12
514words
My final grades just meant non-stop calls from Ivy League admissions offices.
Taking the chance, I "accidentally" revealed our adventure—
Three teens rescue trafficked girl days before SATs.
The media exploded.
Police launched a task force, reopening "Amy’s" disappearance case.
Truth surfaced: Her trafficking wasn’t random.
The "trafficker" on camera? Ryan’s father hired him.
Desperate after a business failure, needing cash.
He staged it to look like a kidnapping, playing the grieving victim.
At the trial, Ryan’s father stood in prison stripes, sobbing his defense.
"I was desperate! Had to support my family! Just wanted a better life! Was I wrong?"
Ryan took the stand as the key witness.
He wore a crisp white shirt, still thin, but his back straight.
"No one forced you," Ryan said, voice calm, "when you decided to sell your one-and-a-half-year-old daughter like livestock."
The judge’s gavel fell.
The shackle of "father," hanging over Ryan for over a decade, shattered. Locked behind bars forever.
That same afternoon.
Kyle’s mother – the woman who’d pinned her hopes on men – filed for divorce.
She took nothing. Walked away clean.
When the dust settled, on an evening painted with sunset colors,
I met Ryan on the school rooftop.
Staring at the distant fiery clouds, I asked softly, "He was still your father… Regret sending him away?"
Ryan lowered his gaze, shook his head. "No."
I added, "No government jobs for you now."
Ryan paused, then laughed weakly. "Doesn’t matter."
"And you won’t… think that way anymore, right? You need to take care of your sister. She’s been through hell. Needs her brother."
Ryan nodded firmly. "Yeah. I won’t… give up."
His eyes, moments before touched by laughter, began to redden.
He looked up.
His voice choked with unshed tears.
"L… Lily… are you leaving?"
I looked deep into Ryan’s eyes.
Yes.
I’m leaving.
I didn’t hate him. Didn’t forgive him.
My heart still ached. My unborn child still lost.
The hate wasn’t bone-deep. The love wasn’t fierce enough.
Stuck between stepping forward or back, unable to reach his core or truly leave his sight…
Leaving was cleaner.
"Yeah."
I turned away from his blurring form, feigning nonchalance.
Back to him, facing the dying sunset.
"My job’s done. The System says I messed up the worldline, finds me annoying, told me to get back to my own world."
Silence stretched behind me. Suffocating.
"How… How do I find you?"
His voice was a threadbare whisper.
A desperate gamble, scared to break the fragile dream.
"Your… your Ivy League acceptance letter… someone’s gotta mail it to you, right?"
I paused, looked back.
Couldn’t stop a soft, tearful laugh.
"Actually, I live on the moon. Princess of Lunaris. Have the mailman send gifts to the third crater on the dark side. Look for the Jade Rabbit by the door. Got it?"
Ryan stared at me.
A long moment. Then Ryan smiled too.
A clean, clear smile, tears glistening.
"Yeah. Got it."
"This time… it’s my turn to find a way. I will find you."
