Chapter 3

After leaving my mother’s house, my entire body felt broken.

I collapsed against the wall in the stairwell, dizzy and nauseous.

“Miss, are you okay?”

Through the haze, I heard someone speaking.

Then everything went black.

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

A janitor had found me unconscious in the stairwell and rushed me to the hospital.

I only had a mild concussion and a few scrapes. Nothing was seriously wrong. The doctor said I had probably passed out because of the emotional shock.

The janitor took a lunch container from his bag.

“My wife made you some dumplings after I called her. Eat them while they’re still warm.”

I nodded gratefully and picked up a dumpling.

It was the first bite of food I’d had all day.

Tears wouldn’t stop falling.

They were the best dumplings I had ever tasted.

The man sighed when he saw me crying.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. If someone hurt you, you need to tell somebody. I can call the police for you.”

A complete stranger was treating me with more kindness than my own family ever had.

I wanted to tell him everything.

But what would that change?

She was my mother. At most, she might get a lecture.

Everyone would say that she had given me my life and that I had no right to hold a grudge.

Not wanting to cause the janitor trouble, I refused his offer.

He could only shake his head helplessly.

After he left, I ignored the doctor’s objections, discharged myself, and returned to my grandparents’ house.

My uncle’s family had already come back.

The moment my aunt saw me, she spat on the floor.

“The little bitch is back. Why is your face swollen again? You do nothing but cause trouble.”

My cousin looked at me with equal contempt.

“Other people’s sisters know to buy their brothers New Year’s gifts. Why are you so cheap? You couldn’t even buy me a game console?”

I was used to their cruelty.

They didn’t care about me at all, yet I was always the one wagging my tail and begging them to show me even the tiniest bit of warmth.

Grandma looked at me with pity. But she was old and depended on my uncle to support her in her later years. In the end, she didn’t dare defend me.

My aunt walked over to my uncle and gave him a look.

He hesitated before speaking.

“Riley, you’re almost done with college. My wife’s nephew is about your age. You two could try dating.”

“But, Uncle…”

The moment my aunt saw me hesitate, she flew into a rage.

“But what? Are you saying my nephew isn’t good enough for you? Who knows if you’ll grow up to be just like your mother, sleeping around with men? You should be grateful if anyone is willing to marry you!”

I had met my aunt’s nephew before.

He had Down syndrome.

I could understand that they didn’t like me.

I could even understand that they saw me as a burden.

But I couldn’t accept them humiliating me like this.

“Uncle, Aunt Melissa, I’m an adult. I can decide my own future. I worked hard to get into college. I didn’t do it so I could be married off to someone who can’t take care of himself.”

My aunt was enraged.

She picked up the glass in her hand and threw it at me.

Scalding water splashed across my face.

“You think you’re so grown-up now? If you don’t get married, how am I supposed to collect the money? How will your cousin afford a house and a wedding? Have we wasted all these years raising you?”

So that was the truth.

This marriage was nothing more than a way to sell me for money.