Team NYU? Cute… They All Secretly Joined Team Delilah Chapter 10

Team NYU? Cute… They All Secretly Joined Team Delilah Chapter 10

After the presentation, I walked off the stage with my laptop in my arms.

Evelyn rushed over and hugged me.

“Jade Schmidt, you were amazing up there! The professor kept nodding the whole time.”

I smiled.

“It was okay.”

“Okay? We absolutely have to celebrate tonight.”

I was about to answer when Andrew’s voice came from behind me.

“Jade.”

My steps paused for a moment.

The auditorium had not completely emptied yet, and scattered glances turned toward us.

Andrew stood at the end of the aisle, clutching a small box in his hand.

Nicolas and Sue stood behind him without saying a word.

Andrew walked toward me slowly, his eyes bloodshot.

“I got the necklace back.”

He held the box out to me.

I did not take it immediately.

“So?”

Andrew froze.

I asked, “Do you want me to thank you?”

The color drained from his face.

“No.”

He quickly shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean. Jade, I know this was my fault from the beginning. I only wanted to return

what belongs to you.”

I took the box and opened it.

The silver necklace lay quietly inside.

The words on the back of the pendant were still there.

May Jade Always Be Safe.

I put the necklace away and looked at him.

“I have my things back. You can leave now.”

Nicolas took a step forward.

“Jade, I know anything I say now is too late.”

His voice was low.

“But I still need you to know that I really regret what I did.”

I nodded.

“I know.”

For one brief second, hope appeared in his eyes.

Then I said, “But that has nothing to do with me anymore.”

The color slowly drained from Nicolas’s face.

A fine drizzle had started outside the auditorium.

The rain in Los Angeles fell softly against the palm leaves.

They followed me to the exit.

Andrew spoke again, his voice almost pleading.

“Jade, come home with me just once, okay?”

“Mom and Dad’s death anniversary is coming up. We always used to visit them together.”

My grip tightened around the jewelry box in my hand.

He seemed to see a flicker of hope and hurried to continue.

“I’ll go with you this time. You can yell at me if you want. You can ignore me if you want. Just don’t

give up on this family.”

In the past, all Andrew had to do was mention our parents and I would soften.

This time, I only shook my head gently.

“I’ll visit them by myself.”

Andrew’s eyes immediately reddened.

“Jade…”

“Andrew Schmidt, what Mom and Dad left me was never a home I had to suffer just to return to.”

I looked directly at him and spoke one word at a time.

“They wanted me to grow up safe and sound. They didn’t want me trapped forever in your favoritism and guilt.”

He could no longer say anything.

Evelyn opened her umbrella and stood beside me.

“Ready to go?”

I nodded.

We stepped into the rain.

Behind me, Andrew called out hoarsely.

“Jade, if you ever decide to turn back, your brother will still be here.”

I stopped for a moment.

Rain tapped against the umbrella, sounding like all those nights long ago when I had waited for

someone who never came.

I did not turn around.

“I won’t turn back.”

That night, I put the necklace around my neck again.

The silver pendant felt cool against my skin.

I sat at my dorm room desk, opened my laptop, and deleted the last old group photo I still had.

Before it disappeared, I saw my ten year old self standing in front of a birthday cake, my eyes red from crying as I forced myself to smile.

Back then, I thought that if I were a little better behaved and a little more considerate, no one would

ever leave me again.

Only later did I understand.

The one person who would never leave me was myself.

On the anniversary of my parents’ death, I went to the cemetery alone.

I placed a bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of their headstone, then pulled the necklace from beneath my collar and rested the pendant gently in my palm.

“Mom, Dad, I’m doing well.”

The wind moved through the treetops, and sunlight fell across the headstone, gentle as a hand.

I smiled.

“I really did grow up safe and sound.”

When I left the cemetery, I did not look back.

At the end of the path, the sunlight was bright.