They Made My Life A Joke For 18 Years, I Stopped Laughing Chapter 05

They Made My Life A Joke For 18 Years, I Stopped Laughing Chapter 05

“What are you talking about? She enrolled yesterday.”

Gavin frowned, his tone turning hostile.

Dad snapped, “You’re security. What would you know about enrollment? Get someone from the

Registrar’s Office. Now.”

The order dripped with entitlement.

The officer’s face hardened. He slapped a palm on the desk.

Then he pulled up yesterday’s security footage.

“See for yourselves. She walked into Student Services yesterday and withdrew on her own. It’s right

there.”

“PCU is one of the most selective universities in the country. Students spend years trying to get in. Hardly anyone walks away on move-in day. You think I wouldn’t remember someone who did?”

Mom pressed a hand to her chest, clearly shaken by the news.

The officer gave the three of them a long, disgusted look.

“That girl was perfectly polite when she left her suitcase here. I don’t know how she ended up with parents who talk to people like this.”

“And if she made a decision this big without telling you, maybe ask yourselves why she didn’t want

you to know.”

“We never mistreated her. I…”

Mom stepped forward to argue.

But the first thing that flashed through her mind was the $5,000 Christmas checks they’d given Sienna while Willa got a single twenty-dollar bill.

Then came Willa’s birthday, when she’d timidly asked for a new dress.

The very next day, Sienna had been wearing it.

Gavin fell silent too.

He’d watched Willa get picked on her entire life and had never once stepped in.

He’d always written it off as kids being kids.

But hearing with his own ears that Willa had withdrawn from PCU twisted something in his chest.

A heavy pressure settled over him, making it hard to breathe.

“Mom, Dad… is Willa mad at us?”

Mom burst into tears.

She cried harder than Willa ever had in front of them.

“Mad? What does she have to be mad about?”

“I raised her. I fed her, clothed her, gave her the best years of my life, and now she’s trying to punish me by throwing away her education?”

Mom pounded her chest with one hand, looking utterly devastated.

Students passing by slowed down to watch.

The more people watched, the more worked up Mom got.

She started listing every grievance she could think of.

“What has she ever had to worry about except school?”

“Her father, her brother, and I handled everything. That girl hasn’t suffered a day in her life!”

“And now she finally gets into a top school close to home and just walks away?”

Dad told her to keep her voice down.

But Mom ignored him and the students staring at her.

“I’ve done all I can. If she wants to throw her future away, that’s on her.”

“And when it blows up in her face, she better not come crawling back to me!”

With that, she climbed into the back seat of the Bentley and sat there fuming by herself.

Dad clapped Gavin on the shoulder. “Find her. Figure out where Willa went.”

“Girls her age act on impulse. If she falls in with the wrong crowd and drags the Sutton name through the mud, we’re all going to pay for it.”

Gavin nodded grimly.

He immediately sent Sienna and Ethan the news that I had withdrawn and asked them to help look for me.

[What? Willa withdrew from PCU?]

Sienna immediately forwarded the news to every old class group chat we were both in.

[I told you Willa only got into PCU because she got lucky. A 1550 on the SAT isn’t even that hard. Anyone could do it.]

Ethan replied without much interest.

Gavin’s brows knit together.

The comment bothered him, but not enough to disagree.

[Willa’s being unbelievably immature.]

[What’s she going to do with only a high school diploma?]

[No offense, but even the Suttons’ household staff have bachelor’s degrees.]

As Gavin typed those words, he never noticed the new email that had just appeared in his inbox.