Chapter 3

By the time I reached the living room, it was empty.

Kyle had gone. Only a text message remained.

"Serena, I'm heading home. Please don't fight with your mom on my account. Your family rules are...unique. I need some time to think.."

I stared at those words, my thumb hovering over the reply box.

I typed a single word. "Okay."

What else could I say?

Explain why my mother made such rules for me?

Explain why those rules only applied to me?

Being unloved was obvious.

I turned to go back. Uncle Robert's laughter reached me first.

In the living room, Mom and Aria were already seated at the dining table.

"Rachel, don't worry. I've got Aria's transfer covered."

Robert patted his chest. "The HR director at her company is my high school buddy. Moving her to an easier position is just a phone call away."

Mom beamed.

"That's wonderful. You know Aria's lazy. Her current position is too demanding, and she has to work night shifts."

After graduating, Mom pulled strings everywhere to get Aria into the city's largest state-owned enterprise.

After just a few years, Aria constantly complained about the work being too hard.

But from what I knew, the so-called night shift only came once a month.

And it was just from 6 PM to 11 PM.

Five hours of work, and Aria complained endlessly.

She insisted Mom find connections to transfer her to a cushy position with good pay and little work.

Robert set down his wine glass and suddenly turned to me.

"By the way, Ser-" He nearly blurted it out, then glanced at Mom and quickly corrected himself. "2328, what company are you working for now?"

My throat tightened. "A small private company. I do operations."

"A small company?" Robert's voice rose. "Why not have your mom pull some strings too? Get into a big company-easier work, better benefits. Look at Aria, how comfortable she is."

Mom held her rice bowl, watching me with satisfaction.

She opened her mouth with that familiar backhanded compliment.

"Oh, 2328 doesn't need anyone to worry about her. She's the hardworking type, unlike her lazy sister."

"She works so hard, staying at the office until 10 PM every night. That's a good place to develop character."

My hand gripped the fork tightly.

Back when I had trouble finding work due to my education, I'd struggled to land this job.

I worked desperately at the company not because I loved hardship-it was because I had no connections, no backing.

The only way was to sell my time and labor in the most basic way to earn a little more.

When I got sick with a fever after a week of overtime, Mom just made a brief phone call.

"2328, you're an adult now. Buy your own medicine when you're sick. Young people need to work harder to get noticed by the boss."

But when Aria got varicose veins from sitting at her desk, Mom went to massage her legs daily, applying expensive ointments.

Now she was even asking Robert to transfer Aria to an easier position.

I laughed bitterly inside, feeling suffocated.

"No need. My current job is fine." My voice was dry.

Back in the bedroom, I closed the door.

I pulled out my phone and opened my manager's chat.

"Manager, I'll take the three-year transfer to the branch office."

The branch was in Alaska. It was newly established and needed people to develop business.

But Alaska was three thousand miles from home.

And it was a three-year commitment.

No one wanted this difficult assignment.

I'd initially refused too.

I didn't want to leave home. I wanted to stay close to Mom to take care of her more easily.

I also didn't want to be separated from Kyle.

But now, there seemed no need.

Message sent. I wiped my face.

After a long while, someone knocked on the door.