On Graduation Day, I Received a Cry for Help from Ten Years Ahead Chapter 02

On Graduation Day, I Received a Cry for Help from Ten Years Ahead Chapter 02

I stared at my mother’s message. All at once, I understood. There had never been a place for me in their plans.

We had been preparing for this graduation trip for a long time. Sophia was the one who first suggested bringing my mother along. My mother had been thrilled and offered to book the flights herself.

My parents divorced when I was young. Sophia grew up across the street from my house. Her mother died early, and her father traveled for work all year. Later, my mother became the emergency contact listed in Sophia’s school records. After middle school, Sophia spent most of her time at our place.

The three of us had always been close. At least, that was what I had believed.

My phone buzzed again. Ethan was calling.

“Why didn’t you wait for me? At least let me take you home.”

His voice was still so gentle. For some reason, I remembered the summer after high school graduation, when he stood under the trees with his ears red and confessed to me. For four years in college, he had always protected me. Once, when someone followed me, he took a blow meant for me. Even though he kept pretending he had no money in front of me, he never forgot a single anniversary.

Back then, he always smiled with that careless ease, his shoulders loose.

“Protecting my girlfriend is my job, isn’t it?”

In our junior year, I introduced Sophia to him. The first time they met, they acted as if they could not stand each other.

Ethan sounded genuinely anxious.

“She’s going to steal your attention from me? No. Absolutely not.”

Sophia laughed in disbelief and asked me where I had found such a hopelessly lovesick boyfriend.

The next day, I carried the last of my dorm luggage downstairs and happened to run into Sophia. She complained that Ethan had left her at the school gate the day before and driven off without her. I said nothing.

Downstairs, Ethan was already waiting in the car. Sophia opened the rear door and got in, saying she needed to catch up on sleep. Just then, someone walked past and said casually, “I passed the back lawn yesterday and heard people making out. They were loud enough for me to hear.”

The person beside him laughed.

“Of course. This area is packed with couples.”

When they walked by, Ethan was loading my luggage into the trunk. His hand paused for one clear second.

After I got into the passenger seat, I pretended to touch up my makeup and lifted my compact mirror. The mirror caught the back seat perfectly. Ethan kept handing me water and tissues, but his eyes kept drifting backward. Sophia made a face at him. The corner of his mouth curved.

The memory ended there.

I got out of the taxi and pushed open the door to my house. Sophia’s room was still kept for her.

That night, before bed, my mother brought me a glass of milk. When she handed it to me, her gaze lingered on my face for two seconds.

“You’ve been exhausted these past few days. Drink this and get some sleep.”

I took the glass.

“Okay. I’ll drink it in a minute.”

As I turned back toward my room, the email flashed through my mind. My fingers stilled against the rim of the glass. I poured the milk into the succulent on the windowsill, then shifted the soil around to hide the traces.

My mother had raised me alone, and I knew it had not been easy. For all these years, as long as something did not cross a serious line, she had almost always indulged me. But everything that had happened over the past two days made me doubt her for the first time.

I lay back on the bed, closed my eyes, and pretended to be asleep.

I did not know how much time had passed before my bedroom door was gently pushed open. Someone came to my bedside, stood there for a while, then quietly left. A moment later, low voices came from the living room.

I walked barefoot to the door and pressed my ear against it.

It was Sophia.

“Is she asleep?”

My mother’s answer was steady, with no hint of guilt.

“She’s out. I crushed the pills into her milk myself. Keep your voices down. Don’t wake her.”

My hand slowly tightened against the doorframe. The edge of the wood dug into my palm, but I felt no pain.

I did not rush out. If I called the police now, they would have time to destroy the rest of the evidence. I returned to my room, wiped the remaining milk from the inside of the glass with a cotton swab, sealed it in a plastic bag, and stuffed it at the bottom of my purse. Tomorrow, I would send it to a private lab.

In the living room, Ethan’s voice came through.

“Do we really have to hurt her? We don’t have to take it that far. We can find another way to keep her from coming on the trip with us.”

Sophia lowered her voice until she sounded wounded.

“Don’t forget, Ethan. I’m your wife. Are we supposed to take a walking threat with us on our honeymoon?”