Chapter 2

The moment I finished speaking, I stormed out.

When I looked up, my eight-year-old little sister was standing there, watching me.

For the first time, I felt something close to hatred toward her.

She was the one who had been born after my parents already had the permitted number of children. She was also a girl, yet she received treatment completely different from mine.

Why? Why was life so unfair?

I ran to my aunt Diane’s house and clung to her while I cried.

She sighed and comforted me. She said she would discuss it with Uncle Robert. If necessary, they could lend me the money they had saved for my cousin’s wedding so I could attend high school. My cousin was still young. He could get married a few years later.

My heart warmed when I heard that.

Diane wasn’t related to me by blood, but she was the person who loved me most.

Not long afterward, I received a call from my dad at her house.

“You made your mother sick with anger! You ungrateful brat, are you even human? Get your butt home right now!”

Aunt Diane comforted me and urged me to go back. She told me not to upset Mom and make her health worse.

I went home, carrying a sense of guilt.

The moment I walked through the door, I saw Mom holding my older sister’s hand and laughing with her.

When Mom saw me, her expression changed instantly.

“You actually came back? You might as well stay away! You’re always running off to other people’s houses. Don’t you have any shame? Even if you don’t find it annoying, they do!”

The guilt and concern I’d felt on the way home vanished instantly.

In their place was an icy numbness that spread from the deepest part of my heart.

Then Mom said something that made me even colder.

“Your sister will take you to register for trade school later. You can study early childhood education. After you graduate, you can work at a preschool. It’s stable.”

I laughed bitterly inside.

So that was why they had been in such a hurry to call me home. They had already decided my entire future for me.

What a wonderful mother.

I told them that Aunt Diane was willing to lend me money for high school.

As expected, Mom exploded.

“Hannah, do you have no shame? I fed you and clothed you. Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered because of you? You really are an ungrateful brat. No wonder raising you away from home turned you into this!”

“If your aunt is so wonderful, why don’t you go live with her? Don’t come back!”

I almost laughed.

That was something I should have been saying. Maybe because she hadn’t raised me herself, she didn’t have any feelings for me.

And what did all the hardship she suffered have to do with me?

Everything I said landed like a punch against cotton. She didn’t understand me.

No, it wasn’t that she didn’t understand. She simply didn’t care.

Maybe she needed someone to take her anger out on after failing to have a son and suffering so many hardships and humiliations.

She loved her oldest daughter. She spoiled the youngest daughter she had given birth to.

And I was the outlet for all her frustration.

My older sister tried to comfort her.

“Don’t be angry, Mom. She’s always been like this. Be careful not to hurt yourself.”

Then she turned to me.

“Hannah, how can you act like this? You know what our family is going through. Money borrowed has to be paid back eventually. Mom wants you to go to trade school for your own good. Why can’t you appreciate it?”

I turned and stared at her coldly.

“What right do you have to criticize me? Did you even get into high school?”

“You—”

My sister’s face flushed red. She was so angry she couldn’t speak.

Mom pointed at me and cursed.

“Listen to me, you ungrateful brat. I will not borrow money to send you to school. From now on, you’re forbidden from going to your aunt’s house. If you go, I’ll break your legs.”

“If you don’t want me to die, then go to trade school like I told you. Otherwise, quit school and work the fields! You can support your sisters. Choose one!”

There it was. She had finally said what she really thought.

She wanted me to leave school early and support both of her daughters.

Even though her oldest daughter hadn’t even passed the high school entrance exam, she was still precious in Mom’s eyes.

No matter how well I did or who was willing to lend me money, Mom believed trade school was the only place I belonged.

That was favoritism—the kind of love I would never have in my entire life.

After yelling at me, Mom called Aunt Diane and cursed her out too. Her words were vicious and cruel.

The pain inside me nearly overflowed.

I couldn’t stand the thought of the only person who had ever treated me well being insulted because of me.

I forced myself to swallow the hurt, stepped forward, snatched the phone from Mom’s hand, and hung up.

“I’ll go.”