The moment the door closed, my dad poked his head out of the room.
"Did you two have a fight? How could you not know where he'd go?"
I simply smiled and went back to my room.
Of course I wouldn't say a word.
Let him enjoy his wonderful night with Annika.
My mother was the head of the parents' committee, so early the next morning, she pulled my father and me along to the exam site to serve as volunteers.
We had barely arrived when I saw Blake's parents rushing around anxiously.
The moment they spotted me, they hurried over.
My homeroom teacher was right behind them, breathless.
"Melissa! Blake never returned home last night. Weren't you two together at school yesterday? Did he tell you where he was going?"
My teacher added urgently, "Melissa, you know how important this exam is to him. The test is about to begin and he's still nowhere to be found. Think carefully—where could he have gone?"
Looking at Blake's frantic parents made something soften inside me for a moment.
But the image of my own parents' horrific deaths from the previous life flashed violently in my mind—and my heart went completely cold.
I clenched my teeth and lifted my head to meet their eyes.
"I really don't know..."
My homeroom teacher let out a long sigh and patted Mrs. Jordan on the shoulder.
"Melissa is an honest child. Maybe she truly doesn't know. Let's think of another way to find him..."
But I knew—they wouldn't find him.
Annika never intended to let Blake take the college entrance exam.
Right now, he was probably unconscious on some hotel bed, completely unaware of what was happening to his life.
Sure enough, even when the exam began, Blake never appeared.
His parents were just ordinary working-class people.
To help him focus on studying, his mother had quit her job to take care of him full time.
His father took three jobs alone, sleeping barely three hours a night.
They had sacrificed more than ten years for this one moment.
And yet the obedient, sensible son they raised... vanished right before the exam.
The moment the testing gates locked, Mrs. Jordan completely broke down. She collapsed to the ground, wailing hysterically.
"My son..."
Just before the first subject ended, Blake finally staggered into view at the gates—face ashen, steps unsteady.
Mrs. Jordan shot up from the ground, rushing toward him. Her hand swung across his face in a sharp, loud slap.
"You little bastard! Where in the world did you go?!"