Chapter 1

I stood in front of my father with an acceptance letter from an elite university, asking him for tuition money. Right in front of the neighbors, he flung the letter in my face.

"We're so poor we can barely keep food on the table. Not a cent for you. Quit dreaming and go get a job, then get married already."

For eighteen years, I wore nothing but old hand-me-downs, went hungry more times than I could count, and got mocked by everyone as the poor girl from a broke family.

I busted my ass to get an unbelievable score for one reason only: to escape this soul-crushing home.

My mother grabbed my arm and wiped at her tears, then turned to my father and muttered, "You're really not giving her a single cent?"

My father shot me a cold look. "My fortune, worth over 30 million dollars, is for my son. A girl like you doesn't deserve a dime."

I froze where I stood, all the blood in my body rushing straight to my head. So the poverty I'd lived through for eighteen years had all been a lie. The cruelest truth about family was never that we had no money. It was that I was never worth spending money on.

Clutching the wrinkled college application guide, I stopped my father at the entrance to our apartment complex. "Dad, this book costs about 20 dollars. I need to buy it."

He stopped, turned around, glanced at the booklet in my hand, and his face instantly darkened.

He snatched it from me and hurled it to the ground. Pages flew everywhere. Classmates and neighbors passing by all turned to look, their eyes full of smug amusement. "Buy what? We can barely afford rice, and you've still got the nerve to waste money?"

I stood there stiffly, my fingers curling, but I didn't dare pick the booklet up off the ground. For eighteen years, all I wore were old clothes passed down from a distant older cousin. I even kept using the same backpack until the straps frayed apart.

While my classmates bought snacks and milk tea, I could only stand off to the side with empty pockets. I couldn't even bring myself to buy a fifty-cent bottle of water. Whenever school asked for materials fees, he'd cuss me out forever before finally tossing me a few crumpled bills.

Everyone knew my family was dirt poor. They all laughed at me like I'd crawled out of a slum. I lowered my head, my voice hoarse. "This is for my college applications. Getting into a top university depends on it."

"College? What's the point of a girl studying that much?" My father stepped forward, grabbed my arm, and started dragging me home. His grip was so hard it felt like he was crushing my bones.

"Kids from poor families should know their place. Stop filling your head with useless nonsense. Getting a job and making money is the only real way out for you." I struggled, but I couldn't break free. I could only let him drag me away while the gossip behind me stabbed at my skin.

The college guide on the ground got trampled and smeared with mud, just like the eighteen years I'd spent too ashamed to hold my head up. When we got home, my father shoved me to the floor and started cursing me out, pointing right in my face.

My mother sat nearby picking vegetables. She didn't even look up, staying silent the whole time, as if she agreed with everything he did. I lay on the floor, my knees throbbing from the impact. My chest churned with hurt, but I didn't even dare cry out loud.

I'd already estimated my score. It was way above the cutoff for the country's top universities. That result had come from countless late nights. I thought that if I was good enough, I could change this miserable life and escape this suffocating home.

But now, my father wouldn't even buy me a 20-dollar application guide. I pushed myself up and looked straight at him for the first time. "I have to buy it. This is my whole future."

My father got even madder at my backtalk and swung at my face. I jerked aside, and his hand slammed into the wall with a dull thud.

"You've got some nerve. Let me make this crystal clear. I won't give you a single cent, so kill that idea right now."

My whole body shook. Looking at my cold father and then my indifferent mother, I felt a chill for the first time. So all the good grades I'd fought so hard for meant absolutely nothing to them.

I turned and ran into my room, locked the door, and slowly slid down with my back against it. Sunlight streamed in through the window, but it couldn't warm the ice in my chest. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms, and only one thought remained in my mind.

Even if I had to beg everyone I knew, I would scrape together the money, get into a top university, and leave this house.