Chapter 29 - The Family I Chose
I didn’t have much family left.
My parents were facing legal consequences. Ethan had moved to another state and barely spoke to anyone. Most of my relatives had either stayed silent or taken sides.
But I wasn’t alone.
Chloe had become more than a best friend. She had become family. The kind that shows up, believes you, and stays even when things get hard.
I also grew closer to my grandmother — my father’s mother. She called me every Sunday and never made excuses for what her son had done.
One evening, she said something that stayed with me.
“Blood doesn’t make family, Mia. Love and respect do. And your parents failed at both. That’s not your fault.”
I smiled.
“I know,” I said. “I’m learning that.”
That night, I looked around my small apartment.
There were photos on the wall — not of my old family, but of the people who had chosen to stand by me.
Chloe laughing at my birthday dinner.
My grandmother and I at a café.
Even a few new friends I had made at work.
I didn’t have a big family anymore.
May you like
But I had a real one.
And that was more than enough.
