Chapter 3

My heart skipped a beat. I tried to sound calm.

"Mom, isn't that a little too fast?"

I subtly started massaging Brenda's back.

"Marriage is a big deal. Being so rushed isn't good."

Seeing Brenda ignored me, I felt a pang of anxiety.

"Mr. Frank, why don't you just come to the city with me? I just found a job, and I make twenty thousand dollars a month!"

Frank immediately refused, glaring at me menacingly.

"No way! What if you dump me once we're in the city?"

"You'll stay here with me in the countryside, like a good girl! You're not allowed to go anywhere."

"If you try to run, I'll break your legs!"

He was clearly terrified I'd escape.

Brenda's eyes were practically glowing as she looked at me, reconfirming.

"Is that really how much you make?"

"You're not trying to fool me, are you?"

I pulled out my phone to show them.

"Of course not! Look, all the terms are clearly written here."

"This company is a global public enterprise; promotions and raises won't be an issue in the future."

Brenda snatched my phone, her eyes fixed on the "twenty thousand" salary.

Her eyes lit up with greed, and she muttered to herself, "Twenty thousand a month? I only save ten thousand a year."

Then, like a fierce mother bear protecting her cub, Brenda shoved me behind her and yelled at Frank with newfound confidence.

"Now you're not good enough for my daughter! If you want to marry her, it'll cost you at least a million dollars!"

Brittany stared at me, green with envy and disbelief. "Twenty thousand a month? You, that loser? No way!"

"Mom, don't let her fool you!"

"She just wants to escape back to the city; then we won't be able to do anything about her."

Brenda looked at me skeptically, then switched off my phone and put it in her pocket.

"I doubt you'd try anything funny."

Frank's gaze on me turned vicious, his greasy facade of innocence dropping.

"Her making twenty thousand is her money. If she goes to the city, will she really give it to you obediently?"

"You should still marry her to me. Once she has a baby, she'll be tied down, then you can let her go to the city to find work and support the family."

"Then we'll be one family, and we'll all share whatever she earns."

Brenda thought about his words for a moment, deciding he made sense. Then she started yelling at me.

"I almost fell for your tricks! Dreaming of running back to the city? Never!"

"You'll marry Frank first, have a baby, and then you can go out and work."

"When you go back to the city, you'll take me and your sister with you. We raised you for so many years; now it's your turn to repay us."

A cold laugh bubbled in my chest.

Repay them?

Did they really have no idea how they "raised" me?

At 15, I weighed only sixty pounds, severely malnourished, a stark contrast to Brittany.

If it weren't for my schoolteachers taking pity on me and secretly slipping me food, I doubted I would have even grown up.

I continued to play along, affectionately looping my arm through Brenda's, faking sweetness for the first time.

"Okay, Mom, I'll do whatever you say."

"I really missed you these past five years, not being able to come home."

As I said it, I felt a surge of nausea.

I reached for my phone, but she slapped my hand away.

"What are you doing!"

"You can't have your phone back yet. Get things settled first, so you don't try any funny business."

I had no choice but to give up and wait to see what would happen.

That night, Frank's mom arrived.

Her back was hunched, her body stooped, but her eyes were unnervingly clear.