Home / After the Unchosen Daughter Left, They Regretted Everything / Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

All Chapters of After the Unchosen Daughter Left, They Regretted Everything: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

“Doctor, please look at my daughter! Flying debris scraped her arm!”Mom’s frantic voice rose above the groans inside the medical tent.She pulled Chloe to the triage station and thrust her arm toward the exhausted doctor.My sister’s white windbreaker was still almost spotless. There was a little ash along the hem and a faint red mark on her forearm, barely half an inch long.It hadn’t even broken the skin.The doctor glanced at it.“She’s fine. Clean it with an antiseptic wipe and let us treat the critical patients.”“That’s it?” Dad pushed his way forward. “What if it gets infected?”“Chloe has always had a weak immune system,” Mom added. “You can’t just dismiss her without examining her.”Chloe hid behind Dad and tugged at his sleeve.“Dad, I’m okay. I scraped it against the doorframe when we ran out.”“You were still terrified,” Mom said, stroking her hair. She pulled an unopened bottle of water from her purse. “Drink something, sweetheart. When I saw the house burning, I thought

Chapter 2

A long line had formed in front of the evacuation shuttle.By the time we reached the doors, the shuttle bus was already packed with evacuees.The driver held up a hand.“Three seats left. Anyone else will have to stand or wait for the next shuttle.”Dad looked at Chloe’s pale face.“She needs a seat. She has asthma, and she’s still shaken up.”“I get motion sickness,” Mom said quickly. Then she glanced at Dad. “And your back won’t hold up if you stand the whole way.”All three of them looked at me.I looked down at my right foot, wrapped in thick white gauze.“Natalie.” Mom softened her voice into the patient tone she always used when she expected me to give in.“You’re young. You’ll be fine standing for a little while. Chloe’s been through enough today.”Dad gestured impatiently toward the bus.“Come on. People are waiting behind us.”Chloe touched my arm.“Nat, you can have my seat. I think I can stand.”Mom immediately pulled her back.“Absolutely not. You were just having trouble

Chapter 3

The next evening, Dad insisted on going ahead with Chloe’s birthday dinner.Her birthday was the reason we had gone to the mountains in the first place. The wildfire had destroyed our vacation home and sent us fleeing to a hotel, but Dad refused to cancel the celebration.“After what she went through, she deserves one normal night,” he said.Apparently, I hadn’t gone through anything.Dad had reserved a private dining room at an upscale Spanish restaurant near the hotel.By the time I arrived on borrowed crutches, several relatives and family friends were already gathered around the table.I came in last, my bandaged foot throbbing with every step.“Oh, sweetheart.” Aunt Melissa rushed straight to Chloe. “Look how pale you are. You must have been terrified.”Chloe gave her a smile.“I’m okay. Just still a little shaken.”Mom sat beside her and squeezed her hand.“She’s barely slept. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees the fire.”“Thank God you got her out in time,” someone said.“

Chapter 4

By the next morning, we were back at our house.Shopping bags covered the living room floor. They were filled with the clothes, shoes, and vitamins Mom had ordered me to buy for Chloe after we left the hotel.Chloe sat on the couch, opening them one by one.“I love this trench coat.” She held the beige coat against herself and admired it in the mirror. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”“It looks beautiful on you,” Mom said. “You can wear it when you go back to campus.”I stood a few feet away with a vacuum in my hand.The stitches in my foot still pulled whenever I moved, and the nurse had told me to stay off it as much as possible.Mom had decided that meant I could still clean.That was the rule in our house. If I was physically capable of standing, I was capable of doing chores.“Natalie, don’t forget to water the plants on the back patio,” Mom said without looking at me.I didn’t answer.I finished vacuuming around Chloe’s shopping bags and put the vacuum away.My flight left tomorro

Chapter 5

It was nearly ten when the symphony ended.Chloe walked out of the concert hall between our parents, still glowing with excitement.“That cello solo was incredible,” she said, linking her arm through Mom’s. “I didn’t want it to end.”“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Mom patted her hand. “You needed something relaxing after everything you’ve been through.”Dad pulled the car around, and they drove home talking about the performance.When they reached the house, every window was dark.Dad unlocked the front door and stepped inside.“Natalie?”No answer.He switched on the lights.The living room was spotless. The shopping bags had been put away, the plants had been watered, and Chloe’s cashmere sweater lay perfectly flat on the drying rack.Everything Dad had asked me to do was done.I simply wasn’t there.“Where is she?” Mom asked.Dad dropped his keys into the bowl by the door.“She probably went out with friends.”“Without telling us?”“She’s mad about the concert,” he said. “This is her wa

Chapter 6

Eight hours separated California from Cambridge.Twenty-four hours after my family discovered my empty bedroom, morning sunlight spilled across the courtyard outside my student accommodation.I sat on a bench with a cup of black coffee warming my hands.Students hurried past me, speaking in different languages and carrying books beneath their arms. Somewhere nearby, bells began ringing across the city.There was no tension waiting behind every door.No endless list of chores.No parents reminding me that Chloe’s needs would always come before mine.“Morning, Natalie!”Anna, another exchange student who lived down the hall, hurried toward me with her backpack over one shoulder.“Are you still coming to the library before orientation?”“Yeah.” I stood and tossed my empty cup into a nearby bin. “Let me grab my laptop. Meet you in the lobby in five?”“Perfect.”My new phone vibrated.An email had arrived from my academic adviser back in California.Your mother contacted the department this

Chapter 7

I sat beside the open window in my room, listening to an economics podcast through my headphones.An unread message appeared in my personal email.It was from Chloe.Nat, it’s me.Where are you? Why did you leave without telling anyone? Mom has been crying for two days, and Dad barely sleeps.If this is about the wildfire, I’m sorry. Mom and Dad were terrified of losing me. That doesn’t mean they don’t love you.Please call us. Everyone is worried.I read the message twice.That doesn’t mean they don’t love you.As if their love was some generous gift I should be grateful to receive in whatever scraps they offered.I blocked her email and restarted the podcast.Less than five minutes later, another message appeared.This one came from Aunt Melissa.Your parents are here. Please talk to them.A FaceTime link waited beneath the message.I stared at it for several seconds before clicking.Mom’s voice exploded through my laptop speakers.“Natalie! You finally answered!”The camera was off,

Chapter 8

Back in California, the call ended with a sharp electronic chime.Dad stared at the blank laptop screen, his chest rising and falling.“Unbelievable.”He slammed the laptop shut.“She thinks she can speak to us like that and get away with it?”Mom sat on the couch, her face drained of color.“She said she didn’t need us.”Her voice trembled.In the past, no matter how unfairly they treated me, I had never fought back. I might have gone quiet or locked myself in my room, but I always did what they asked.This time, I hadn’t sounded angry.I had sounded finished.Chloe stood near the kitchen entrance, clutching a glass of water. The sight of Dad losing his temper had stopped her in her tracks.Over the next few days, the house slowly began to fall apart.Not in any dramatic way.It happened through dozens of small things no one had noticed because I had always taken care of them.There were no groceries for dinner because no one had made a list.The dishwasher remained full until there w

Chapter 9

Six months later.Early spring sunlight spilled across the pale stone buildings of Cambridge.I had just finished a seminar and was crossing the courtyard outside the Faculty of Economics.The past six months had been the most peaceful of my life.I had earned a place on my professor’s financial markets research project. I had friends who noticed when I was quiet and asked if I was okay—not what chore I had forgotten.And that morning, I had received an offer to join a leading investment bank in London as a graduate analyst after finishing my degree.Away from my family, I hadn’t fallen apart.I had flourished.“Natalie!”The voice stopped me cold.I turned. Mom and Dad stood beneath an archway across the courtyard.They both looked older.Mom’s hair was pulled into a loose knot, and there were shadows beneath her eyes. Dad stood stiffly beside her, holding a new laptop box and a small shopping bag.For one disorienting second, I wondered how they had found me.Then I remembered the ph

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