Since I started working, every paycheck went directly to Mom's card. She claimed she was "saving it for me." She had promised that whenever I needed money, I just had to ask.
"Money, money, money. From morning to night, that's all you know how to ask for." Her voice cut like glass. "When will you be sensible like your sister?"
Through the phone, Grace's sweet voice floated in the background. "Mom, come cut the cake!"
The call disconnected.
A moment later, a notification pinged. Mom sent a red packet.
One hundred dollars.
I opened my social media feed and immediately saw Grace's new post.
【Mom and Dad bought me a cake to celebrate my discharge! I'll love them forever. ️】
In the photo, my parents flanked Grace, beaming with love. On the table before them sat an exquisite, multi-tiered cake.
I recognized that bakery. That cake cost over two thousand dollars.
My vision blurred. I reached up to wipe my eyes, but my fingers came away wet with tears.
On my forearm, the death countdown numbers flickered, counting down the seconds.
I rubbed at the skin furiously. Scratched at the numbers. Desperate to claw them off. It was all because of this thing. The moment this System appeared, my parents changed.
I scratched until my skin broke and bled, but the numbers remained, glowing beneath the crimson.
"Host." The System's voice held no emotion. "There is no need to take your anger out on me. I am merely a tool."
"I am not the cause of your suffering. The root cause is simply that your parents do not love you."
The truth I had spent years denying pierced straight through my heart.
I froze.
Then I buried my head in my hands and wept.
"Girl, are you hungry?"
I looked up. Eliana Norton, a sanitation worker, stood before me. She held a cup of steaming millet porridge, the sweet aroma wafting up like a gentle embrace.
She placed the warm cup in my hands. "Eat."
"Why are you crying out here?" Her voice was soft. Kind. "Did you fight with your parents?"
The hot porridge warmed my stomach, giving me a fraction of strength. "My parents... they don't want me anymore."
Once, I was their little princess. The apple of their eye. I thought I had the best parents under the sky.
The reason I bound myself to the System was for them. On a trip to the zoo, we were in a horrific crash. Their lives hung by a thread. My desire to save them was so powerful it summoned the System.