When I was seven, my dad brought home a little girl and told me to treat her like my own flesh-and-blood sister. Later, I found out she was the daughter of his deceased first love. From that day on, my dad’s eyes rarely landed on me. My new sister, Chloe, had poor health, so my dad spent most of his time at the hospital with her. He was there so much that he couldn't even make it back in time to see my mom before she died. He apologized to me: "If you're angry, take it out on me. Don't blame your sister; she's fragile." Normally, I would have thrown a massive fit and turned the house upside down. But this time, I just looked calmly at the two of them. "As long as Chloe is okay." 1 My mom’s funeral was over. My dad cried so hard he was a mess; it took several people to pull him up from the ground. Long after we got home, he sat staring blankly at a small box. It was the first gift he had ever given my mom, and she couldn't bear to throw the box away. Seeing me walk in, he hastily stood up and stumbled toward me, almost falling. "Did your mom leave any last words for me?" I glanced at Chloe, who was standing timidly behind him, and shook my head. "Mom was in a lot of pain when she passed. She couldn't say anything." Noticing my gaze, my dad subtly shifted his footing, moving to shield Chloe. Even so, he was still anxious. He added, "Daddy is so sorry. This is all my fault. If you're angry, take it out on me, but don't blame your sister. She's not well." He still had faint scratch marks on his arm from where I had hit him. I had a well-known reputation in the neighborhood for being a rebellious, unfilial daughter who would lash out at her own father at the drop of a hat. My dad, on the other hand, was universally known as a good man—gentle, considerate, someone who never even raised his voice. The looks everyone gave me seemed to say: Go ahead, throw a tantrum. Just like always, grab whatever is handy and throw it at them. But this time, I just felt exhausted. I finally understood why my mom, right before she left, told me not to throw tantrums anymore. She said it was too tiring. She had been tired for over a decade and didn't want me to end up like her. She wanted me to get out, to leave this place, to leave this family. "As long as Chloe is okay," I said softly. My dad’s eyes widened in disbelief. I hugged my mom’s portrait, turned around, walked into my room, and shut the door. Over the past few years, to pay for Chloe’s medical treatments, our family’s savings had been drained. We sold the house. We sold the car. Right now, we were living in a rental apartment paid for by my uncle. Chloe’s illness was almost cured, but my mom had died because we couldn't afford timely treatment for her. That afternoon, I went out and dyed my glaring red hair back to black. I pinned back my heavy bangs. I wandered the streets for a while, not knowing where to go, and eventually ended up back at the cemetery. I wanted my mom to see me. She always liked it best when I looked neat and well-behaved. When I got back, my dad was cooking, and Chloe was helping him. I didn't know what they were talking about, but both of their faces were glowing with smiles. Chloe had even posted on social media: [I have the best dad in the whole world.] The picture attached was of a beautiful new dress. I casually liked the post. It was deleted shortly after. Chloe looked at me, her small face turning pale. My dad rushed over to explain, "She... she hasn't been able to wear dresses because she was sick. She just wanted to commemorate it. Don't be angry." "It's a nice dress." They exchanged a confused look, not understanding my reaction. I sat down at the dining table. "What's for dinner?" Chloe quickly brought the dishes over, looking surprised. "You dyed your hair back, Serena?" My dad finally noticed. "What made you decide to dye it black?" I shrugged. "The school doesn't allow students to have red hair." Before, I always did the exact opposite of what Chloe did. If she wore white, I wore black. She was sweet and obedient, so I was rebellious and loud. I wanted to be completely different from the "good kid." I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I acted out, my dad would finally look at me, scold me, or yell at me. After all, before Chloe arrived, he poured all his energy into raising me and gave me everything he could. But he never did. He never scolded me for it. In truth, he probably never even noticed my changes. His eyes only ever followed Chloe. So, I started bullying her. I dumped ash into her cup; I purposely spilled soup on her pristine white clothes. And it worked. My dad finally got angry and hit me for the first time. My mom got into a massive fight with him over it. Chloe was so scared she had a relapse, and my dad took her away from home for over six months. In the end, my uncle had to intervene as a peacemaker, dragging my mom along to apologize before my dad finally returned. That night, I got up to get a glass of water and found my dad still awake. He was sitting on the sofa, sewing a tear in Chloe’s school uniform. "Serena? Up for water?" "Yeah." He held the uniform, looking a bit awkward. "Daddy will mend yours as soon as I finish Chloe’s." "I already mended mine." His eyes widened, and he stared at me, unmoving. In the past, I would have thrown my clothes right at his head and demanded he fix them. If they weren't torn, I would intentionally rip them. Whatever Chloe had, I demanded to have too. I thought that by throwing a fit, I was claiming what was mine. Now, I couldn't care less. After finishing my water, I went back to my room to study. I promised my mom I would get into a good college. 2 I had fallen so far behind in my classes over the past few years that the teachers had basically given up on me. Fortunately, when I called my homeroom teacher earlier to ask for the homework assignments, she took pity on me out of respect for my late mother. She kindly told me what they were and suggested I buy some foundational workbooks to start from the absolute basics. The next day at school, my classmates and teachers were shocked by my new appearance. My homeroom teacher nodded approvingly. "See how energetic you look now? You used to look like a little delinquent. What was so great about that?" I stood up and bowed deeply to the teachers. "I apologize for the trouble I caused everyone before. I was immature. I will study hard from now on." If my mom hadn't gone to the school countless times to plead with the teachers and administrators, I probably would have been expelled a long time ago. I did all those things to get my dad’s attention, but the only person who suffered the consequences was my mom. He never showed up to school once. Many students assumed I was from a single-parent household. A teacher even did a home visit specifically to try and help me. When she discovered that I was the sister of the model student, Chloe, she could only sigh helplessly. "How can two girls raised in the same house be so different?" My dad quickly pulled Chloe forward to pour water for the teacher, acting incredibly subservient and fawning. "Our Chloe has weak health. We really rely on the teachers to take good care of her at school." My mom and I just stood to the side in silence. Before she died, my mom left me a little bit of money. It was the college fund she had managed to scrape together for me over the years. I signed up for online courses and studied like my life depended on it for a month. Finally, my test scores were no longer completely embarrassing. Chloe’s birthday arrived. It was her 18th, and my dad insisted on throwing a proper celebration. However, since we couldn't afford a restaurant, he cooked the meal himself and told Chloe to invite her friends over. My mom’s portrait was still hanging in the house. It hadn't even been seven days since her funeral. The kitchen was filled with ingredients my dad had bought. They were all Chloe’s favorites. "Chloe can't eat spicy food," he said when he saw me chopping Thai chilies. I ignored him and kept chopping. He suddenly marched over, grabbed my wrist, and snatched the knife away. "I told you, Chloe can't eat spicy food! She just recovered. What are you trying to do?!" He yelled for a bit, but apparently, that wasn't enough. He switched to a preachy, earnest tone. "Today is your sister’s 18th birthday. Can we please just not fight? Can we let her have a happy birthday? Just consider it a favor to your dad." What about my 18th birthday? I spent my 18th birthday in the hospital with my mom. He didn't even say "Happy Birthday." He only remembered the next day when he saw the empty cake box in the hospital room, and quickly bought a cheap trinket from a stall outside the hospital to make up for it. "Serena!" Chloe gasped. "Your hand!" Only then did I feel the burning sting in my palm. Blood was running down my fingertips and dripping onto the floor. The knife had sliced a long, thin gash across my palm. It wasn't deep, but it bled profusely. My dad jumped in shock and hastily threw the knife onto the cutting board. "Serena, Daddy didn't mean to." His voice trembled as he carefully searched my face. "Daddy will take you to the hospital to get it bandaged right now." I pushed his hand away. "Today is Chloe’s birthday." He froze. "I can go by myself. It's not that serious." With that, I grabbed my phone and ID and walked out of the apartment. I didn't see my dad standing by the door, watching my back for a long time, murmuring, "Has Serena... changed?" 3 I didn't go to the hospital. I just found a pharmacy and bandaged it myself. Then I went to the bookstore, bought a stack of practice exams, and started working. Out of ten questions, I got seven wrong. In a fit of frustration, I slammed my injured hand on the table. The sharp pain almost made me jump up and scream. "Even if you mutilate yourself, you still won't know the answers. That's an IQ problem." I turned my head and saw Liam sitting behind me. He smirked, his smile infuriatingly arrogant. "Well, this is rare. Never thought I'd see you in a place like this." He was the school's top student. I used to think he wasn't that big of a deal. But a few days ago, the teacher proudly announced that he had scored a perfect 100 on the math exam again. While I scored a 30. Thinking about that, I couldn't stop the look of pure admiration from flooding my eyes. "Hehehe, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other here from now on." He shrank back. "Whoever you are, get out of Serena's body." I wasn't angry at all. I shamelessly slid over to his side. "Explain this to me, please?" He glanced at it casually. "It's B." "Why?" "Because it has to be B." Me: "..." For an entire afternoon, I forgot about my injured hand and annoyed the resident genius in the library to the point of a near heart attack. It wasn't until the sky started getting dark that I packed my things to head home. Liam's face was dark. As we stepped out of the library, he muttered bitterly, "I hope to God I never meet anyone as dense as you for the rest of my life." "Hehehe." He took another few steps back in horror. "What? Don't even think about it." My eyes instantly welled with tears. "You know my mom just passed away. Her biggest dying wish was..." "Okay, okay, fine!" He threw his hands up in surrender. "If you're not afraid of being insulted and berated, then I have nothing to be afraid of either." "Thank you, thank you!" I grabbed his hand excitedly. "If my mom knows about this in heaven, she'll definitely come thank you personally." "Just tell her thanks for me. The personal visit really isn't necessary." My bus arrived. I ran over and sincerely thanked him one more time. That afternoon, I endured more insults than I had in my entire life. Liam was brilliant, handsome, and from a good family, but he had almost zero girls chasing him because his mouth was absolutely toxic. However, amidst the barrage of insults, I managed to complete an entire practice exam for the first time in my life. I never knew solving math problems could feel so rewarding. By the time I got home, Chloe’s birthday party was already over. As soon as I walked in, my dad hurried over, put a finger to his lips in a "shh" gesture, and pointed to Chloe’s room. That's when I heard muffled crying coming from inside. "She invited a friend, but they didn't show up. She's really upset right now, so don't provoke her." I pushed past him and went into my own room. A little while later, my dad knocked and came in. "How's the hand? What did the doctor say?" He pulled a delicate gift box from behind his back. "Daddy bought this specially for you." It was definitely a hair clip. I had already received countless identical ones. Every time he lost his temper at me because of Chloe, he would buy something to placate me. It was never anything expensive, nothing compared to Chloe’s gifts, but he always wrapped it himself beautifully, making it seem like he deeply cherished and valued this daughter of his. But I had always been so pathetic. Every time I received one, my resentment toward him would vanish. I would sit happily in the corner, telling myself that he definitely loved me, and that he only treated Chloe so well because she was sick. "Thanks." I took the gift, tossed it casually onto my desk, and went back to my practice exams. He stood beside me, watching for a long time, before finally sighing and leaving. When I came out of the shower, Chloe was standing by my desk, wearing her new dress. She didn't notice me come in. She was engrossed in examining my test paper, her hands trembling slightly. "Who told you to come in here?" She turned around, a beat too slow, her eyes red. That's when I saw that she was holding the test paper I had snatched from Liam. "Wh-where did you get this?" A teenage girl's crush is always so obvious. Actually, I had noticed her infatuation with Liam long before she did. "Do you think I stole it?" I slowly walked up to her and took the paper back. There was no name on it, yet she recognized it instantly. She really liked him, huh? "Serena," she quickly changed the subject, realizing she had lost her composure. "I brought you some cake. I saved a piece just for you." She held the cake out carefully, looking at me. "Thanks, but Liam and I grabbed dinner while we were out. I'm stuffed." Her smile almost shattered, but she tried desperately to maintain it. "O-oh, really? Then... I'll just put it in the fridge for now." Watching her practically flee the room, I felt a fleeting sense of vindication, but the thrill of revenge disappeared almost as quickly as it came. For the past few years, Chloe had tried every possible way to suck up to me and my mom. No matter how much I bullied her, she would just wipe her tears away in secret and go right back to following me around, sweetly calling me "big sister." But no matter how hard she tried, it couldn't cover up the fact that because of her, our family had fallen apart. The next day, as soon as I got to class, Liam brazenly walked over and snatched my backpack. "Let me check if you slacked off last night." Then, as he reviewed my incorrect answers, he proceeded to call me a pig. I glanced up and saw Chloe watching Liam, looking quite pitiful. Just like that, she felt wronged? Maybe I should act even more intimate with Liam. That would definitely cause her more pain. But somehow, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. In the end, I just quietly sat down at my desk. "How did you get this question wrong? Do you actually have no brain, or are you just doing this to piss me off?" I rested my head on the desk and answered honestly, "I actually have no brain." Liam froze, coughed twice, and surprisingly, started explaining the problem to me. With Liam's help, my grades improved relatively quickly. By the time the first mock exams were over, I was no longer dead last in the class. The teacher even gave me a certificate of commendation and asked me to bring my dad in so she could present it to me in front of him. I hadn't received an academic award since I started my rebellious phase. "My dad doesn't have time." The teacher looked disappointed. But when I got home, I found my dad had cooked a massive feast, saying he wanted to celebrate my progress. Seeing Chloe standing next to him, I instantly knew what was going on. "Serena, Dad made all of this especially for you." I glanced at the table full of bland, mild dishes. Made for me? "Let's eat." I ate the tasteless food and went to my room. I heard Chloe mutter softly, "Why does Serena seem unhappy?" My dad replied, "Your sister has always had a bad temper. She's moody. Just ignore her." Just as I was about to fall asleep, my dad knocked and came in. He praised my progress again and promised to make me nutritious meals every day. "If you have something to say, just say it." He didn't get angry that I interrupted his empty promises. He thought for a dozen seconds before saying, "I remember your mom left behind two gold bracelets, right?" 4 My heart instantly leaped into my throat. I stared at him warily. "Chloe’s surgery was successful, but she still needs to take medication for a while. So Dad was thinking..." "Don't even think about it." To pay for Chloe’s medical bills, we had sold everything of value in the house. Those two gold bracelets, left by my grandmother, were the only things my mom managed to keep—and only because she fought with him so fiercely she almost jumped off a building. They were the only memento I had left of my mother, aside from a pile of old hand-me-down clothes and shoes. "Don't worry, once Chloe is better, Dad will definitely return them to you." I stood up, trying my hardest to control my fury. "How will you return them? Those were left to me by my mother! Could you possibly buy the exact same ones back?" "No, no, no," he waved his hands frantically. "Dad will buy you an even better pair." "Get out." I pointed to the door. "Do you have any conscience at all?! For the past few years, for the sake of Chloe, what kind of life did my mom and I live?! Now she's dead, and you're still eyeing her things? Are you even human?!" His face instantly turned cold, but a few seconds later, he was back to playing the good guy. "It's true that Dad wronged you both these past few years. But Chloe is the sister you grew up with. Are you really going to stand by and watch her die?" "What does it matter to me if she lives or dies?!" I screamed at him, my voice cracking. "It'd be better if she did die!" SMACK!!! I lost my balance and crashed to the floor. The left side of my face went numb instantly, and my ears rang. It took a long time for the dizziness to fade, followed by a burning, searing pain in my cheek. "Is that how a daughter should act?! I only came to discuss this with you because I have such a good temper." He pushed past me, ready to search the room. But even after tearing my room apart, he couldn't find the two bracelets. "Where are they?" "I sold them." "Where's the money?" I gave him a cold smile. "I spent it all." "You..." He raised his hand to hit me again, but Chloe suddenly rushed in and grabbed him. "Dad, I still have medicine left. Don't hit Serena." I didn't know how much sincerity was in her plea, and I didn't care. Richard Sterling pointed a trembling finger at me. "Get out of my house." I slowly stood up, shoved my few items of clothing into my backpack, and grabbed my ID. "Did you actually think I wanted to stay in this house?" If my mom’s memory wasn't tied to this place, I wouldn't have wanted to look at them for another second. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and strode toward the door. Richard yelled after me, "If you walk out that door today, don't ever think about coming back!" "Don't worry," I said without breaking my stride. "I won't be coming back." 5 I went to my uncle's house and begged him to help me rent a place. I told him I could pay for it, but I was afraid of getting scammed since I didn't know how renting worked. My money was my lifeblood right now. I couldn't afford to lose a single cent. My uncle was furious. "That old bastard. Your mom just died, and he treats you like this." He wanted me to live with him, but his house was just too far from my high school. He had to ask a friend and eventually rented a small, ground-floor room in an alleyway, very close to the school. My uncle took one look at the conditions and tried to pull me away. "How can you live here? You even have to go outside to use the bathroom." I practically had to beg him to let me stay. He finally compromised but insisted on paying the rent himself. "Don't worry about the money. Just promise me that when you become successful, you'll come back and visit your uncle more often." From now on, my uncle was my only family. He was also holding onto the few mementos my mom left behind; otherwise, Richard would have ransacked them long ago to buy medicine for Chloe. My eyes welled with tears. I bowed deeply to him. "I promise I will study hard." I settled into my new place. To my surprise, the first uninvited guest to my little shack was Chloe. She carried a massive bag filled with daily necessities—exactly the things I needed. She set the things on the floor. "Serena, see if there's anything else you need. I'll bring it over tomorrow." I looked her in the eye, wanting nothing more than to laugh. "You finally managed to kick me and my mom out. Are you proud of yourself?" She froze, then lowered her head. "I'm sorry." I hated it when she acted like this. She was the vile intruder, yet she acted like we were the ones bullying her. "Serena, whether you believe it or not, I never wanted to take anything away from you. I just... I just wanted to..." She didn't finish her sentence. "I'm sorry." She suddenly bowed a full ninety degrees to me. "I am truly sorry." With that, she scurried away like a gust of wind. True to her word, she brought another large bag of things the next day. This time, she just left it at the door and hurried off without coming in. Since she was giving it away, I wasn't going to refuse. I was incredibly short on money. Saving even a penny was a win. After a period of grueling effort, my grades finally managed to reach the lower-middle of the pack. The teacher said that if I performed exceptionally well on the actual college entrance exams, I might be able to scrape into a low-tier university. I knew that was a very polite way of putting it. But my funds definitely wouldn't cover repeating a year of high school. After school one afternoon, Richard suddenly appeared at the school gates. It wasn't unusual. In the past, he often came to pick up Chloe and would check on me in passing. "Serena." As I walked past him, he suddenly called out to me. "Where have you been living these past few days?" He jogged over to me. "How are you eating? You haven't been home for days. Dad is worried." "What do you want this time?" I looked myself up and down. "Want me to sell my blood or sell myself to pay for your precious daughter's medical bills?" Richard shook his head vigorously. "How... how could you think of Dad like that?" "Isn't that what you've been doing for the past few years?" He seemed to recall something, and his face drained of color. "Your boundless love and selflessness were fueled by my mother's flesh and blood. Now that she's dead, you're targeting me?" More and more students were gathering around, but I had absolutely no intention of saving his face. "If you're so devoted, if you loved Chloe’s mom so much, why did you marry my mom? Why did you even have me?" My questions forced him to take a few steps back. His body trembled as if under an unbearable weight. "I get it now." I relished his pathetic state, laughing sarcastically. "Because you needed someone to carry on your family name, and you needed someone to serve your parents." Richard shook his head frantically. "No, Serena, when I married your mom, I truly had feelings for her. Dad loves you. You have to believe me. It's just... I owe Chloe too much. You'll understand in the future." "Heh, I don't want to understand. Whatever your reasons, they don't change the damage you caused to my mother and me." I tried to walk away, but Richard chased after me. "Hop on." Liam appeared out of nowhere, patting the back seat of his bicycle. "What are you waiting for?" I glanced at Richard behind me and quickly jumped on. Unusually, Liam was silent the whole way. He didn't insult me, nor did he interrupt as I secretly shed a few tears. "You live here?" "Yeah." He took a look around. "Not bad. Fits the 'starving student' aesthetic." There it was. He could never go too long without being obnoxious. As he was leaving, he pulled a thick stack of practice exams from his bag and tossed them into my arms. "Study hard. Don't waste such a perfect environment." With that, he rode off. A sudden warmth bloomed in my chest, and my nose stung. Aside from my own father, everyone else was doing their best to help me. I don't know what suddenly got into Richard, but he started coming to my school every day. He brought me restorative soups and home-cooked meals. Sometimes, he would even track down my teachers to ask about my progress. But every time they finished talking, the teachers would look at me with eyes full of deep pity. My literature grades had always been good, and my literature teacher had always put in a good word for me with the other staff. During evening study hall, she called me into her office. Richard was there too. But when the teacher asked me several questions in a row, he looked incredibly embarrassed. "She is your daughter! How can you, as a father, not know the answer to a single question?" She angrily popped open the lunchbox he brought. "Even I know Serena is allergic to celery!" Richard hastily closed the lunchbox. When he looked at me, his expression was pained. "Have a good talk with your dad. He said you blocked his number." In the past, my literature teacher always played the peacemaker, advising me not to hold grudges against my only living parent. This time, she just shook her head and walked out of the office. "Can you stop interrupting my studies?" I cut straight to the chase. "Your attempts to make amends are worthless to me, and they're just causing me trouble. If you think the damage of all these years can be erased with a few meals and some fake concern, then I really have nothing to say." He stared intently into my eyes and mumbled, "You look more and more like your mother." "Don't bring up my mom." For a while, I couldn't figure out why he had suddenly changed his tune. Today, I finally understood. "I heard my uncle kicked you out. So you're trying to drag me back, hoping he'll start paying for you guys again, right?" The day after I left, my uncle went to their landlord and refused to renew the lease, forcing Richard and Chloe to move out immediately. The two of them were now squeezed into a tiny, cheap room in a remote part of the city, far away from the school. Because of this, Chloe had been late to class frequently over the past few days. Just looking at his haggard face and his stained suit jacket was enough to tell me how miserable they had been. "Is that really what you think of me?" His eyes turned red, and his voice choked up. "I didn't realize how much you hated me. That day I went into your room... you didn't take a single thing I bought for you. That's when I finally realized what I did wrong all these years. Serena, you are the only blood relative I have left in this world." As he spoke, he covered his face and began to weep. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. In the past, all he had to do was offer a seemingly sincere "I'm sorry," and I would eagerly script an entire fantasy of a loving father-daughter relationship in my head. But when disappointment piles up high enough, you stop believing in anything. "Just leave. Your daughter's name is Chloe. From now on, I have absolutely nothing to do with you. If you truly feel sorry for me, then leave me alone. Never let me see your face again." I turned and walked away, leaving Richard's sobs behind me. My literature teacher was standing by the door. She just patted my shoulder. "Go study." After that day, Richard never came looking for me again. But every week, a sum of money would appear in my bank account. Chloe became isolated.
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