My parents always claimed to treat all their children exactly the same. Whenever there was a chance to get something new for the house, they’d make the three of us kids draw lots via a group text app to decide who would buy it. And I always seemed to draw the big-ticket items—like a dishwasher, an AC unit, or a massage chair. Meanwhile, my younger brother and older sister would only ever draw cheap, insignificant things, like a $30 blender or a basic grocery care package. It wasn't until the day I helped my dad fix his phone that a text message popped up: "Hey man, the lottery bot app updated. You can rig the results and run multiple draws now. You said the client is getting suspicious? Just set the same result three times in a row." That’s when I realized I was the "client." That evening, the family group chat lit up again. My dad texted: "We need to upgrade to a minivan for family road trips. Let's see which sweet child gets the lucky draw today!" But what my dad didn't know was that I had already installed an anti-cheat lottery app on my phone. In the end, the person who drew the short straw to buy the car was my little brother. My parents were absolutely stunned. 1 When the draw results popped up, the group chat went a bit quiet. My brother, Tyler, was in disbelief: "Me???" I chimed in: "Wow! Tyler, you're the lucky winner!" My dad was probably a little confused. He sent a voice memo to the group: "Alright! Just to be fair, let's do best out of three!" The results disappointed my dad. The next draw picked my older sister, Chloe, and the final draw picked Tyler again. I was completely left out. Chloe sent a speechless emoji: "Lost my chance to treat mom and dad." Tyler got angry: "What the heck! Why is my luck so bad today!" Me: [?????] My mom came out to smooth things over: "What do you mean 'bad luck'? Spending money on your parents is called giving back. Your sister was so happy when she drew the central AC before! When she got her $12,000 year-end bonus, she spent it on us—that's what we call a blessing!" Tyler grumbled: "What blessing? Let Chloe have this blessing then!" I suppressed the cold laugh in my heart and replied: "I've drawn a $5,000 massage chair, a $2,000 fridge, and a $12,000 central AC system before. What did you guys say back then? Didn't you say that God favors those who honor their parents? Why are you unhappy now that you won?" Tyler lost his temper: "Harper Vance! Stop being so sarcastic! This car is $25,000! Why don't you buy it for Mom and Dad!" As soon as Tyler said that, the group chat suddenly went dead silent. Nobody had called me by that name in a long time. 2 There are three kids in my family: my older sister Chloe, my younger brother Tyler, and me, Harper Vance. Actually, I didn't realize there was anything wrong with my given middle name until right before I got married. I even thought "Harper" and my middle name, "Dawn," sounded very pretty together. But one day, while bickering with my fiancé, Liam, he blurted out that my parents didn't love me at all. I argued back: "My parents don't love me? Who made the pot roast you ate for lunch today? If they didn't love me, would they cook for me and drive all the way here to drop it off?" He unceremoniously punctured my delusion: "The money your parents spend on you is less than a tenth of what they spend on your sister and brother, but the return they get from you is more than a hundred times that. What's a little pot roast? For your sister's birthday, your parents gave her a gold bracelet. For your birthday, they made you a bowl of pot roast, and you're proud of it?" "They only love you with their words." I was so angry at the time. I repeatedly defended my parents, saying they were very fair, and even accused him of not understanding sibling dynamics because he was an only child. When the argument reached its peak, he blurted out: "If your parents really love you, why did they give you the middle name Dawn?" I froze. So, I quickly called my mom: "Mom, why is my middle name Dawn?" My mom hesitated for half a minute: "Huh? Dawn as in the break of day, Dawn is..." Liam typed on his phone next to me to show me: "Ask Mom directly, is it supposed to mean 'Dawn of a son'?" I asked nervously: "Mom, when you gave me this name, was it because you were hoping for the dawn of a baby boy?" I tried to make my tone sound as light as possible. My mom sighed in relief: "We were able to have your brother all thanks to you bringing in the dawn! I'll have to make that brat buy you dinner sometime!" My face instantly turned cold: "Mom, you always said my brother was an accident. You said you didn't specifically keep trying just because you wanted a boy!" My mom panicked: "Hey, Harper, listen to me..." After hanging up the phone, my face was dead pale. Liam hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, honey, it's my fault! I shouldn't have said anything!" "Dawn of a son." How could I have not realized this for the past few decades? 3 I suddenly intensely hated the middle name Dawn. Later, Liam pulled some strings and helped me legally change my middle name to "Grace." The name was chosen together with my in-laws, meaning elegance and blessing. When my mom found out, she scoffed: "What kind of name is that? It sounds so stuck-up. Good thing you're already married, otherwise I'd think that name was cursing you to end up alone." I didn't respond, but I felt incredibly sad inside. 4 The next afternoon, my mom called me. "Grace, are you still mad? Your brother is just a jerk, I've already scolded him." I said: "It's nothing, I'm not holding it against him." My mom sighed: "Out of the three kids in our family, you are the most worry-free, the most sensible, and the most capable. Mom and Dad are counting on you in the future." She rambled on to me for over half an hour. She said Tyler's company was doing layoffs and pay cuts, and he was in a bad mood. She said my dad scolded Tyler yesterday and praised me for my great contributions to the family. Finally, realizing I wasn't actually angry, she reminded me: "We won't cook for the family dinner this weekend. Your dad's shoulder pain is acting up again, let's just go to The Olive Branch." I said okay. 5 On the day of the family dinner, my brother immediately showed off to me, saying he bought the car. I was a little surprised. My dad said: "Of course! How else can you say a son is like a nuclear weapon—you might not use it, but you can't be without one!" "Tyler is really practical. It'll be so convenient for the family to go out in the future. He's much better than those kids who only care about themselves." My expression remained normal, pretending not to understand. "Harper, it's not that Dad wants to criticize you, but look at your brother. Even though he wasn't happy about it verbally, he still bought it for us right away! And you? You make a good living running your salon, right? I never see you take the initiative to buy anything for the house; Mom and Dad always have to rely on a lottery to decide." Chloe kept shrinking into the background, trying to minimize her presence. I put down my water glass and looked at my dad: "Dad, didn't you say you wanted to treat us all equally? So buying anything for you relies on a lottery? I never said a word about whatever I drew before, did I?" Seeing the tension rising, my mom finally spoke up. "But your dad really miscalculated this time. The base price of the car was over $28,000. The down payment alone wiped out your brother's savings. Mom and Dad were thinking, could you two share a bit of the burden? Next time we need something, we won't ask you guys." Chloe quickly waved her hands: "My monthly salary is only $3,200, and my rent is $1,500. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I don't have the money." My brother opportunistically chimed in, saying he took a pay cut and a $900 monthly car payment was really too much to handle. I just kept my head down and ate, not saying a word. 6 Actually, Liam and I keep our finances relatively separate; he takes care of the household expenses and the mortgage. I studied biotechnology in college, worked for ten years after graduation, and then started my own business, opening a high-end salon. Liam comes from a very good family. He never questions how I spend my money. Whatever I buy, he always provides full emotional support—either praising my good taste or saying it suits me perfectly. In addition, he gives me a separate $3,000 a month in allowance. Even my friends say that a man like Liam is a scarce resource—rich, handsome, and treats his wife so well. Liam has money, and I have money too. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to continue unconditionally giving to my family after realizing I'm just being treated like an ATM. 7 I coughed: "Mom, Dad! Actually, there's something I haven't dared to tell you." My parents suddenly got a little nervous. "In the first half of the year, the salon brought in a batch of new equipment. As a result, that batch was sued for patent infringement by a medical device company this year. The equipment has been seized, and I've lost over $150,000. The salon's cash flow is having some problems. Mom, Dad, can you lend me some money? Once I turn things around, I'll pay you back immediately!" The atmosphere at the dinner table instantly plummeted. My mom spoke first: "How could you lose so much? Hasn't your salon always been very profitable? $150,000! How could you be so careless!" My dad's tone sank: "We haven't even figured out this car loan yet, where would the family have spare cash to fill your hole? Besides, doing business requires stability, what are you doing messing around blindly!" My mom's tone carried a bit of blame: "If I had known you were going to mess around like this, I should have just made you work a stable 9-to-5 job." "I didn't want this either. I thought I could make more money so I could help out more when the family needed it in the future. Who knew I'd lose this much." I tried hard to squeeze out a few tears: "The salon hasn't had many customers lately, and the employees' salaries are suffocating me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so nervous about the lottery last time—if I really drew it, what would I use to buy it?" I looked at my parents with expectant eyes: "I just... I really have no other choice but to ask you guys. After all, you're my own parents. I can't exactly borrow from strangers, right?" "It's not that Mom and Dad are heartless, but we only have a little bit of retirement money. If we take it out and give it to you now, what happens if one of us gets sick or has an accident? Who will take care of us? Can't you be considerate of Mom and Dad's difficulties?" Hearing this, my heart went completely cold. I picked up my bag and said coldly: "Alright Mom, Dad, I understand. I have things to do, so I'll leave first." Seeing my attitude, my mom suddenly stood up: "Hey, why are you getting angry..." I ignored her and slammed the door as I left. When I got to the parking lot, I realized I forgot my car keys and had to turn back to get them. 8 Just as I reached the elevator lobby, I ran into my parents and the others. They didn't see me, so I quickly hid to the side. My brother said: "Mom, Dad! I kept winking at you, why didn't you see it? Why were you so definitive at the dinner table! Her in-laws are so rich, would they really just watch her salon go bankrupt? Great, now you've completely pissed her off!" Chloe also complained: "Exactly! Mom, Dad, you always said people need to be a little strategic. You have to act like you're treating everyone equally so Harper is willing to help us out. How could you lose your cool first?" "Shh! Do you want to die? Why are you still calling her Harper Dawn!" My mom hit my sister. My mom then turned and scolded my dad, saying he made the lottery too obvious. How could the expensive items coincidentally always be drawn by me? My dad retorted, telling them to stop acting smart after the fact. "Right, Dad, your lottery app definitely has a problem. We need to change to a different one." Chloe agreed: "Exactly, it almost scared me to death that day." "Think of a way to apologize to her, otherwise it'll be even more impossible to expect to get money out of her in the future. You guys are terrible teammates. I was hoping to checkmate her today and make her pay the car loan, now there's no chance!" My mom affectionately patted him: "Anyway, we already transferred the car money to you, stop nagging." That's when it dawned on me. No wonder my brother bought the car so quickly. At this time, Chloe started whining to my mom again: "You bought Tyler a car, when are you buying me one?" "Wait a little longer. Let's see if her salon is really going to close. If it really closes, she'll probably still have a lot of money left over from selling the business. We'll think of a way to get some more money from her then." Watching the back of this happy family of four, I felt both angry and heartbroken. They didn't care what would happen to my salon or what would happen to me; they only blindly thought about how to extort a little more. 9 When I got home, Liam was looking at me with a wicked smile. "How was it? Did I win the bet, hahaha! You didn't manage to borrow any money, did you, hahahaha!" Liam laughed so hard he rolled on the bed. I picked up my phone and transferred $7,000 to him. Seeing my desolate expression, my husband panicked a little. "What's wrong?" I sniffled, suppressing the soreness in my chest: "I just feel like the first thirty years of my life have been a joke." He took a tissue and wiped the corners of my eyes: "Don't say that. It's because you're kind that you were fooled by their 'fairness' for so long." I suddenly started crying loudly. "Honey, don't scare me! Don't cry, okay, okay, I'll give the money back to you, and I'll give you another $7,000." I didn't speak, just kept crying. He had to hold me, gently patting my shoulder. He waited until my emotions stabilized. I asked Liam: "What kind of person do you think I am?" He was stunned: "What do you mean? You are the most beautiful! Most kind! Most gentle fairy wife in the world!" I wiped my tears: "I care for my family, I honor my parents. When our family was struggling financially when I was little, as the middle child, I always worked hard to help my parents out, wanting to make things easier for them. I even worked part-time and used student loans for college. Why do they only treat me as a machine they can bleed dry?" My husband sighed: "Honey, do you know what your biggest problem is when dealing with your family of origin?" 10 I talked a lot with my husband and figured out a lot of things. How people treat you depends on where your own bottom line is. If you keep letting others frantically test your limits and push further, then you will only keep retreating step by step. In the end, the person who suffers will always be you.
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