A Missing Key 218 Missed Calls One Family Secret novel Chapter 27

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Even Aria looked rattled by what just went down. For once, she sounded genuine. “Dad was just blowing off steam. If you’d just apologized, none of this would’ve happened. Now you’ve made it impossible for anyone to back down.”

Of course I knew that.

Seeing I wasn’t budging, she scoffed. “Whatever. Can’t save someone who wants to die. Since you’re getting kicked out anyway, take all this junk with you! This house is gonna be mine and mine alone!”

She stormed into the storage room and started hurling my lab equipment into the hallway.

I didn’t stop her. I just watched.

The school had way better equipment anyway. This stuff was useless to me now.

I knew exactly what Aria was thinking.

Dad’s love is finite. If she gets rid of me, she gets it all.

But she didn’t seem to realize-Dad’s negativity is infinite.

I used to absorb it all. But once I’m gone? Who’s left?

The next morning, Dad and Aria were eating breakfast.

Naturally, there was nothing for me.

I didn’t care. I was about to leave when Dad called out in a cold voice.

“Here’s your allowance for the month. Take it and get lost. Don’t come asking me for money next month.”

I turned around. Three twenty-dollar bills sat on the table.

There were still twenty days left in the month.

That money obviously wasn’t enough.

But I didn’t say a word. I just took it and left.

After class, I went to find Derek in Class 3.

He looked at me impatiently. “What do you want?”

Derek and I used to be pretty close.

But once we got to high school and my grades started slipping, Aria made a pact with him to both get into the best university

10:22

A Missing Key, 218 Missed Calls, One Family Secret

His grades were solid except for physics, which dragged him down.

Aria had taken credit for my perfect-score physics notes and given them to him, earning his praise.

But who would’ve thought I’d actually call her out?

Aria glared at me viciously.

“You bitch! You’re trying to turn Derek against me! I was gonna ask Dad to go easy on you, but forget it. Go sleep on the streets for all I care. We’ll see who gets the last laugh!”

Back in his classroom, Derek couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

That notebook had been so well-organized, so detailed-it had boosted his score by several points.

But if Josie barely scored above a 3.0 GPA, how could she have made such a flawless notebook?

He pulled up the school’s grade portal and searched for my name.

The more he looked, the more shocked he became.

10:22

A Missing Key 218 Missed Calls One Family Secret

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