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Todos los capítulos de Two Thousand Miles Away: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

10 Capítulos

Chapter 1

It wasn't until they noticed my hand still hanging awkwardly in the air that everyone finally remembered I was standing there."Hayden Fisher, I don't think we need to worry about you."My mother, Vivian Fisher, nodded while frowning in agreement. "You picked such an ordinary major. You'll be lucky if anyone hires you at all, so don't act like you're in a position to be picky."Stella Daniels paused while scrolling through the graduation photos on her phone. She frowned. "Hayden's blocking Roman in this one. Delete it."Out of all 380 photos taken that day, it was the only one in which I appeared."Roman looks so handsome in these. Let's not ruin the album with this one."I stood there, my fists slowly clenching at my sides.So it wasn't that they hadn't seen me. They had.They just thought I didn't belong in the picture.At that moment, every compromise I'd made over the years suddenly felt pathetic.To my parents and my sister, Roman Hopkins had always been the better son.

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, my mother took us to the mall. She said Roman was about to start at a major corporation and needed a proper wardrobe.A custom-built PC that cost nearly $14,000.A $2,000 tailored suit.A $700 pair of leather dress shoes.Every time Roman glanced at a price tag, my mother just smiled and told him not to worry about the cost."You're about to start at a prestigious company. Of course, you need to look the part. A man's first job is important. You can't let people look down on you."My father stood at the register, swiping his card without hesitation.Both of Peyton's hands were loaded with shopping bags, and she was already asking Roman if he wanted a watch to go with everything.Stella crouched down in front of him and gently pressed the heel of his new shoes. "This part's a little stiff. Let's exchange them. I don't want your feet getting rubbed raw on your first day."Roman glanced in my direction, a smug smile flickering across his face. "They're too

Chapter 3

When we got home, my mother stopped me just as I was about to go to my room."Pack up your things. Roman's moving in tomorrow. He starts at St. Aurelius Group next week, and his place is too far from the office. He'll be staying with us from now on."I followed her gaze.Brand-new bedding had been laid out in the hallway, along with a newly delivered gaming desk. Everything was in Roman's favorite black-and-gray color scheme."Where's he staying?""Your room, of course. We don't have any spare bedrooms."I froze. "What about me?"My mother paused for a moment before pointing toward the storage room by the front door."Clean out the storage room. There's enough space for a folding bed. Roman's a guest, so you'll just have to make do."It was crammed with old furniture. Half the window was blocked by a cabinet, and stubborn patches of mold stained the corner walls.When I was little, whenever Roman stayed over, I would give him my bed and sleep in that room instead.Back then,

Chapter 4

I crouched down and gathered the broken pieces of the pendant into my palm. The jagged edge sliced my finger, and blood seeped into the fine cracks.On my eighteenth birthday, Grandma had fastened that pendant around my neck herself. Her hands were already so weak that it took her several tries before she managed to close the clasp."Hayden, you're always giving everything away to everyone else. When I'm gone, promise me you'll keep the things you love for yourself. Don't keep letting people walk all over you."I'd squeezed her hand and smiled as if it were nothing. "As long as you're here, Grandma, I'll never have to feel that way."But later, Grandma was gone.And with her, the only person in that family who saw me as a boy who could hurt, who could cry, who deserved to be cherished.I hadn't even managed to protect the last thing she'd left me.The only love in that house that had ever truly belonged to me... they took it from me, gave it to Roman, and shattered it right in f

Chapter 5

A full month passed after I left, but not one of them ever looked for me.Whenever relatives asked where I'd gone, my mother would only say impatiently, "He's just being difficult. Couldn't stand giving up his room for Roman, so he ran away from home to scare us."My father didn't think much of it either. "He couldn't even find a decent job. Once he's suffered enough out there, he'll come crawling back on his own."Peyton said I'd always been like that. "If nobody pays attention to him, he'll come back and apologize soon enough."Even Stella said I'd changed. She said I'd never been like this before and that I'd ruined everything over a single pendant.Not one of them ever asked where I'd gone. They were all convinced that, sooner or later, I'd come home on my own and admit I was wrong.A month later, Roman officially started work at St. Aurelius Group.That morning, my parents, Peyton, and Stella all went with him.In the company lobby, my mother straightened the collar of his

Chapter 6

My father's hands trembled as he took the phone.Displayed on the screen was an official project contact list. The photo, university, field of study—every detail was there in black and white.I was the man in the photo.And the line beneath it landed like a slap across every one of their faces."Joint New Materials Project, Northwest Institute for Deep Space Materials. Preliminary Review Lead: Hayden Fisher"My mother leaned over for a look. The color drained from her face."That's impossible." The words escaped before she could stop herself. "How could he possibly get a job like that? I thought he couldn't find one."Mr. O'Neal looked at them, his expression growing even more complicated. "It wasn't that he couldn't find a job. You just never bothered to ask."That remark was more humiliating than any accusation.Just moments earlier, they'd been standing in the St. Aurelius Group lobby praising Roman for landing such a respectable first job while belittling their own son for

Chapter 7

After leaving St. Aurelius Group, they didn't go straight home.Stella stood outside the building, borrowing every friend's phone she could and dialing my number over and over again.She still couldn't get through.My mother stood beside her, her hands trembling so badly she could barely hold her phone. She sent one message after another.[Hayden, I just found out you joined the institute.][Why didn't you tell your family something this important?][Please call me back. Stop being stubborn.]By the end, panic had crept into her words.[Hayden, where are you?][I was wrong. I shouldn't have said those things to you. Please don't scare me.]The messages still wouldn't send.Desperate to find out where I was, my father called my university's career services office.They told him only that graduates' employment information was protected by privacy regulations and couldn't be disclosed.He then called my academic advisor.After listening to him, my advisor replied coolly, "Ha

Chapter 8

The preliminary review meeting was only two days away.Stella caught the earliest flight she could, then endured another three-hour drive before finally arriving in the Northwest.By the time she stepped off the shuttle, night had already fallen.The air was dry, and the wind stung against her face.Standing beneath the institute apartment building, she finally understood what 2,000 miles really meant. She'd always believed I could never leave her, and that as long as she turned around, I'd still be there waiting.But now, just to see me once, she had to cross half the country.When I got off work, I spotted her standing beneath a streetlight. We hadn't seen each other in over a month. She'd gotten noticeably thinner.The moment she saw me, her eyes filled with tears. "Hayden."The first words out of her mouth were, "I'm sorry."I stopped walking but said nothing.Afraid I would leave immediately, she rushed through her words."I never should've deleted that photo on gradu

Chapter 9

Stella failed to change my mind.So my parents and Peyton traveled through the night to the Northwest as well.My mother got carsick the entire journey and looked exhausted.Yet the first thing she asked Stella when they reached the institute was, "Did you see Hayden? Is he willing to help Roman?"Stella said nothing.The fragile composure my mother had been clinging to instantly crumbled."We came all this way. He'll at least agree to see us, won't he?"They tried to go in and find me themselves, but security at the institute was strict. The guard asked them to register the purpose of their visit.My father answered, "We're Hayden Fisher's family."The guard searched the system for a while before looking up. "Hayden Fisher hasn't authorized any family visitors."My father froze. "I'm his father. I need permission to see my own son?"The guard remained calm. "This is a research institute, not a residential neighborhood. You can't enter without an appointment."The words lef

Chapter 10

I was up early on the morning of the review meeting.The Northwest sky was a clear, pale blue.I clipped on my ID badge and went over the preliminary review documents one last time.At exactly nine o'clock, I joined the online meeting. One window after another lit up across the screen.The St. Aurelius conference room was packed.Mr. O'Neal sat at the head of the table, his expression tense.Roman wore the suit my mother had carefully picked out for him, but his eyes were already red.The rest of the project team sat beside him. Behind them were my parents, Peyton, and Stella. They'd probably gotten in through Mr. O'Neal's connections and were sitting in on the meeting from the St. Aurelius conference room.I glanced at them once before looking away. "Good morning, everyone. I'm Hayden Fisher, the preliminary review lead for the Joint New Materials Project."The other side of the screen fell silent.My father visibly stiffened. He'd always said I would never amount to any

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