They Sang for Her and Saved Me Leftovers I Couldn’t Eat Chapter 06
The air froze in an instant.
Dad’s hand, wine glass still raised, froze mid-air. Impatience melted away, replaced by raw shock.
Mom’s fake smile shattered completely, leaving nothing but stunned bewilderment.
The murmur of dozens of guests died out all at once. Every pair of eyes snapped toward Mr. Jonson, scrutinizing him as if to extract the truth by force.
“A top percentile admit? UC Berkeley?” Dad’s voice scraped out, rough as sandpaper. “Sir… have you gotten the wrong student?”
“There’s no mistake. As her counselor for three years, I’ve reviewed every transcript and recommendation. Her achievements speak for themselves.”
He swept his gaze across the room, taking in the crowd dressed in fine clothes and the lavish spread of dishes.
Then he glanced at the empty chair reserved for someone, his brows drawing together faintly. “I came today to offer my congratulations in person. Where is Sabrina? How can she miss such wonderful news?”
“She…” Mom’s lips trembled, unable to form a single coherent sentence.
Right. Where was I?
At that very moment, I was on a flight heading toward the future I’d fought tooth and nail to earn—the future they could never even dare
—
to imagine.
Cillian’s face flushed hot then drained pale. His taunt about my fever adding my brain still echoed fresh in everyone’s ears. It landed now like a sharp slap straight across his own cheeks.
Relatives were the first to recover.
“I always knew that girl was exceptional! She’s soaring higher than anyone expected!”
“UC Berkeley! Our Hill family’s going to produce somebody remarkable!”
“Jane, you are so blessed to have such a talented daughter!”
The aunt, who’d surrounded Wallis moments earlier gushing over her artistic talent, squeezed over to stand beside Mom, wearing a fawning smile.
Mom’s expression was a tangled mess of emotions: embarrassment, shock, disbelief.
Finally, beneath the flood of envious stares, she forced a strange, proud smile onto her face.
She cleared her throat, acting as if she’d personally earned that UC Berkeley acceptance letter. “That child is far too modest. She never breathed a word about this huge achievement… leaving us all worrying over nothing.”
She snatched up her phone and dialed my number frantically.
“Beep… Beep… The number you have dialed is powered off.” The cold automated voice echoed through the private dining room.
—
Dad grew frantic too, bombarding me with messages in the family group chat.
[Jared Hill: Sabrina! Reply immediately when you see this! Your advisor is here!]
[Jared Hill: The whole family’s waiting for you. Come home right now!]
Meanwhile, I was already seated on the plane bound for San Francisco.
The aircraft cut through clouds, and the twinkling city lights below shrank steadily smaller. Just like those suffocating eighteen years I’d left far behind.
I pulled the envelope Grandma had given me and pressed it against my chest.
Then I took out the printed copy of my acceptance letter. Even in the dim cabin darkness, the university emblem glowed faintly.
The flight attendant’s gentle voice came over the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve begun our descent into San Francisco International Airport.”
An hour later, as the BART train rattled across the bay toward Berkeley, I turned my phone on, and a flood of 99+ unread messages from the family group crashed onto the screen.
Someone had uploaded a photo of Mr. Jonson. Beneath it ran a stream of amazed compliments and flattery.
[I always said Sabrina was destined for great things!]
[Jared, you have every reason to hold your head high now!]
—
[Wallis: Sabrina, you’re incredible…]
Next popped up a voice note from Mom, thick with barely contained excitement and an undercurrent of command. “Sabrina, where are you now? How could you keep getting into UC Berkeley a secret from your mother? Come back quickly, everyone’s here celebrating you!”
Celebrate? Celebrate the fact I’d finally escaped all of you?
A dry scoff escaped me as I muted notifications for the family chat.
Then I opened a private message thread and typed a note: [Grandma, I’ve arrived safely in Berkeley. Everything’s fine, don’t worry about me.]
The reply came almost instantly: [Good girl. I’m so relieved you made it safely.]
Reading her words, my eyes stung.
There was at least one person in this world who loved me sincerely. For that love alone, I was determined to build a brilliant, radiant life.
I gripped my pale blue polka-dot rolling suitcase and strode onto the UC Berkeley campus.
Behind me lay a hometown I would never truly return to.
Ahead stretched a future brimming with endless possibilities.