Three days after my college application was tampered with, I began to have suicidal thoughts. I wanted to die peacefully, but the pharmacy downstairs refused to sell me sleeping pills. I sighed and walked into the bathroom, ready to slit my wrists. Just as I made a small cut. My phone rang. My heart skipped a beat when I saw my mom's name. I thought to myself, If Mom cares about me, I won't die. I answered the phone, only to hear my mom's accusing voice: "Penny, it's just a changed application, was it necessary to yell at your sister? She's in the hospital now, come over and apologize to her immediately." I hung up. My beating heart completely turned into a pool of dead water. I gripped the small knife tighter... The doorbell rang. 1 I wanted to ignore it, but the person ringing the doorbell was persistent. So annoying. I grabbed some tissues to cover my bleeding wrist. The tissues were instantly soaked with blood. I opened the door and said impatiently, "Advertising or meter reading? No adults are home, come back later!" Seeing the person opposite didn't speak, I looked up. He seemed a bit familiar. "Oh... I remember now, you're the one who bought the last bottle of sleeping pills! What, are you here to share some with me?" "Do you f*cking know you're bleeding?!" The man yelled at me, leaving me stunned. He picked me up and ran outside. "Hey, the door isn't closed..." If my parents came back and saw this, they'd lock me in the dark room again. Blood soaked the tissues and stained his white T-shirt red. My thoughts were getting blurrier... "Don't sleep! We're almost at the hospital!" My head cleared a bit, and I smelled a faint mint scent on him. I suddenly wanted to laugh. "Haha, hahahaha..." The voice above asked, slightly out of breath, "Why are you laughing? Did I hit your funny bone?" "No... it's just been a long time since anyone cared about me like this." Laughing turned into crying. Tears fell like broken strings, huge drops rolling down. I felt sorrow for myself, sorrow for desperately trying to please my family, sorrow for being targeted and not daring to get angry, sorrow for my lost college opportunity, sorrow for my life. My eyes slowly closed. I heard someone desperately calling me. "Hey, little girl, wake up! There's no hurdle in life you can't cross. I'll help you..." But I was so tired. If there is a next life, I won't come to this family. 2 Years ago, my grandma told me that my parents were too busy with work, so they fostered me in the countryside. Grandma said they loved me very much, and I believed her. I always looked forward to meeting my parents. But when I was brought to the city, I realized, oh, I have a brother! And even a sister! Why could they keep my brother and sister with them despite being busy, but leave me alone with Grandma? My mom held my hand. Her hand was cold, mine was trembling. She introduced: "This is your brother, Kyle, and this is your sister, Lucy." I didn't know why my sister's last name was different from our parents', especially since we were only a month apart in age. But I didn't dare ask because Mom said Lucy had asthma, and I needed to take care of her and tolerate her just like they did. However, the sister who always seemed obedient in front of my family was constantly against me. She cut her own dress and said I did it. She tore up her own homework and said I did it. Such clumsy framing, yet my parents believed it without a doubt. I was scolded, punished, locked in the dark room, step by step labeled as a bad child. I was unwilling to accept this. Once, I secretly recorded evidence of Lucy's "crimes," planning to reveal it when she tried her tricks again. I still remember how excited I was that day. When I played the video, I felt like the heroine in a revenge story, finally turning the tables. I saw my parents' expressions change, and panic appeared on Lucy's face. I thought my parents would apologize to me and scold Lucy, maybe even lock her in the dark room. But no. Just as my parents looked at Lucy with surprise, she clutched her neck and fell to the ground in pain. "Lucy!" Mom screamed and picked her up. "Call 911!" The whole family rushed to the hospital, no one pursuing Lucy's framing of me. I stood there holding the evidence, feeling like a clown. My brother pushed me. "Is it fun? Are you happy seeing Lucy in the hospital?" "Yes, she's adopted, but she's lived with us all along. I've long treated her as my real sister." "But you..." He looked me up and down: "Dark and tacky, with such a scheming mind. If you dare go against Lucy again, I'll beat you!" I felt cold all over. I knew I had lost. 3 My parents made me go to the hospital to apologize to Lucy. I went. Tears swirled in my eyes with grievance, the apology stuck in my throat. "So everything she did to me before, it doesn't matter?" I asked softly. "Lucy is just insecure, afraid we won't like her anymore now that you're here," Mom explained. "My child shouldn't be so petty, right?" I nodded, tears slowly flowing out. "I'm sorry." After saying that, I ran away, tears blurring my vision, bumping into someone. "Sorry." I hurriedly apologized and settled myself in a corner of the park bushes. As I squatted down to cry, I felt something soft lick the back of my hand. "Meow~" A stray cat was squatting beside me, looking at me curiously. Seeming to sense my sadness, it actually did a backflip to make me happy. Grievance, unwillingness, touched... all emotions exploded at this moment. I picked up the confused kitten and cried holding it for a long time. 4 "Let's go, I'll take you home!" The kitten seemed to understand my words and lay quietly in my arms. It was getting late. When I opened the door, they had already returned from the hospital. The family was happily eating and chatting, Lucy's laughter so piercing. The food on the table was almost gone. No one called me, no one waited for me. But this was normal. Holding the kitten, I mustered the courage to say: "I want to keep it." The laughter stopped abruptly. My dad was the first to refuse: "Raising a cat is too much trouble, we're busy and don't have time!" "I'll take care of it myself, you don't need to do anything." "Cats ruin furniture," Mom frowned. "I'll keep it in my room and won't let it out." "Lucy has asthma, we can't have animals in the house. Give up on that idea," my brother said coldly. Me: "..." I knew I couldn't keep it. Putting the kitten back where I found it, I cried again, apologizing while crying. "Why are you apologizing again?" Suddenly, a voice sounded in my ear. "I can't adopt it," I said. "Family won't let you?" I nodded. "Then grow up quickly. Later you can make your own decisions." The stranger's words lit a spark of hope in my heart. I studied desperately just to get into a good university and move out. Maybe then, my parents would be proud of me too. 5 The day the scores came out. The smile disappeared from Lucy's face. I scored a full two hundred points higher than her. I could get into an Ivy League school, while she couldn't even reach the cutoff for a decent state college. She smashed things in anger, looking at me with venom in her eyes. Afraid she might do something drastic, my parents stayed by her side all day. My brother also took leave to buy her gifts and make her happy. And I, who should have been celebrating at a restaurant, was left aside. I got the good grades I fantasized about, but the hug from my parents I fantasized about never came. They gave all their hugs to Lucy. I couldn't even mention my score or be happy about my achievement. Even a smile on my face would trigger Lucy's asthma. Even so, Lucy didn't let me off. There was only one computer at home. Using the excuse of checking schools, she sent me away while I was filling out my application and tampered with my choices.
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