When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 20

“We’re sorry, Mr. Garland. It’s our fault. We messed up,” someone stammered, looking everywhere but at him. “We’ll look into why Nelly left, right away—”

“No, we’ll go find her now. We’ll bring her back, we swear. We won’t ignore her again...”

Before anyone could finish, Brody stood up so fast his chair screeched. He slammed his foot into the conference table leg. The crash echoed through the room, making everyone jump.

“Go talk to HR. You can forget about your bonuses this year. If you’re unhappy, HR can help you with that too.”

He didn’t look back. He just left, his words hanging in the air while resentment simmered behind him. Not that it made him feel any better—his anger was still burning, hotter than before.

Alan had just come back and caught the sound of everyone’s misery from down the hall. He felt himself start to sweat, nerves on edge.

“Where’s Nelly?”

Brody had already told Alan to look for her when she wouldn’t answer her phone, wouldn’t reply to any messages.

Alan’s expression sank. “She’s not at home. I checked.”

“What?” Brody’s heart skipped, a weird, cold feeling twisting inside him.

Alan hesitated, struggling for words. “She took some stuff. A suitcase, some jewelry. It... it looks like she’s moved out.”

Jessie’s voice echoed in Brody’s head, reminding him that Nelly was sick. Brody frowned. Was that it? Was she really sick? Was it serious?

“Track her phone. Find her. Now.”

Alan opened his mouth, about to say something about the divorce, but Brody’s command came first.

“What are you still standing here for?”

“...Yes, sir.”

Alan snapped back to reality and hurried off.

...

By evening, Nelly finally walked into her new place. She hadn’t brought much, just the basics. She’d have to shop for almost everything, but she didn’t mind. The apartment was right by the city center, so anything she needed was just a short walk away.

All those years, she’d barely had time to shop for herself. She was always buying things for her daughter, always putting herself last. Now, shopping just for her own needs felt almost decadent.

“Hey. Did you mean to talk to me?”

“I hit it by accident,” Carrie mumbled, her voice low and a little sad.

“Oh.” Nelly hesitated, not sure what to say. She had Carrie’s location on her phone—she knew Carrie had been at Sheila’s place these past few days.

“Well, if you don’t need anything, I’ll go—”

“Why haven’t you come to get me? I’m not coming home. Why aren’t you looking for me?”

The words tumbled out, full of bottled-up hurt and anger. Before Nelly could answer, Carrie rushed on, her voice shaking, “You’re a terrible mom!”

“I—”

“Carrie!”

Just as Nelly tried to speak, a familiar woman’s voice came through the receiver.