Chapter 2

“Chloe! Don’t be scared!”

Matteus rushed out from the kitchen, embracing his trembling girlfriend.

Mom also hurried over, positioning herself in front of me,

trying to shield my damaged body.

“This is… this is Matteus’s sister, Lena.”

Mom’s voice was low, tinged with a humble plea.

Chloe, still shaken, hid in Matteus’s arms.

Her eyes shifted from fear to disgust, then to disbelief.

“Sister? Matteus, you never said your sister was… was like this…”

She didn’t say the word, but everyone understood.

A monster.

An outcast.

Matteus’s grip tightened around her, his face darkening.

He didn't look at me, but instead lowered his head, gently reassuring his girlfriend:

“I’m sorry, I didn’t prepare you. She… she became like this after that fire.”

I stood still, unable to move forward or back.

The baseball cap pressed painfully against my head.

I needed to use the bathroom, my bladder ached painfully, but I didn't dare to move a step.

“I’m sorry.”

I squeezed these three words from my throat, my voice rough like sandpaper grating against wood.

Chloe flinched.

Matteus finally looked up at me.

His eyes held none of the tenderness of yesteryear.

Only a fleeting flicker of embarrassment.

“Lena, go back to your room,” Matteus’s voice was cold, a command.

“Don’t come out and scare our guest.”

My body stiffened.

This was the first time Matteus had ever spoken to me like that.

Before, even if some insensitive kids called me a monster outside,

Matteus would rush over and send them packing.

Then he would gently tell me:

“Lena is the prettiest, they’re just blind.”

But now, he was telling me not to scare people.

“Matteus! Is that how you talk to your sister!” Mom, unable to bear it, scolded him.

Matteus ran a frustrated hand through his hair:

“It’s true! Look how scared Chloe is!”

“I told you I was bringing my girlfriend home today, why did she have to come out wandering around now?”

My heart felt like it was being squeezed by something merciless.

I didn’t explain that it was because I needed to use the bathroom.

I just lowered my head, dragging my inflexible right leg, and slowly shuffled back to that dark room.

The moment I closed the door, I heard Chloe’s tearful voice:

“Matteus, I can’t… I’m really scared… that face is terrifying…”

“If your family is like this, I’ll have to rethink our marriage.”

“No, Chloe, let me explain…” Matteus’s voice was filled with panic and pleading.

I leaned against the door, slowly sliding to the floor.

The heavy clothing made me sweat all over, and the healing wounds began to itch again.

The itch was agonizing, like countless ants crawling under my skin.

I couldn’t scratch; one scratch and it would break, then get infected.

I could only pinch my thigh hard, until it was bruised, using the pain to suppress the itch.

So, I was already a stumbling block on Matteus’s path to happiness.

The boy who once said, "I'll take care of you forever," had finally bowed his head to reality.

I didn’t go out for dinner.

Mom brought a bowl of food into my room, piled high with my favorite dishes.

“Lena, don’t blame him. He’s just… too concerned about Chloe.”

“Chloe’s family is well-off, and she’s beautiful. Matteus’s grown up, it’s not easy for him to start a family.”

Mom rambled on, her eyes red.

I scooped a spoonful of rice and vegetables into my mouth, trying to swallow it.

“I know, Mom.”

“I don’t blame Matteus.”

What right did I have to blame him?

It was my own fault for being so frighteningly ugly.

It was me who had burdened this family for ten whole years.

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