Chapter 3

My uncle said, "Why are you being so unreasonable? Stop causing trouble for your mom and just go back to apologize."

My aunt said, "Ethan's treated you well enough. Don't be so headstrong. This is grown-up business. Why are you getting involved?"

Then they all hung up in a rush, like I was some kind of disease.

And now, here they are, putting on their elder act, trying to school me about 'filial piety.'

One by one, I replied, my tone icy. There wasn't a shred of warmth.

I said, "She took care of me until I was sixteen. After that, I survived twelve years on my own. We settled our scores a long time ago.

"If she's your mother, you go play the dutiful child. Don't guilt-trip me."

After hanging up the last call, I got a text from Ethan, every word practically seething with anger.

[Luna. You're heartless. Your mom's in the hospital, crying out your name every day. Have you got no soul at all?]

I stared at the message for a few seconds.

Then I replied, slow and deliberate. [Is that so? Maybe she's not calling for me. Maybe she's crying for the daughter she imagined.

[The one she could use and drain dry, the one who'd give her everything without question. Too bad that girl died at sixteen. And your wife was the one who killed her.]

I sent it, then blocked his number.

At last, the world was quiet again.

They finally realized that all their guilt-tripping and family lectures were useless on me.

So, they played their final trump card.

Emily, my mother, personally called me.

It was another unknown number.

I picked up, but didn't say a word.

On the other end, I heard a weak, raspy cough, like someone squeezing air out of a busted old bellows.

After what felt like forever, that voice, so familiar it hurt, yet so strange, finally came through.

"Luna..." She barely got my name out before choking up, acting like she was the one who'd been wronged by the whole world.

My heart twisted, not out of pity, but from sheer disgust.

This routine? I'd watched her pull it a million times since I was a kid.

"I'm sorry... I was so confused back then... I lost my senses..." she said in broken sentences, her voice full of remorse. "Come home, Luna. Let me see you... I really miss you..."

But my mind couldn't help but conjure up another scene.

That year, I was fourteen, burning up with a fever of 102.2°F, lying alone in a dark little room, my whole body on fire, barely conscious.

Meanwhile, the living room was packed with laughter and noise, everyone having a blast.

Emily was there with Ethan and Ella, throwing a birthday party for Ella.

She was holding a fancy cake, singing the birthday song, her face lit up with pure happiness.

Not once did she even bother to open my door and check on me, not even to bring me a glass of water.

That was the moment I realized I was already an outsider in this family.

On the other end of the line, her sobs dragged on, relentless. "Luna, I know I let you down... I want to make it up to you... Just come back, and I'll do anything you want..."

Compensation?

I let out a cold, mocking laugh, cutting off her pathetic performance.

My voice was flat, dead calm, like water that's been sitting too long. "Compensation? And how exactly are you planning to do that?

"Are you going to buy back the dignity you beat out of me? Or pay for all those nights I spent alone in the basement, freezing and starving?

"Or maybe you think you can buy back all the study materials I spent three years preparing for the exams?"

My tone stayed steady, but my knuckles turned white from how hard I was gripping the phone.

Yeah, that was the last straw. The one that finally broke me.

After that slap, I didn't leave right away.

I thought, as long as I got into college and got out of this house, everything would finally be over.

But a month before the exams, I found all my study materials, stacked up on my desk, had vanished without a trace.

I searched like a madwoman, and in the end, I found their remains in the trash can downstairs.

It was Emily who threw them away.

Her excuse? Those papers were just taking up space. She needed to make room in Ella's room for the new piano she'd just bought.

That was the moment I lost all hope for her.

She wasn't just out to break my spirit. She wanted to ruin my entire future.

There was silence on the other end.

My words cut right through her fake warmth, exposing everything.

For a while, all I could hear was her heavy, labored breathing.

Then, she snapped, "Do you really hate me that much? Luna! I gave you life! I'm dying here! Can't you just forgive me?"

Her voice was sharp, full of rage at being challenged.

So this is who she really is.