The day my foster mother made a run for it, she deliberately shoved me from the moving car. I landed on my head, and the world went fuzzy. The doctors said my brain was damaged, that I had the mind of a five-year-old. After that, I became much better behaved. More obedient. When my birth parents finally found me and brought me home, the fake heiress who had taken my place refused to let me in the door. She stood on the edge of the three-foot-deep swimming pool, threatening to end her life. "If there's no room for me in this family, then I might as well be dead!" But she never jumped. So I obediently walked over to her, my small hands trembling, and gave her a little push. "I'll help you, sister." Splash. My new mother and father spun around to look at me, their faces masks of pure shock. 1 Before I even had a chance to step inside my new home, Penelope, the girl who had lived my life for fifteen years, was standing by the villa’s swimming pool, sobbing hysterically. "Mom, Dad, I've been your daughter for fifteen years! Are you throwing me away now?" Seeing her cry, my mother’s eyes immediately welled up with sympathetic tears. "Penny, darling, it's not like that." "You will always be our daughter. We will always love you." Penelope just shook her head, frantically clawing at her own hair. "Then why did you bring her back? Send her away!" She pointed a finger at me, her eyes burning with a hatred I didn't understand. Clutching my teddy bear, I shrank behind my father, terrified. "Penny," he began, his voice strained, "the orphanage and the police found her and contacted us. Please don't blame us for this." "Now that we've found Pathy, we couldn't just leave her, could we?" At his words, Penelope seemed to calm down, just a little. I hated it when adults fought. When my foster parents argued, they would both take it out on me. My foster mother would grab me, her teeth gritted, and beat my backside until it was raw. "It's all your fault, you worthless brat." "Why aren't you dead yet?" Not to be outdone, my foster father would grab the leather belt and whip my back relentlessly. "Don't you dare cry! I can't stand the noise!" While they hit me, they would compare whose blows left the deepest red marks. So, from a very young age, I learned how to please adults. I had to be careful every single day, terrified of their bad moods, terrified they would start fighting. Seeing Penelope and my new parents arguing, their faces red with anger, filled me with that same old fear. Trying to change the subject, I spoke up in a small, cautious voice. "Mommy, Daddy, is sister the real daughter of my foster mommy? My foster mommy missed her sister very much." My mother shot me a look, her eyes squeezed tight. I didn't understand. "Mommy, does your eye hurt?" Penelope stared at our parents, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. My mother's face was a mask of anxiety. She yanked me out from behind my father. "Don't talk nonsense. Go and apologize to your sister." "But you said..." I started, confused. Before I could finish, she was pushing me toward Penelope. Penelope looked at our parents, her voice thick with self-pity. "It's my fault I'm not your real daughter. I shouldn't have taken my sister's place." "If there's no room for me in this family, then I might as well be dead." She shuffled closer and closer to the edge of the pool. But she never jumped. Clutching my teddy bear, I obediently walked over to her. Trembling, I reached out my hands and gave her a little push. "I'll help you, sister." Splash. My new mother and father spun around to look at me, their eyes wide with shock. 2 "Ah, help me~" Penelope thrashed in the water, bobbing up and down, struggling desperately. I smiled and patted my teddy bear's head. "Don't be scared, Teddy. We helped sister." "Now she'll be happy." My parents were still frozen, staring at me as if they'd never seen me before. "Dad! Mom! Help!" Penelope's cry finally snapped my father out of his trance. He dove into the pool and hauled her out. The second her feet touched the ground, Penelope shoved me aside and threw herself into our mother's arms. The force of her push sent me sprawling to the ground. My teddy bear tumbled out of my arms and rolled into the pool. "Mom, Dad, Pathy tried to kill me!" Penelope wailed. "I don't know what I did to make my sister hate me so much." My parents rushed to wrap her in towels, fussing over her, cooing words of comfort. No one noticed that the bear I loved most in the world was now at the bottom of the pool. I knelt at the edge, my own tears starting to fall. "Teddy, don't be scared! I'm coming to save you!" Splash. I jumped in. I paddled frantically towards my sinking bear, forgetting for a moment that I didn't know how to swim. My fingers finally closed around his soft body. But I couldn't breathe. I began to sink, just like that time my foster mother threw me in the river, watching the surface of the water get farther and farther away. On the shore, my new parents hadn't noticed a thing. Once again, I quietly closed my eyes. When I was little, I used to wash clothes by the river in the winter. The water was so cold my hands would go numb. One day, a piece of clothing slipped from my grasp and was swept away by the current. When my foster mother found out, she dragged me to the river and threw me in. As I struggled in the freezing water, she stood on the bank, screaming curses at me. "You worthless brat! I'm going to teach you a lesson today! Let's see if you ever dare to be lazy again!" But I was never lazy. I was always a good girl. That day, as I sank into the icy river, my life flashed before my eyes like a movie. Me, a tiny child, standing on a stool to cook. My foster parents beating me senseless. The endless, ugly words they hurled at me. ... When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. A doctor was speaking in a low, regretful voice. "The trauma to her brain has left Pathy with the cognitive function of a five-year-old. With intensive therapy, there's a chance she could recover someday." My father let out a long sigh. "Doctor, we'll leave her recovery in your hands." The doctor hesitated. "There's one more thing. During the examination, we found her body is covered in old injuries. Should we contact the police?" At his words, my mother came closer. She lifted the hospital gown. The moment they saw the landscape of scars and bruises that covered my body, my parents froze, their eyes reddening in unison. 3 When I was fully awake, I realized my teddy bear was gone. "Where's Teddy? I want my Teddy!" My parents finally remembered they had left my bear in the pool. My mother hugged me, stroking my hair. "Pathy, sweetie, don't cry. Mommy will take you home to find Teddy, okay?" I wiped my tears and nodded. Back at the villa, my father fished the bear out of the water for me. I clutched the dripping toy to my chest, refusing to let go. As we stepped inside, my twin brother, Mason, appeared, blocking my path. "Pathy, stop right there." His face was contorted with anger. "Did you push Penny into the pool?" "Sister said she wanted to die," I explained quickly. "I was just trying to help her." Smack. A stinging red handprint bloomed on my cheek. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Mason roared. "How dare you try to hurt Penny! This is her home! Penny is my only sister!" My mother rushed over. "Mason, stop it!" "Mom, Dad, why did you have to bring her back?" he demanded. "What's going to happen to Penny now? She's so sensitive, she won't be able to handle this!" I was so scared I started to cry, biting my lip to keep the sobs in. It was just like when my foster parents would come home angry and slap me for no reason. I stood frozen, clutching my bear, staring at my brother's furious face. Suddenly, a warm stream trickled down my leg. The shame was a hot, suffocating wave. I buried my face in my bear's fur. Everyone saw the puddle forming at my feet. I squeezed my legs together, trying to hold back the tears. Mason's anger faltered. "Pathy, you..." Smack. Smack. My father, his face livid, slapped Mason twice across the face. "If you ever lay a hand on your sister or scare her like that again, you can get out of this house. Pathy is your real sister." Mason stood there, stunned, his eyes fixed on me with a complicated expression I couldn't read. Tears streaming down my face, I let my mother lead me to the bathroom. 4 After my bath, my mother brought me a beautiful dress. It was covered in sparkling crystals, just like the princess dresses I'd seen on TV. I was so happy. Forgetting all about the scars that crisscrossed my arms, I put on the dress and twirled in front of the mirror again and again. When I came out, Penelope looked me up and down. Suddenly, she lunged at me. "Why are you wearing my dress? Did you ask for my permission? You thief! Take it off!" She started tearing at the fabric, her nails scratching angry red lines onto my skin. "It was Mommy who gave it to me," I cried, my eyes wide with confusion. "I'm not a thief." But she kept pulling and tearing. Finally, I just undid the zipper and handed the dress to her. I stood there, naked and lost in the middle of the living room. My parents came downstairs and saw me. Their faces darkened with anger. Seeing them, Penelope immediately burst into tears. "Mom, Dad, Pathy stole my dress! Is she going to try and take everything from me?" "Penny," my father said, his voice sharp with disapproval, "you have over two hundred dresses. Didn't we tell you to give a few to your sister?" Penelope pouted. "But I hadn't decided which ones to give her yet, and she just took it!" My mother's eyebrows drew together. She slapped Penelope across the face and snatched the dress away from her. "I gave this dress to your sister. When did you learn to start stripping the clothes off people's backs?" Penelope's face crumpled in disbelief. "Mom, you hit me? For her?" She shot me a look of pure venom and ran out of the villa. 5 My mother's eyes were red as she came over to help me put the dress back on. I refused, shaking my head frantically. "Sister doesn't want me to wear it. I'm scared. I don't want it." Her heart broke. She pulled me into a hug. "How about Mommy takes you shopping for new clothes, okay?" My father came over and handed me a black credit card. "Pathy, from now on, you can use this to buy whatever you want." I smiled and nodded. When we returned from the mall, loaded with shopping bags, we found Penelope in the living room with a pair of scissors. She was cutting up my teddy bear. Snip by snip, she was dismembering him, shredding his soft fur, yanking out all the cotton stuffing and tossing it into the air like confetti. Mason sat beside her, watching with a look of deep sympathy. "Feeling better now, Penny?" Penelope swept the tattered remains of my bear off the table and onto the floor, grinding them under her heel. A triumphant smile spread across her face. "Much better. No one has ever dared to take something that's mine. This is just a little punishment for her." Mason stroked her hair. "Don't worry, Penny. She won't take Mom, Dad, or me from you." Penelope linked her arm through his, her smile sweet. I stood rooted to the spot, tears welling in my eyes, my mind a complete blank. That bear was the only friend I'd ever had. After my foster mother threw me in the river, I had a fever for seven days straight. A kind neighbor brought me medicine and, to cheer me up, gave me that teddy bear. It was the only toy I'd owned in my entire life. Later, when my foster parents locked me in a dark closet for three days, Teddy was with me. When the other kids at the orphanage bullied me, Teddy was with me. ... My mother looked at me, her face etched with worry. "Pathy, sweetie, we'll buy you a new bear, okay?" My father immediately turned and left the house to go buy one.
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