The Daughter They Abandoned Is the Doctor They Can't Reach novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: On Her Own

The independence determination took one Monday and four signatures.

My counselor laid out the pieces on her desk first thing that morning.

"Proof of where you live," she said. "Proof of what you earn. A statement that you've received no financial support from a parent since you left. And a signature from the school."

"I have the pay stubs."

"I know. Mabel?"

I looked up.

Mabel Kroll stood in the doorway in her long coat, holding a manila folder in both hands, with cat hair on the sleeve.

"I got it notarized," she said. "At the bank. The girl behind the glass asked if I was being forced, and I said only by the weather."

She laid the paper on the desk.

It was one page, typed on her own old machine.

It said that Ingrid Sandvik had lived above Kroll's Books since the twenty-seventh of November, paid two hundred dollars a month in rent, worked twenty hours a week and had never once been late.

Under that, in her sharp handwriting, Mabel had added: She is the most honest person I know, and I have known a lot of bankers.

"You can't put that in a legal document," my counselor said.

"I just did," said Mabel.

My counselor laughed and signed her line.

By lunchtime the principal had signed hers.

The district liaison for students living apart from their families stamped the paper at two o'clock, and my counselor held it up to the light.

"Done," she said. "As far as the law is concerned, you stand on your own."

I stared at the stamp.

I had never seen anything look so small and so heavy.

At three o'clock my father arrived at the front office.

← Chapter 7 · All chapters · Chapter 9 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend