Chapter 4
When we walked out of the office, the sky had grown dim.
Dad crossed the street and headed into a small restaurant just outside the school gates.
He pulled a faded wallet from his pocket, fished out a handful of wrinkled bills, and anxiously waved them as he tried explaining to me.
"Sophie, don't be afraid. Even if the whole world comes crashing down, I'm here to hold it up for you.
"Order anything you like. I got it covered."
I looked at his hands. They were rough, cracked, and still dirty from a full day of hard labor. That small wad of wrinkled bills, less than 40 bucks, was all he'd earned from hauling bricks since sunrise.
My nose tingled. I dropped my gaze, trying to hold back the tears.
I pulled the official-looking recommendation letter from my backpack, the one stamped with a red seal, and handed it to him.
I sniffled, and then carefully mouthed the words so he could read my lips.
"Dad, I've gotten into Landis University. I don't have to take the entrance exams. I'm officially accepted.
"From now on, I'll take care of you. You won't have to work yourself to the bone anymore."
Dad's hands hovered in the air, frozen.
With shaky hands, he gingerly took the paper, bringing it close to the light.
The wrinkles on his forehead bunched together as he slowly read each word.
He kept reading it over and over, like he was afraid he'd miss something.
His cloudy, tired eyes lit up in an instant, shining with pride and happiness.
He couldn't stop smiling, giving me thumbs-up over and over, even as his tears fell hard onto the table.
For a moment, I honestly believed our family's rough days were finally behind us.
But then, just the next day, Dad was suddenly laid off from his construction site.
Their excuse was so-called 'workforce optimization, and for half a month of back-breaking work, he didn't get a single cent.
For days, Dad was out the door before sunrise and didn't drag himself back home until it was pitch dark, trying everything he could to land a job.
Since he couldn't hear or speak, getting hired was pretty much an impossible mission for him.
For days on end, every construction company he checked out told him no, always giving a new excuse.
"Doesn't fit our policy, sorry."
"It's just too much of a liability."
"We don't hire folks with disabilities here."
I knew it was Ryan's and Emily's parents behind all this, pulling strings to make sure my family was left with nowhere to turn.
Later that night, I saw Dad crouched alone out on the balcony, shoulders sagging.
His back seemed even more hunched than before, and there were fresh threads of white in his hair at the temples.
He puffed on one of those dirt-cheap cigarettes, the smoke curling around him, making his figure look even more frail and lonely.
My heart ached. I couldn't bear to watch him fading away like this.
I spotted Ryan and Emily over by the lake on campus.
The two of them were clinging to each other, looking all lovey-dovey.
I said, "Ryan, I'm begging you.
"Just tell your parents to call it off. Let my dad go, please."
Ryan held Emily's hand tight, looked me up and down, and shot me a smirk loaded with pure disdain.
He said, "Want us to back off your dad? That's easy, Sophie.
"Bow to us and apologize.
"Then go to the academic office, admit in front of all the teachers that you're not fit for the recommendation, and offer your spot to me—yourself."
Ryan leaned in close, spelling it out word by word, his tone icy and deliberate.
He added, "Do all that, and we'll let your deaf and mute old man have a job."
I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth, and forced myself to bow.
Just then, my phone suddenly started buzzing.
A man's voice burst out, hurried and frantic. "Is this Spencer's daughter?
"Listen, your dad went to work a temp job at some sketchy construction site, just trying to earn a bit more money.
"The scaffold just collapsed. He... He's trapped underneath."
My mind went numb. I shoved Ryan out of the way and tore out of the campus.
"No!" I screamed.
Tears poured down my cheeks, and everything blurred so badly that I couldn't see a thing. I just kept running, frantically, as fast as I could.
I hated it.
I hated it so much.
I hated Ryan, hated Emily—and I hated myself even more, for being so useless and letting the same tragedy happen all over again.
I raced to the scene of the accident.
Yellow police tape cordoned off the entire construction site, and the piercing shriek of ambulance sirens echoed through the chaos.
I hurled myself forward, desperate to get inside, but several policemen grabbed my arms and held me back, blocking my way no matter how hard I struggled.
"Dad!" I cried out.
My legs gave out. I dropped to my knees, helpless and shaking.
Ryan and Emily showed up not long after, trailing behind me.
They stood there gloating, gazes full of schadenfreude as they watched me in the mud.
They sneered. "Well, well, Sophie, guess even the wicked get what's coming to them. This is your karma."
My face was an absolute mess—caked in tears and mud—but I just glared right back at them, refusing to look away, hatred flooding my eyes.
"Yeah, that's right," a man's voice came from the side, unhurried and casual.
"Bad people always get what they deserve," he added.
Emily spun around, smugly wanting to see just who had dared to butt in. But then her face went pale and she let out a shriek of pure terror.