Chapter 2
After the door shut, I slowly pulled myself up against the wall and spotted Evan's phone lying by the entryway.
The screen lit up as several notification chimes sounded.
I walked over, and my gaze settled on the new messages.
They came from a three-person group chat named [Happy Family].
As the one they had excluded, I had naturally never known it existed.
Linda: [Evan, Alex and I just finished our work here. We'll be home in a couple of days. I got you that limited-edition collectible. There was only one left, and I paid a fortune for it.]
Linda: [Once school starts, hide it in your dorm. Don't let Tessa see it. She kept begging for one three months ago.]
I scoffed and turned off the screen, strangely calmer than before.
It did not matter anymore.
I was dying. Nothing mattered anymore.
*****
A light rain fell on the day Linda and Alex came home.
As usual, the first thing they did was show me the gift they had bought for me.
Linda smiled. "Tessa, that collectible you told me you wanted was sold out. But don't worry. I pulled some strings and got you a mini version."
She had pulled strings for this?
I stared at the shoddy counterfeit and found the whole thing bitterly ironic.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it? I went through so much trouble to get it," Linda said.
But I simply could not bring myself to smile.
When Alex saw the look on my face, he lost his temper. "Tessa Walker, Linda paid a fortune and called in favors to get that, yet you turn your nose up at it. Is that not going too far?
"We have clearly spoiled you. Look at Evan. He got nothing, yet he is still grateful."
He got nothing?
I was ungrateful?
Had they been lying for so long that they believed their own act?
At that moment, I decided I was not going to let it slide.
I asked without warning, "Linda, are you sure you couldn't get the limited-edition collectible?"
Everyone froze.
Linda quickly recovered and glanced at Evan, muttering, "You idiot. I told you not to tell her, but you just had to."
I gave a cold laugh. "Don't look at him, Linda. I already know everything."
"What... What exactly do you know?" Linda stammered.
Her confidence was clearly gone, and she could barely get the words out.
Evan spoke up from beside her. "Linda, I told her. She would've found out about the property deeds and insurance policies eventually. Why keep hiding it?"
The room fell silent.
Linda and Alex's expressions darkened.
As I watched, Linda gradually regained her composure and became self-righteous again. "Since you already know, I have nothing left to hide.
"Tell me honestly. Whenever you and Evan fought, did Alex and I not always take your side?
"We favored you and left the family assets to Evan. That is fair."
I let out a bitter laugh.
Fair?
What a twisted idea of fairness.
Another wave of stabbing pain tore through my stomach.
Covering my mouth, I doubled over and rushed to the bathroom, where I retched violently.
Linda's hostility vanished, and she stood outside the door, sounding worried. "W-What's wrong? Did you eat something bad?"
I shook my head and braced myself against the wall, unable to straighten up for a long time.
Evan frowned. "You're throwing up again? Do you need more painkillers?"
Linda looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean, again? Has this happened more than once?"
Without thinking much of it, I wiped my mouth and gave her a bitter smile. "Linda, if I were sick, would you worry about me?"
She did not answer. Instead, her gaze dropped to my lower stomach, a conflicted expression on her face.
The next second, Linda charged in and slapped me across the face. "How dare you call this an illness? Tessa, you're only twenty-one and haven't even graduated from college, yet you've already gotten yourself pregnant?"
What? That was what she thought?
Linda raged, "I met one of your professors a few days ago. They mentioned that several men were pursuing you. They must have been trying to warn me. You are barely an adult and already throwing yourself at men."