They Bet I Would Leave, I Proved Them Right Chapter 06

They Bet I Would Leave, I Proved Them Right Chapter 06

Nolan was the first through the door of the Federal Energy Research Institute’s Bellhaven office. The others

were right behind him.

The woman at the desk asked one question.

“What’s your relationship to Miss Ellsworth?”

Nolan didn’t hesitate.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

The woman pulled up my file.

“You’re not listed as an emergency contact for Miss Ellsworth.”

Nolan’s face went blank.

“She’s just mad at me.”

“Just tell me where she went.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not authorized to share that.”

Grant slammed his palm on the counter.

“We grew up with her!”

The woman looked up at him.

“Then you should’ve known she was entering the program today.”

All four of them went quiet.

They hadn’t known.

They’d torn my room apart the day before, and not one of them had bothered to actually read the agreement.

Graham kept his voice level.

“We’re not asking for the exact address.”

“Can you at least forward some of her belongings to her?”

“No.”

“Then when can we reach her?”

“That depends on the project. Her classified assignment period is five years.”

Nolan didn’t move for a long time.

“Did she mention us at all before she left?”

The woman frowned.

“Miss Ellsworth is an adult.”

“Does she need your permission to pursue her career?”

None of them had an answer.

Nolan drove straight from the institute to the highway toll plaza.

The transport had been gone for hours.

All they found beside the concrete ledge was the birthstone pendant. A crack ran straight through it.

Grant crouched down and picked it up.

A name was engraved on the back.

Mara.

Nolan held out his hand.

“Give it to me.”

Grant closed his fist around it.

“Why?”

“I gave it to her.”

Brielle was standing right there. She spoke up quietly.

“Mara told me yesterday I could have it.”

All three of them turned to look at her.

Brielle shrank back.

“I just didn’t think she’d actually throw it away.”

Graham spoke up.

“Why did you want her pendant?”

“I thought it was pretty.”

“Mara’s name is on it.”

“We could’ve had the engraving taken off.”

The silence that followed could’ve frozen the air.

Reid stared at her.

“Is that what the tribute video was about too?”

“You wanted to cut Mara out and paste yourself in?”

Brielle’s face crumpled.

“You’re the ones who said you wanted to give me a childhood.”

Grant opened his mouth to defend her.

But nothing came out.

She wasn’t wrong.

They were the ones who’d handed over my medal, my camera, and my videos.

They were the ones who’d said it, over and over.

“It’s just some stuff.”

“It’s just a game.”

“It’s only five years in Westreach.”

Nolan pulled out his phone and opened the group chat I’d left.

The messages from the night before were still there.

Grant had told the so–called [Westreach Online Friend] to crawl back.

Reid had said I’d behave after two days.

Graham had liked the message about changing my name.

And Nolan had added his own.

He’d said it fit me.

Nolan stared at those words. Then he hurled his phone at the ground.

The screen shattered.

Brielle flinched back.

“Nolan…”

“Don’t.”

She froze.

Nolan took the pendant.

The crack split my name right down the middle.

He ran his thumb over it again and again, as if he could rub the crack away. He couldn’t.

There was no party that night.

The cake still had five figurines on it.

Not one of them was me.

Grant sat on the couch for a long time before he spoke.

“She came to the gym to find me before she left.”

“She said she might not get another chance.”

“How did I miss that?”

Graham was staring down at the competition prep packets in his hands.

“We didn’t miss it.”

“We just didn’t want to hear it.”