not having a mom.”

I looked down and searched my phone.

There hadn’t been a single message in the class parents’ group chat last Monday.

But that morning, my work team had suddenly sent me to inspect a site outside the city.

That was the day I got caught in a landslide.

Two boulders pinned me in place. With the last bit of battery on my phone, I called Ethan first. He hung up. I called Ryan. He said he was in the next state on a rescue job and told me not to be selfish. I called Mom. She said, “Find a place to hide and wait for rescuers.”

But I had heard Ethan’s voice through the phone that day.

I thought the pain had made me hallucinate.

Leo pulled Sophie toward my seat and urged her,

“Hurry up and make dinner.”

Sophie stood up.

“I’ll do it. I threw out the recipes for the new dishes, so Nora probably doesn’t know how to make them.”

She opened the cabinet like she knew the kitchen better than I did.

The doorbell rang. A delivery driver handed over a box, and Sophie signed for it.

Inside was Mom’s vintage gold bracelet, the one she’d worn for thirty years. When I got married, I had asked where it was, and she’d told me she’d lost it.

Sophie smiled at me.

“They sent it to the wrong address. Mom’s birthday gift… Oh, sorry, Sis. I’m just used to calling her Mom.”

Leo held out a handmade gift.

“Happy birthday! Dad got you something too.”

He covered his mouth and giggled, while Sophie blushed and thanked him.

I felt my breathing grow shallow.

“Nora’s birthday is today, too.”

Sophie suddenly looked at me.

Leo’s face was innocent.

“Dad said you don’t celebrate your birthday.”

Ethan didn’t look at me.

“You said it was too much trouble, so I didn’t get you anything.”

I’d said I didn’t want anyone going to the trouble, because every year this date reminded me that it was the day something had been stolen from me.

But they’d used my words as an excuse not to make any effort.

The doorbell rang again.

This package was from my favorite jewelry brand. My brother’s name was on the return label.

I tightened my grip on the box. A second later, Ethan’s phone rang, and Ryan’s voice came through.

“She got Sophie’s gift, right? Don’t let Nora see it, or she’ll throw another fit.”

Ethan glanced at me.

“She’s here.”

There was silence for two seconds before the call ended.

Ethan swallowed.

“If you want one, I’ll have my assistant get it.”

“No need.”

“You said you didn’t celebrate your birthday. Everyone respected that, and now you’re upset? What are you mad about?”

He was about to say more when his eyes flicked toward Sophie.

Sophie understood. She took Leo’s hand and led him toward the door.

“Come on, Aunt Sophie will get you something to drink.”

The moment the door shut, Ethan exploded.

“If you wanted a gift, you should’ve asked for one! Doesn’t it get exhausting, making your family guess what you want?”

I looked at him calmly.

“Did Sophie ask for the $200,000 you gave her at Christmas, too?”