Chapter 5

A flash of panic crossed Mom and Dad's faces at being caught.

Seeing me remain silent, Dad simply decided to come clean. "Since you've already heard, your mom and I won't hide it from you anymore."

"Colleen called yesterday and kept nagging us to send you over for education for a while."

My body felt heavy, like it was filled with lead. With tears in my eyes, I looked up and met Mom and Dad's gaze:

"Mom, Dad, just because Barbara is sick, are you going to pretend you don't love me and completely abandon me?"

Dad turned his head away, unwilling to look at me.

Mom snorted impatiently:

"Didn't you insist there are parents in the mirror who love you more than us? Then just take the mirror and go live at Colleen's house."

After Mom finished speaking, she kicked me out of Barbara's room and slammed the door shut.

I listened to the laughter coming from inside the room, a dull pain spreading through my chest.

Perhaps they were the happy family of three, and I was just the unwanted outsider.

I silently returned to my room. The mom in the mirror had already prepared a fragrant lunch waiting for me.

She unfolded her withered, shriveled body and smiled at me:

"Come eat. After you eat, come with Mom. Your dad is still waiting for you inside the mirror."

I nodded with vacant eyes, obediently eating the meal the mom in the mirror had made.

Halfway through the meal, my tears couldn't be held back anymore and fell in large drops onto my rice.

I sobbed quietly and asked the mom in the mirror, "Before I go, can I say goodbye to Mom and Dad?"

The mom in the mirror grinned eerily. "Be quick. I'm about to take you away."

I wiped my tears, picked up the pen on the table and wrote a farewell letter to Mom and Dad, then ran to them and hugged them. "Mom, Dad, goodbye!"

Mom looked at the letter and threw it in the trash like garbage.

Dad's face was tense. "Don't think that by retreating, we'll compromise and not send you away."

"Colleen will be here in 5 minutes. Go pack your things."

I nodded heavily.

Although I was already prepared to leave, my heart still ached faintly.

I returned to my room without taking anything, just sitting on the bed in a daze, looking at this home where I'd lived for six years.

It suddenly felt so unfamiliar.

At least in the mirror, there were parents who loved me, and there was no Barbara who disliked me.

Living with Mom and Dad in the mirror should be happier than now, right?

The next second, Colleen arrived at my bedroom door and shouted:

"This door won't open. Somerville must have locked it."

Mom and Dad outside the door knocked frantically, cursing:

"Somerville, you've really gotten bold. Now you even dare to lock the door."

"Colleen is here to pick you up. Open the door right now!"

"Even if we have to tie you up today, we'll drag you out and fix your bad habits!"

Seeing that I wouldn't open the door no matter how much they scolded, Mom and Dad got furious and kicked the door open.

At that moment, I was standing obediently in front of the mirror, waving goodbye to them one last time.

Mom and Dad's faces turned ashen as they glared at me, about to step forward and discipline me.

The next moment, a pair of withered hands reached out from the mirror behind me.

Mom and Dad's faces instantly went pale. In panic, they shouted at me, "Somerville, come here quickly!"

But I turned around and threw myself into that embrace without hesitation.