A Missing Key 218 Missed Calls One Family Secret novel Chapter 21

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

In the end, I didn’t book the ticket right away.

Two days later, I found myself on a plane heading back, though I still wasn’t entirely sure why.

I didn’t tell anyone I was coming.

Standing outside his hospital room, I kept asking myself what the hell I was doing there.

Was it some sense of obligation?

Or maybe some pathetic little flame of hope I thought I’d extinguished years ago?

I pushed the door open.

The room was quiet except for the steady beep of monitors.

Dad was propped up against the pillows with his eyes closed, face pale and drawn

He looked like he was sleeping.

He seemed older than I remembered-grayer, more worn down around the edges.

Mom wasn’t there, just a nurse moving quietly around the room, tidying up.

She glanced up when I walked in but clearly didn’t recognize me.

I gave her a small nod and moved closer to the bed.

That’s when Dad’s eyes opened.

When he saw me standing there, something flickered across his face-brief and almost startled.

Then it vanished, replaced by that familiar cold, controlled expression he always wore.

“What are you doing here?” His voice came out rough and distant.

That flash of recognition was gone so fast I might’ve imagined it.

Whatever tiny spark of hope I’d been carrying died right there.

I shouldn’t have come.

“Heard you were sick,” I said, keeping my voice flat and even. “Thought I’d check in. You should get some rest.”

I turned to leave.

10:21

A Missing Key, 218 Missed Calls, One Family Secret

15.0%

Chapter 9

“Don’t you dare walk out that door!”

His voice cut through the room like a whip crack.

I stopped but didn’t turn around.

“You disappear for two years, and this is how you show up?” His breathing got heavier, rougher. He was furious.

The nurse looked like she desperately wanted to be anywhere else.

I turned around slowly and met his eyes. “You told me not to come back. Remember?”

His jaw tightened, face flushing darker. “I was angry-I didn’t mean-”

“I believed you,” I said calmly. “And honestly? You were right. That house was never mine to begin with.”

“You-” He pointed at me, his hand trembling slightly. “Nina! I’m your father. And this is the respect I get? This is how you treat your family?”

Father?

Where were you for the first fifteen years of my life?

Family?

You mean the people who made it crystal clear every single day that I didn’t belong?

The words burned in my throat, but I swallowed them down.

What was the point?

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