The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 08

The Summer I Was Nobody’s Choice Chapter 08

The next morning, the doorbell rang loudly.

Mom opened the door and was immediately hit in the face by something soft.

“Ah!”

She barely got the scream out before she saw Grandma Brooks standing in front of her, completely calm.

“Mom, what are you doing?”

“Why are you here so early in the morning?!”

Grandma Brooks waited until Mom had wiped the mess off her face, then snorted coldly.

“Laura, so you know what it feels like to be hurt?”

“Then how do you think Nora felt when you falsely accused her?”

Mom paused, her hand still in her hair. “What do you mean?”

Grandma Brooks pulled out her old smartphone and opened the photo album.

“Laura, Laura. Nora is such a good kid, and you actually drove her to run away from home. You should be

ashamed.”

“Nora stole something? Why don’t you just say I stole it?”

Mom looked down. There was a video on the screen.

It showed the kitchen refrigerator. Grandma Brooks was pulling out boxes of sheet masks and collagen drinks and dumping them into her basket and then into the trash.

The voice in the background said, “This is ridiculous. There’s no food in the fridge-what do you expect the

child to eat?”

“I threw the stuff away. Don’t blame the child.”

Mom felt like something heavy had struck her chest.

She asked in a daze, “Mom, why didn’t you send this to me?”

Grandma Brooks swiped her phone. “I did send it to you. You just never looked.”

Mom opened her phone. Grandma Brooks’s name was at the very bottom of her contact list, and that

message had never been opened.

Grandma Brooks saw the look on Mom’s face and understood.

She went on.

“I filled the fridge later. Nora is the kind of kid who won’t even buy slightly expensive fruit.”

“What kind of mother are you, blaming your child over something so small?”

“Did I ever scold you when you were little and poured an entire bag of rice into a wet jar and it all molded?”

Mom hung her head in shame.

Grandma Brooks pushed past her and walked inside.

By then, the whole family was awake.

Chloe limped out, and the sight of her furious Grandma Brooks made her flinch.

“Gr-Grandma.”

Grandma Brooks snorted and grabbed her by the arm.

“Come on. You’re going to apologize to your sister.”

“Why should I?!”

As soon as Chloe heard she was supposed to apologize to me, she refused and struggled to pull away.

“Nora’s the one who did something wrong-why should I apologize?”

Mom rushed over to intervene.

“Mom, please don’t hurt Chloe.”

Grandma Brooks didn’t let go. If anything, her grip tightened.

“I’ve been planting corn and chopping wood for years. I know exactly how strong I am.”

“She’s not made of glass. You’re going to let a little scrape drive her older sister out of the house? Does that

make any sense?”

“Since you, as her mother, want to smooth things over, then I, as her grandmother, will take charge!”

Grandma Brooks practically dragged Chloe toward the door.

Ryan and Dad moved to stop her.

But Grandma Brooks just shot them a cold look.

“You’re supposed to be the older brother, yet when your sisters fight, all you do is take one side.”

She paused, then let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Huh.”

“Where did all that brilliance come from?”

“And you, her father-it’s one thing not to get involved, but now you want to stop an old woman?”

Both of them stopped in their tracks and bowed their heads.

“I know you don’t like Nora,” Grandma Brooks said, her tone softening just a little as she looked at them.

“That’s why I’ve tried so hard during every break to be good to her.”

“But do you know? When she first came to me, she cried every single night. She called for her brother, her

mom, her dad.”

“Are you really that busy? Too busy to take care of one child?”

“If you didn’t love her, why did you even have her?”

“Do you think I’m senile? That ‘turn’-you mean the wheel, don’t you?”

“What exactly is Nora to you? A prop to prove you’re fair? A pawn in your power struggle?”

Mom’s eyes were red.

“Mom, please don’t say anymore. I know I was wrong.”

Chloe’s eyes filled with regret.

“I’m sorry, Grandma. I shouldn’t have treated Nora that way.”

Ryan hung his head, and Dad turned away, his eyes reddening.

“Let’s go,” Grandma Brooks said quietly. “Let’s go apologize to Nora.”