Chapter 2

I finally relaxed after doing everything I had in mind.

Just as I'd expected, less than half a minute later, my phone started blowing up. Everyone in the group chat started spamming messages, but I had no interest in reading them.

Then, Delilah called for the third time. Her persistence made it clear she wasn't going to stop until I answered.

This time, I did.

The moment the call connected, Delilah's muffled, sobbing voice came through. "Jared, where are you? Come home now, okay? What did you mean by the message you sent just now?"

"Well, I meant exactly what I said."

"Jared, I know you've been hurt all these years, but Leo has always been frail. He's been sensitive since he was a kid. How could you do this to him? What if he sees it? He'll have another episode!"

I nearly laughed out loud at her same old excuse.

There she went again.

Leo's poor health was the perfect excuse to explain their favoritism and all the hurt they'd put me through. In the past, I would've stayed silent and endured it, probably even said, "I understand."

Not today, though.

My voice was soft but clear as I cut her off. "Mrs. Parker."

Delilah's sobs suddenly caught in her throat.

I paused, giving her some time to process what I had just called her. Then, with the calmest voice that I had ever used, I asked her a question that I should have asked a long time ago. "Do I need to remind you that you're not biologically related to Leo?"

Delilah instantly went quiet.

I hung up, and peace returned to my world. I silenced my phone and threw it on the bed. Then, I continued packing and returned to my dorm.

The next day, I showed up to my class right on time and took a seat in the front row.

My professor, Seth Litt, who was known for being notoriously strict, announced that our department had one spot in an exchange program with a world-class landscape design firm this year. Whoever was selected would get to work at the company's headquarters on a three-month project.

The announcement dropped like a bomb in the classroom, and everyone started whispering. Their eyes lit up.

I was just as excited, for this wasn't just an opportunity. It was my way out of this suffocating life.

However, what Seth said next was like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. He said that, to make sure the students could complete the project successfully, they would have to put down a 5,000-dollar deposit first.

Unfortunately, I had less than 300 dollars to my name.

I needed money, like a lot of it. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to go back to the Parker family and ask for it.

I started practically living at the library, drawing until my knuckles ached. At the same time, I also took on three part-time jobs. In the mornings, I ground coffee beans at a cafe. In the afternoons, I tutored a high school student in math. At night, I rode a secondhand e-bike around town delivering food.

My days were packed and exhausting. Sometimes, after dropping off my last order, I'd sit on the roadside, too tired to even lift my arms.

However, when I stuffed the bills I'd earned that day into my pocket, still smelling faintly of ink and sweat, I felt like a small, empty place inside me had finally started to fill.

The money was clean. Somehow, earning it felt better than anything the Parker family could have given me.

I thought my life had finally split off from the Parker family. Then, I found out that someone was determined to tangle our lives back together.

That night, after finishing my last delivery, I stopped by a convenience store and picked up a discounted sandwich for dinner.

My phone lit up with a message from a classmate I was fairly close to.

He sent me a screenshot of Leo's Instagram post. In the photo, Mila was gently fastening an expensive necklace around Leo's neck. What was circled in the screenshot was the exchange between Leo and Mila in the comments.