The Invisible Daughter Ruined Chapter 08
A text flashed across my screen from an unknown number.
The message read: [It’s Julian]
I stared at it for a few seconds. Before I could delete it, another text
came through.
[Elena, I know you’re reading this]
[Your parents are freaking out. They’re asking everyone they know
to find you]
[They’re still your parents. Can you at least give them one chance?]
I read it twice. Then I almost laughed
A chance
Did they ever give me one?
When I was burning up with a 104–degree fever and Grandma was
half–carrying me through a downpour, trying to get a cab to the ER,
where were they?
When I got into the district’s elite magnet school and had no one to
show my acceptance letter to, where were they?
When Grandma was dying and I was the only one sitting in that
hospital room, where were they?
All those years. All those times I needed them. And what did I get?
Did it ever occur to them that I was their daughter too?
My phone buzzed again.
(Elena, don’t do this]
[I know I messed up. I should’ve told you I was changing my
decision. I shouldn’t have let you go to Southport alone.]
[But I had my family to think about too. I didn’t have a choice.]
[You’ve got an amazing future ahead of you. Why hold on to all
this?]
[At the end of the day, they’re your parents. Family is family, right?]
Family is family.
What a joke.
I took a breath and started typing.
[Julian, stop contacting me]
[You’re right, your family wants you in North Crest. So stay in North
Crest.]
[As for my parents, if they think I have such a bright future, they
can watch it from a distance.]
[I don’t need parents. And I don’t need that so–called home.]
[The day I sold that house, I officially became an orphan.]
[Don’t ever contact me again.]
I hit send.
Then I blocked the number and turned off my phone.
Outside the window, the afternoon sun spilled through the trees.
I picked up my textbook and started reading.
This time, I was the one who walked away.