The Family That Never Saved Me a Seat at the Table, I’m Not Saving a Spot for Either Chapter 09

The Family That Never Saved Me a Seat at the Table, I’m Not Saving a Spot for Either Chapter 09

When I got home, the table was covered with all my favorite dishes. My parents were still fussing around in

the kitchen.

Ethan and Clara sat properly at the table, neither daring to touch their forks.

The housekeeper looked helpless. “Miss Dale, they were already inside when I arrived.”

I told her to head home early.

The second Mom and Dad saw me walk in, they brought out the last dish-chicken and corn chowder, with

the best cuts of chicken already spooned into my bowl. Just like they used to do for Clara.

They didn’t look at me the way they used to. No anger. No disappointment. Just this nervous, eager look, like

they were trying to figure out what I wanted before I even said it. It was desperate. It made my skin crawl.

“A place this big in San Jose… it must have cost a fortune,” Mom murmured.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t touch the soup. “What do you want? How did you get in?”

They glanced at the keypad by the door. “You’ve used your birthday as the code since you were a kid.”

I pointed to the door. “Get out. All of you. Now.”

Ethan’s face twisted. He slammed his fork down. “Watch your attitude!”

I shot him an icy look. “Who do you think you are, slamming things in my house? You want to act tough?

Leave.”

Clara kept her head down, sniffling. “So now that you have money, you’re just going to disown your

family?”

A harsh laugh escaped me. “What am I supposed to do? Say I was wrong, play happy family, and invite you

all to move in?”

My parents’ eyes filled with regret and pain. “Harper… you never used to be like this.”

I frowned. “Can you please say something else for once? I’m so sick of that line. What do you want from me -to bankroll the whole family for the rest of my life?”

They sighed heavily. I gestured toward the door.

That’s when they scrambled to get to the point. “Those videos you made-Your brother says no one will hire him because of them. And your sister…” She glanced at Dad. “She had a rough time at school. Kids found out. She ended up not going to college.”

Embarrassment flickered across their faces. It must have been hard for them to grovel to the daughter

they’d ignored for so long.

But they pushed through it. “Could you… lend us some money?”

I let out a scoff. “How much?”

They latched onto that like a lifeline, relieved. “Not much-just fifty grand.”

Fifty grand. Said so casually.

Whether it was my high school summer job money or what I was earning now, they always saw it as their backup fund, ready to be funneled to their precious son and daughter.

“No.”

Clara burst into louder sobs.

Ethan jabbed a finger at me, roaring, “If it weren’t for your stupid videos, I’d have a job! You ruined everything-you owe us!”

I smacked his hand away. “That’s on you for being useless.”

I picked up the dishes from the table, one by one, and scraped them into the garbage disposal.

I used to have to eat their scraps. Now I had better options. I wasn’t about to hurt myself by clinging to the past.

My parents stared at me with desperate, red-rimmed eyes.

I shoved them all out the door and slammed it shut behind them.

I leaned against the door and called the front desk: don’t let them in again.

Then I changed the passcode-to the date I’d left home.

I had long since walked out of that damp, rotting house on my own. I didn’t need an apology. I didn’t need my parents to save me a plate anymore.

I opened a delivery app and ordered dinner for myself-way more food than one person could eat.

The rain was still pattering outside, but I finally had a warm harbor.

Years later, someone from my hometown community center called about my parents’ situation.

My brother and sister were unemployed and wanted nothing to do with them.

My parents had reached out through a contact, asking if I could help support them financially. Without a moment’s hesitation, I told the caseworker, “The way they treated my childhood is the way I’ll

treat their old age.”.

As soon as I said it, my parents made them hang up. They didn’t bother me again.

For some families, those words are a comfort. For others, they’re a curse come due.

I smiled, free and clear, and threw myself back into my work.

In this world, the only one who will never betray me is myself.