Spring, Summer, Winter, I Am The Forgotten Autumn Chapter 01

Spring, Summer, Winter, I Am The Forgotten Autumn Chapter 01

My Mom, Marina Grey, has always acted as if she only had three daughters, permanently forgetting the fourth..

When I turned eight, our whole family planned a trip to Moon Cove Amusement Park. She knocked on each of my three sisters’ bedroom doors, ushering them into the car one by one. She locked me inside the house instead, and never noticed a child was missing for an entire day.

Before the Luna Ritual when I was fourteen, she bought three identical red winter coats. At the gala, she saw I was the only one wearing an old jacket and frowned at me with clear disapproval. “Your three sisters all have new coats. Why do you always insist on standing out?”

That summer, when I was sixteen, the family headed to the country villa at Grey Pine Lake to escape the heat. On their drive back to Silverbay City, they not only left me sleeping upstairs, but cut the power and bolted the front door behind them.

I woke up drenched in sweat. I had to smash a window, climb from the second floor onto the terrace, then borrow money from a neighbor to make my way back to the city.

Later, the four of us quadruplets sat for the Wolf Trial.

All three of my sisters earned acceptance offers to Silverbay University.

Mom was overjoyed and decided to take the whole family on a trip to Mistbridge City.

On the day we were supposed to head home, she left me behind at the hotel once again.

This time, I didn’t cry. I didn’t run after them.

I grabbed my suitcase, clutched my admission letter, and walked alone toward Hyperion University.

……

When the delivery driver arrived with the college acceptance letters, Marina Grey threw open the front door, brimming with excitement. She only took three moon-embossed envelopes from his hands.

Then she slammed the door shut.

I stood on the stair landing and watched the delivery man stare blankly for a few seconds, checking his manifest again.

I stepped forward and pulled the door open once more.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, pulling the final letter out of his portfolio. “There’s one more here. Autumn Grey?”

“That’s me. Thank you.” I took the envelope and closed the door.

The living room was already erupting with celebration.

Eldest sister April held up her letter, angling it constantly toward her phone camera. “Silverbay University, Finance track. I’m going to manage the Grey family finances now!”

Second sister Summer, dressed in a brand-new streetwear hoodie, threw her arms around our mother. “I didn’t waste that literature nomination.. Mom, I didn’t let you down, right?”

Third sister Winter wore a pale sundress. The tiny mole at the corner of her eye gave her a fragile, almost ethereal elegance. “Physics is the hardest program to get into. Finally, someone in this family’s going to do real research.”

“My three precious girls have made me so proud!” Marina grinned from ear to ear, already pulling out her tablet to draft a list of school supplies.

“We’ll get the latest laptops. Can’t show up looking cheap with our clothes and bags. Tomorrow we’re heading to Laurel Square to buy everything we need in one trip.”

Father Calvin Grey sat beside her, nodding with obvious pride.

I lingered in the entryway, watching this perfect scene of loving mother and daughters. I felt like a stranger who’d wandered into the wrong house.

No one asked where I’d gotten into school. No one cared that I held an acceptance letter of my own.

I walked straight to my bedroom, shut the door, and tore open the envelope.

Thick silver-gray stationery bore Hyperion University’s moon-wolf crest.

[Accepted: Alpha Leadership Academy, Full Laurel Scholarship]

[Wolf Trial Rank: S-Class]

I traced my name with my fingertip and let out a long breath.

For years, I’d learned to shrink my presence to avoid clashing with my three favored sisters.

I never fought. Never begged. I’d stopped expecting fairness a long time ago.

I’d only pushed myself relentlessly to train my wolf, compete in tactical simulations, border patrols, and leadership assessments.

I knew the truth: skill was the only thing I could take with me, and my only path out of this house.

I was about to tuck the letter deep in my desk drawer when the door swung open without warning.

Marina stood in the doorway, her carefully styled curls falling over her shoulders, irritation etched across her face.

“Autumn, what are you doing hiding in your room? The whole family’s celebrating, and you’re sulking in here for what?”

I said nothing. I just looked at her quietly.

She rolled her eyes. “We’re planning our graduation trip. Get out here now, or you’ll start claiming we left you out again. You hole up in this room all day—no wonder you slip our minds.”

With that, she hurried away in her slippers.

A graduation trip.

It was the first time she’d invited me to join a major family discussion.

I glanced at the acceptance letter tucked between my old textbooks, then finally stood and walked out of the room.