The Invisible Daughter Ruined Chapter 04
I waited by the curb for my dad to pull up.
His car pulled up. His whole family was inside.
The little guy in the back was half–asleep, slumped sideways in his
booster seat.
I reached for the back door. My dad made a sharp sound with his
tongue.
“Don’t. Just take a cab and meet us there.*
“If you wake your brother up, he’ll lose it.”
Before I could answer, he rattled off an address and pulled away.
The exhaust hit me full in the face. I coughed until my lungs
burned.
I checked what I had left in my wallet, looked at what a cab would
cost, and got on the bus.
Two transfers and almost an hour later, I was standing outside my
dad’s front door.
The last time I’d been here was right after Grandma’s diagnosis.
She told him she was too sick to take care of me. Asked if he’d take
me in.
I never made it inside. I stood in the hallway and listened to him
turn her away.
“My son’s about to start school. How am I supposed to handle
another kid? She’s old enough. Put her in boarding school. Don’t
dump this on my doorstep.”
I rang
the bell. My dad yanked the door open.
“Took you long enough. You’re just like your mother.”
He tossed me a pair of shoe covers. “Put those on.”
Before I could step inside, he dragged a small stool into the
entryway and laid a piece of paper over the seat.
“Sit here. Don’t touch the sofa.”
I didn’t sit.
“Just give me Grandma’s stuff. I’ll go.”
The bedroom door cracked open behind him.
My brother blinked at me from the doorway. “Elena, how come you
don’t have your own house? Why are you coming to ours so late?”
I looked into those big, guileless eyes, and my throat locked shut.
My dad shoved two plastic bags into my hands.
“Your grandma wanted you to have these things. She kept saying so
when she was in the hospital.”
“Okay, that’s it. Your brother needs to sleep. You should go.”
I turned around and left.
It was late. The buses had stopped running.
I stood there for a while, doing the math in my head. I couldn’t
justify the cab fare. So I walked.
Fifteen miles. I lost count of how many times I stopped to rest. The
blisters on my feet burst, then rubbed open again. It took me over
seven hours.
By the time I reached my building, the sun was coming up.
The woman at the bakery next door stopped me. “Elena, what happened? You’re white as a sheet.”
I forced something like a smile. “I’m fine. Just a long walk.”
But no distance I walked tonight would feel as long as every day after this, with nobody left.
Two weeks later, my paycheck cleared.
The real estate agent called too. The house had sold without any
issues.
I started shipping my things out, box by box.
The day before I left town, my mom and dad showed up.
For once, they were united.
“Elena, it just hit me. You graduated this year too, right? You’re
heading off to college? So what’s happening with this house?”
“If you ask me, you’re too young to be handling property. Someone’s
going to take advantage of you.”
“Better to sell it. We’ll put the money aside for you in a savings
account. You’ll have it when you need it later.”
I looked at them. I didn’t call them out.
Ten minutes earlier, they’d been arguing right outside my door. I
heard every word.
My dad’s voice came first: “This house is Sterling property. It should
go to me.”
My mom fired back: “That house was bought when we were
They both forgot.
When they dumped me on Grandma like I was something to get rid
of, she had one condition. She wanted the house transferred into
my name.
I kept my voice even. “Sure. Set up a time with the agent.”
“But I’m tired today. Let’s do it tomorrow.”
Their faces lit up. They set a time and left.
The next morning, right on time, my mom and dad knocked.
The second the door opened, they pushed past me.
Then they froze.
A couple they’d never seen was standing in the living room,
stretching a tape measure across the wall.
My mom crossed her arms. “Excuse me? Who are you? What’s going
on here?”
The woman turned around, unimpressed. “We’re measuring the
place. It’s a graduation gift for our daughter.”
“What daughter?” my dad snapped.
The man cut them off. “We closed on this house yesterday. It’s ours.
We’re here to measure for renovations.”
“We paid above asking for this place. The seller was valedictorian of
her class. Now if you don’t have a reason to be here, I’m going to
have to ask you to leave.”