Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Three days later. I went to Dad’s grave.
t was up on the hill behind the old house. Jake handled the burial.
went alone. Didn’t tell anyone.
tanding in front of the headstone, I pulled out the photograph.
eventeen-year-old me, grinning like the world was mine.
Dad.” My voice came out flat. I got your gift. The photograph. Thanks.”
Vind rustled through the trees.
I’m not mad at you.” I stared at the stone. “You were always like this. I knew that a long time ago.”
crouched down and set the photo on the ground in front of his name.
But you know what?” My voice cracked. The biggest regret of my life? Listening to you.”
thought about that summer.
[I hadn’t ripped up that acceptance letter.
[I’d fought back. If I’d gone to Stanford anyway.
Yould my life be different?
don’t know.
ll I know is that from that moment on, I became the family’s backup plan.
ake needed tuition? I paid it.
fom and Dad needed care? I gave it.
he family hit a crisis? I fixed it.
Vhy?
lecause I was the second kid?
lecause I was a daughter?
stood up, staring at the photo on his headstone.
Dad, you know why I’m not crying?”
I hadn’t cried once since the lawyer’s office.
Not a single tear.
“Because I already cried myself dry. My throat tightened. “Twenty years ago.”
That summer. I sobbed into my pillow all night
After that? Never again.
Chapter 6
I learned to grit my teeth.
learned to take it.
learned to swallow every ounce of pain and keep moving.
Because I knew crying wouldn’t change anything.
Dad wasn’t going to let me go to college just because I cried.
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