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Chapter 3

Auteur: Eternity
In October, St. Gabriel held Family Honors Night.

Students receiving the year's top awards were supposed to walk through the auditorium with their families before accepting the school crest and honor sash onstage.

Before the ceremony, the lobby overflowed with parents. One father had taken the first flight from Chicago. A mother arrived in hospital scrubs at the end of her shift. Students whose parents worked overseas came with grandparents and older siblings.

The space beside me stayed empty.

My parents were on campus. They were in another building with Sofia and her private consultant, discussing summer programs. Mom had brought the hotel's PR director. Dad had postponed a port meeting.

They were less than a thousand feet away.

Just before my turn, a parent who knew the Morettis hurried them into the auditorium. "Emilia has been waiting for you. Thank goodness you made it."

They didn't look relieved. They looked like they'd been caught in public.

Mom lowered her voice. "How long does this take? Sofia's consultant only gave us an hour."

Dad eyed the carpeted aisle. "You walk with her. She's yours this year."

"I'm not doing that with everyone staring. It's performative."

"And you expect me to? Half the port committee is here."

"She's your daughter."

"This year, she's yours."

They spoke faster without raising their voices, determined to keep the ugliness private.

The presenter announced my name.

"Emilia Moretti, recipient of this year's highest academic honor."

Applause filled the room. My parents were still debating who should stand beside me.

I didn't mediate. I didn't give them one more chance to choose me.

I stepped between them and walked down the aisle alone.

The spotlight found me, and the presenter faltered. Every other student had crossed with one or two relatives. I covered the entire distance by myself.

The photographer lowered his camera for a beat, unsure whether someone was supposed to catch up. No one did. Behind me, my parents stayed exactly where they were, each too stubborn to take one step that might count as doing more than the other.

I kept my head up, accepted the crest, smiled for the camera, and continued to the opposite side of the auditorium.

My best friend, Maya, was waiting there. She pulled me into a hug, then glared at my parents with tears in her eyes.

"They got here. Why wouldn't they walk with you?"

"Because whoever walks with me has taken on one extra responsibility."

She opened her mouth, but there was nothing to say.

I watched another student disappear into both her parents' arms. Strangely, it hurt less than I expected.

As a child, I had assumed I wasn't lovable enough. I never caused trouble, never spent much, remembered everyone's preferences, and found the fairest words whenever my parents fought. I collected first places as if one more might finally make them proud.

Sofia never had to earn what I couldn't win.

It wasn't because she was better or because I had failed. Love wasn't a prize handed out for perfect performance.

They simply hadn't saved any for me.

That night, I withdrew the invitation to my Westbridge scholarship interview.

I was done trying to change them. They no longer needed a front-row seat to my future.
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  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 10

    Three years after the care agreement took effect, Dad was admitted to intensive care with a pulmonary embolism.The care manager called Sofia first. She didn't answer. As the second emergency contact, I heard from the physician at two in the morning.I authorized the necessary tests, obtained Dad's medication history, and contacted Mom and the family attorney. Once his condition stabilized, I took the earliest flight to New Jersey.When Dad woke, I was outside his room reviewing the rehabilitation plan.He watched me for a long moment. His first words weren't a complaint that I had come too late."Sofia didn't answer, did she?""The care manager will keep trying."He closed his eyes and seemed to age years. "Don't bother."Sofia finally appeared on discharge day. Wearing dark glasses, she stayed for twenty minutes before explaining that money was tight and asking Dad for the down payment on another condo.He didn't shout. He only asked security to escort her out.When the car door clos

  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 9

    The year I completed my doctorate, Dad underwent rotator-cuff surgery.The procedure was routine, but for two weeks he couldn't drive, shower alone, or lift his right arm. Sofia had promised to stay with him. The day before surgery, she flew to Ibiza because her oceanfront villa was nonrefundable.Mom sent word through Maya asking me to return to New Jersey.I didn't go.Instead, I contacted the hospital discharge coordinator and arranged a licensed home-health aide and medical transportation for follow-up visits. His insurance and private account covered the bills, while his physician received the schedule directly.He recovered without complications.Dad texted, [Thank you.]I didn't use the opening to demand an apology.[If the incision feels hot, call the nurse. Don't wait.]Months later, Mom suffered a retinal tear on a business trip to Chicago and needed laser treatment within twenty-four hours.Sofia said she was too tired for a night flight and told Mom to ask a hotel employee

  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 8

    Five years after leaving Belleview Harbor, I joined Westbridge's doctoral program in medical robotics.My days ran on experiments, papers, and prototypes that failed more often than they worked. The hours were brutal, but the work was mine.Riley became family. Maya stayed on the East Coast and sent news from home now and then, but she never carried messages asking me to return.At Westbridge, people noticed when I missed dinner because a test ran late. Riley left food outside the lab and complained that my robot got more of my time than she did. My adviser remembered my birthday without an assistant prompting him. None of it was grand, which was exactly why it mattered.At first, my parents called constantly and mailed expensive gifts. I sent back every luxury item that tried to stand in for an apology. I ignored the demands and accusations.After two years, the calls faded, not because they had learned to respect my boundaries, but because Sofia had joined the family businesses. They

  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 7

    On my first day at Westbridge, I spent two hours assembling my dorm-room desk.As I tightened the final screw, my roommate Riley leaned around the door. "We're going to dinner. If you're not done, leave it. Come with us."I stared at her. "You're waiting for me?""Obviously. Leaving your roommate behind on day one would be a pretty lousy move."Our other two roommates stood in the hall. One held four meal cards. None was missing.For a second, I couldn't answer. People who cared didn't need reminders or calculate whose turn it was.We had barely reached the lobby when Student Services called. Family members had contacted the school claiming an urgent matter.I asked whether anyone had been hospitalized or hurt.No.My parents had simply decided they wanted to speak to me.They had called my dorm, the dean's office, and campus security, leaning on the Moretti name until someone passed along a message. It was the most effort they had ever spent reaching me, and it came only after I had m

  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 6

    On the last Sunday of every August, La Serata reserved its innermost dining room for the Morettis.For ten years, I had always arrived first. I made sure Mom’s sparkling water was room temperature, reminded the kitchen to go easy on Dad’s salt, and removed every dairy-based sauce from Sofia’s meal. I changed the subject before my parents’ arguments caught fire and delayed the first course whenever Sofia ran late.No one had asked me to do any of it.They had simply come to regard my care as part of the restaurant’s service.So when Mom entered and found unopened menus and untouched place settings, she stopped short.Dad and Sofia came in through the opposite door.“Where’s Emilia?” Dad asked. “Why hasn’t she ordered?”Mom set down her purse. “Her bags were gone when I woke up. I assumed she had sent them to your house.”“I haven’t seen her.”Sofia checked the time and opened a menu. “Can we just order? I’m meeting friends to test-drive my car.”My parents summoned the waiter. The first

  • Three Thousand Miles Away   Chapter 5

    Before Christmas, the Moretti and DeLuca business circles gathered for their annual dinner at the Aurelia, Mom's flagship hotel.Beneath the crystal dome sat port directors, hotel investors, and lawyers who had worked with both families for decades. Everyone knew Victor Moretti and Celeste DeLuca had been divorced for ten years and could still turn any room into a battlefield over their younger daughter.That night, they were fighting over whether Sofia should spend the summer at an art program in London or intern at Dad's logistics company."She loves art. You can't shove her into some port office," Mom said.Dad scoffed. "Six weeks learning to choose flowers for galas isn't a resume. She needs real business experience.""Learning to threaten contractors from your people?""Better than smiling at clients while plotting to swallow their hotels."The nearby tables fell quiet. Mom set down her champagne hard enough to make the glass jump. One of Dad's guards stepped forward, and the hote

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