The App That Failed, The Love That Never Was Chapter 09

The App That Failed, The Love That Never Was Chapter 09

With Serena’s family legal team handling matters, everything proceeded smoothly.

My parents must have realized nothing they could do would win me back. In the end, they signed the consent agreement for the formal no–contact notice.

They tried to find me on campus a few more times, but my advisor turned them away each time.

Later, the advisor contacted campus security. My parents‘ photos and personal details were added to the visitor blacklist, barring them from stepping onto university grounds.

After several futile attempts, they finally gave up and slunk back home. My world was fully peaceful

at last.

From casual chats with old high–school classmates, I heard bits and pieces about what was happening back in my old home.

My parents had changed completely. They began enforcing that same rigid booking–app system on

Sylvie.

Every meal, even medical reimbursement for minor headaches and colds, required her to submit a request on the app and wait for approval.

Nearly every submission got rejected.

When she graduated from high school and got accepted into an ordinary university, she wanted them to throw her a lavish graduation banquet. My parents refused outright.

They cited her failure to submit a request thirty days in advance. Without an approved booking, there would be no venue, and therefore no celebration.

Sylvie screamed at them, sobbing that they were being unfair and that now I, her older sister, was

the only one they cared about.

My parents only stared at her coldly. “The system is the system. Your sister followed it for years.

Now it’s your turn.”

I was reading the notification for my $100,000 university project grant when I heard these stories. Serena, Lucie and I were seated on a flight bound for Sicily, ready for our summer vacation.

I sipped coconut water, watching the two of them laugh and tease each other beside me, completely

at ease.

Far away, waves crashed against sun–bathed beaches. Sicily was even more beautiful than I had imagined. Best of all, I had gotten here entirely on my own merits.

My phone vibrated. A text arrived from an unfamiliar number.

[Sis, I’m sorry. I only now realize how terribly hard your life used to be.]

No guesswork needed. It was Sylvie.

Now that her privileges had crumbled, she was starting to feel regret. But it was far too late for that.

I deleted the text and blocked the number.

I stood up, laughing, and ran toward Serena and Lucie playing by the ocean. “Wait for me!”

From then on, my life was no longer defined by the shadows behind me, but by the light ahead. The past was a country I’d left, not a home I returned to.

(The End)