They Chose Her Over Me, So I Chased My Own Future Chapter 07
Meanwhile, across campus, an administrator walked me
through the grounds personally, clapping me gently on
the shoulder as she spoke.
“You scored the highest marks out of every incoming trial
student this year. Don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need.”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head softly. “Thank you, Professor. Just being here is more than
enough for me.”
I hesitated, then added quietly, “Though I do have one
question–when will the full scholarship funds be
deposited? I… don’t have any money right now.”
After leaving the Silvermoon Pack behind, I had zero
savings to my name. I needed to cover basic living costs first.
The administrator’s expression softened with
understanding. “The full fifty thousand will hit your
account by tonight.”
I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Her phone buzzed, and she answered quickly.
“Understood, I’ll head over immediately.”
She glanced back at me. I smiled. “Go handle your work.
I’ll wander around and get familiar with the campus on my own.”
She nodded. “Call me anytime if you need help with that, she left.
I strolled down the sycamore–lined main walkway, lighter
than I’d ever felt before. The life I’d dreamed of was finally
within reach.
I’d gotten a brand–new phone number too, cutting off all
contact so they couldn’t hound me anymore.
I’d only taken a few steps when three familiar, trembling
voices called out behind me. “Rhea…”
My body went rigid, every fiber of my being screaming to
flee. I turned to see Ronan, his eyes bloodshot and
glistening. Neither of us spoke for a long beat.
He hurried forward, chest heaving. “You transferred
schools and moved all the way to the Southern Territories
-why didn’t you tell us? Do you have any idea how
terrified we were when we couldn’t reach you?”
I lifted my gaze to meet his, and the sheer emptiness in
my eyes left Ronan frozen in place, his mind going blank.
The familiar eyes he’d known since childhood held not an
ounce of warmth or affection anymore.
I let out a bitter, hollow laugh. “Tell you? So you could
destroy my last shot at freedom and force me to spend
four years catering to Sienna like her personal servant?”
Ronan’s mouth fell open, ready to argue, but Mom cut him
off first. Her eyes were shiny with tears. “Rhea, what are
you saying? You’re my flesh and blood–how could I ever
make you suffer like that?”
My gaze stayed flat and emotionless. The old, desperate
Rhea would’ve crumbled at those words, overcome with
foolish hope. That girl didn’t exist anymore.
“Is that so? You ruined my shot at Royal Werewolf
Academy and forced me into this Omega school. You
made me carry Sienna’s asthma inhaler everywhere. I have
to beg her for permission to spend my own living money.
Do I need to recite every single cruelty you’ve put me
through?”
“I loathe every single thing you’ve done to me.”
The three of them stood rooted to the spot. Mom
instinctively reached to defend herself, but when our cold
stares collided, she couldn’t spin her usual excuses
anymore. She couldn’t fall back on her old line about
Sienna’s fragile asthma requiring me to step aside.
It hit her like a punch; her own daughter had drifted so far
away she might as well be a stranger,
Damien lingered at the back, staring at me in stunned
disbelief. I was nothing like the shy young girl who used to
blush just talking to him. Now I wouldn’t even spare him a
glance, treating him like thin air.
A harsh truth crashed over him–without me clinging to
our bond, he wasn’t even worthy of being invisible to me,
I drew a deep breath, tired of dragging this out. “Rest easy.
The academy’s scholarship covers all my expenses. I won’t
take a single cent from any of you, and I’ll never compete with Sienna for anything again.”
“From now on, we go our separate ways. We have nothing
to do with one another.”
I paused, watching their tangled, devastated expressions.
“Oh, and one more thing. I’ll pay back every cent you
spent raising me over the first eighteen years once I start
working. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it.”
Mom stumbled backward, unsteady on her feet. Ronan’s
voice cracked completely. “Rhea, that’s not why we came
here! We don’t want repayment–you’re my sister, the
Silvermoon Pack’s true princess!”
My gaze sharpened, my tone dripping with thick sarcasm.
“Sir, I don’t carry the Silvermoon surname anymore. Don’t
forget that.”
Ronan’s pupils blew wide, his unshakable composure
cracking for the very first time. He’d forgotten–they’d
been the ones to strip me of that name themselves.
His hands balled into fists at his sides, nails biting into his
palms, but nothing hurt half as badly as the hollow, panicked emptiness swelling in his chest.
They’d truly messed up. They’d lost the little sister he’d loved all his life, the girl who stood right in front of him,
familiar yet unrecognizable,