Chapter 3

Half a month later, I was discharged and went home.

The moment I reached the front door, I saw my belongings scattered across the porch. Some had been left there so long that mold had already grown over them.

I was about to knock when Ione opened the door.

She wore a silk robe and sheepskin slippers. When she saw me, she waved a hand in front of her face in disgust.

"Wren, your things are all out there. Hurry up and clean them up. The Halloway family can't afford to support a poor relative who does nothing but eat and drink."

When I didn't move, she shoved me.

I was leaning on my crutches and didn't react in time. I fell hard onto the ground.

A sharp pain shot through my ankle, and the wound that had just been bandaged split open again.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This house belongs to me now. You'll never set foot inside again."

"Who are you trying to fool with that pathetic look? If it weren't for Mom and Dad, I would've thrown all your things in the trash already."

"And don't call me your sister at school anymore. I don't have a beggar for a sister."

With that, she slammed the door.

I lowered my head and looked at my clothes. The knees had been stitched up by Mom.

They had looked presentable before, but after I fell, they were covered in mud and debris.

I raised my head and saw my reflection in the glass door.

Didn't I look exactly like a beggar?

I gritted my teeth against the pain, picked up my crutches, and limped as I gathered my belongings.

Halfway through, I found a yellowed notebook. The cover was still intact, but the writing inside had blurred from the rain.

Even so, I pieced together what I could.

It had been my first birthday present from Mom and Dad.

I still remembered how they had put work aside to take me to an amusement park.

Ione had even used her allowance to buy me candy.

When we passed a toy store, I had begged them to buy me a music box.

They had written a blessing on it:

I hope Wren is happy every day.

Now, the music box lay alone on the ground, its pieces scattered everywhere.

I picked it up and tried to put it back together.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make it work again.

I only broke it into even smaller pieces.

I wanted to cry, but I had already run out of tears.

Mom came back and frowned when she saw me sitting on the ground.

"What's the point of cleaning up this junk?"

She expertly pulled two crumpled twenty-dollar bills from her purse and secretly pressed them into my hand.

"Finish packing and go to school first. If your sister sees you, she'll get upset again."

Sure enough, Ione saw Mom talking to me and threw a glass in my direction.

It grazed my cheek, leaving a deep red mark.

I silently picked up the clothes from the ground.

Most of them had belonged to Ione before she got tired of them. They had become my new clothes.

After thinking for a moment, I threw them into the trash.

The music box went in with them.

Then I turned around and left the home where I had lived for eighteen years.

When I returned to the dorm, I received a photo from Ione.

It showed the three of them together.

Ione wore a birthday hat, with a custom-made cream cake from Mom and Dad in front of her.

The message read:

【Mom and Dad are mine. You'll never take them away from me.】

I gripped my phone and suddenly remembered.

Today was Ione's birthday.

I blocked her and opened a message from my college counselor.

She said there was a nationwide honors scholars training program. It offered full funding and covered all tuition, with a focus on Ivy League schools.

Based on my grades, she thought I should give it a try.

I had just typed the words "I agree" when two unexpected people appeared at the door.