The Daughter They Didn’t Want Won The Lottery Chapter 07
He crossed the room in three strides. “Em. I’m sorry. When you called this morning I should’ve picked up—”
I looked at him. Shook my head slow.
“I don’t blame you.”
He froze, as if my calm unsettled him more than any crying ever had.
Behind him, Chloe suddenly hiccuped into a sob and clapped a hand over her mouth. “It’s my fault, I almost got her killed—” She turned and ran into the hall.
Mom bolted after her. Dad followed.
Liam hesitated one long, painful second, hand hovering over mine. “She gets so anxious. Let me just make sure she’s okay.”
Then he turned and jogged out.
I stared at the empty doorway.
Then I laughed. Quietly. To myself.
The second Chloe walked into a room, I was the one they left behind. Every time.
Fine. A few more days and I’d be out of that room forever.
I left the hospital two days later, handled the paperwork myself, and Ubered home.
The kitchen smelled like bacon. All three of them at the table when I walked in.
Mom’s fork paused. She managed a thin smile. “Oh. You’re back. I was just about to head over.”
I didn’t answer. Walked past her, into my room, started packing.
Halfway through the closet, I stopped.
Every shirt had been Chloe’s first. Desk lamp, her old one. Hairbrush, her initials in Sharpie. Even the notebooks were her leftovers.
Nothing in this room had ever really been mine.
I zipped my passport, my ID, and two clean shirts into a backpack. That was it.
Chloe appeared in the doorway with her brand-new iPhone. “Em. About what happened. Here. Take it. Consider it me making it up to you.”
She owed me. I took it.
The lock screen woke under my thumb.
Chloe and Liam under a huge Ferris wheel. She was tucked into his side, clutching a stuffed animal almost her size. He was smiling down at her.
Disney World.
The tears came before I could stop them.
She’d been waiting for this exact moment. She plucked the phone back, swiped into the album, held it up so I couldn’t miss.
“Oh right—after everything happened, I was so upset, and Liam took me to Disney to cheer me up. It was so magical, Em.”
She smiled, kindly. “Shame you’ll never get to go.”